The cats had no idea what was in store for them!
A year ago, we decided to keep a stray pup that had shown up on our back step.
She was sickly, ridden with vermin, and ever so pathetic, but she came around well:
For a while, her snoot was kind of too big for her head (or the rest of her)
But as a probable collie-mix, it makes sense.
She grew up to be very, very furry. More than we’d at first guessed she’d be.
This became
this
Our dog has a pretty active social life.
Since puppyhood she’s adored Justin’s famous dog, Emit.
Nieve has also been one of Ruby’s mentors in how-to-be-a-dog.
Sometimes, she administers a necessary smackdown.
This past spring, our friends James & Dalia got a Pyrenees puppy they called Bagheera.
At first, Bagheera didn’t quite “get” the concept of Wrestlemania.
But as you can see, he was a quick study.
But as Bagheera has grown, he’s become more prone to accidents and injury, so he and Roo have to take the playdates easy. Enter our next-door-neighbors’ puppy Connor.
This homely little cuss is a personable pit-bull mix who LOVES to run. His favorite game is to be chased, and Ruby’s favorite game is to chase others, so as you can guess, they’re pretty good buddies. Connor can be kind of pesty, and certainly presses Ruby’s buttons, but on the whole, they’re good for each other.
This first year of having a dog has been pretty great. She’s a good little buddy who gives me an excuse to wander around the neighborhood aimlessly. She’s so cute and personable that she makes meeting the neighbors easier.
She has her issues – she’s slow to warm to company at home (a little too committed to protecting the home-front), but on the other hand, away from home she’s generally pretty outgoing and she’s great with kids and generally very good with other dogs. She doesn’t know a lot (any) tricks, but she is pretty good with general obedience and her natural manners are surprisingly good. She has destroyed surprisingly little property during her time with us…one book, one shoe, one bedsheet, and one plastic flower pot that I can think of and those were all crimes of opportunity. If we keep things generally well tidied, she doesn’t go looking for problems.
I hope to report many, many more years of awesomeness with our little varmint-feathers.