Jake has joined our family.
My family had a dog when I was
growing up, a beagle-basset mix named Fred. Fred was none-too-smart, but
somewhat lovable in his own, significantly smelly way.
Fred loved to go hunting with my dad and I, or perhaps
running across fields chasing random smells with no purpose would better
describe it. He got a rather nasty form of cancer when he was 9 or 10 and had
to be put down.
Jake, the Australian Shepherd, came to us from a shelter,
purportedly 10-years-old (although none of us are buying that advanced-age
estimate), and one day from finding out if all dogs really do go to heaven. So
lucky him.
But lucky us, too.
He arrived mostly finished – housebroken, walks well on
leash, gentle, very sweet, AND HE DOES NOT BARK. He loves to stay outdoors,
taking shelter if needed in the shed with the doggy door.
He’s also very smart, able to push the latch and get out of
his crate on the way to knocking down gates to track down any available cat
food, or to take a few treats from the litter box. We are working on limiting
his escape skills, but honestly, given his overall makeup, his faults are minor
and easy to overlook.
In other words, he is the right dog at the right time.
Others
can rhapsodize about the importance of dogs in their lives.
I will just leave it at this….
No comments:
Post a Comment