Aw, pore lil guy, cowering and whimpering on our back porch... a juvenile shepherd/maybe-beagle mix... sweetest lil thang! Dumped, I think, after his littermates probably found homes-- too clean to have been on the road long, too skinny to have been someone's dear pet, too old to have been part of a whole litter being dumped. I coaxed him out of his hidey place.... No tags, no reports of his loss on file with The Authorities. Vet appointment later today to evaluate condition/eye problem/age etc.

Doesn't know a thing about being with people, really, but learning real quick.... Calmest temperament I have ever seen in a dog. Smart eyes, but restful-- curls up to watch kitchen doings, submissive without being a fraidy-cat.

Other dog wants to be Auntie Ruby, and she's housebreaking him! "Look, we go out HERE to do this.... c/MON, we gotta GO..." Slept through the night like he owned the joint. She moved over when he oozed over onto Her Place. (Lonely dog, herself.)

So far, no puddles, either. For the moment he's sharing Ruby's corner, so although I have never crate-housebroken a puppy, that's the nearest thing to how we've got him. What I am doing now is letting them both out once an hour during the day, removing water about 8 PM so he doesn't fill up before we go to bed at midnight. We never did housebreak Ruby-- she just KNEW that business belongs outside the cave... Since her first day here, when she puddled in nervousness and we yelped NO and got her outside, not a single accident. Could we really have lucked into another smart dog?

He might replace our dear BJ dog who passed several years ago, who was just A Great Dog in every way. She had come to us when her owner died after a long illness at home-- a mature, bonded dog in need of a fresh start. To have two like that in one lifetime??? I miss her so much.

How do I convince Hardi, who was foolish enough to come get me when he came across the puppy as he arrived home yesterday, that this is our dog now?

~Susan