Welcome, Bruno!
This past weekend I took Wallace to go and have a look at this dog. She looked just lovely and had the right sort of face. I was totally enamored. It turns out, also, that I was totally wrong.
We drove a half an hour in 100 degree heat and were greated by a very cute house with a gorgeous garden from which wafted the sound of a Thousand Dogs Barking in Great Excitement. The owner of the home brought Hilde out to meet us, and I could tell right away that she was not going to be a good fit for our family. She was much larger than she looked in the photos and strong as a horse (I think she’s going to be huge). She had no manners and had the classic symptoms of a dog who had spent too much time with other dogs and not enough with humans. When I spoke to her, her ears didn’t even twitch. It wasn’t that she was ignoring me, it was that she never realized that those sounds were for her.
However, we went in the back and the owner let another dog out of the back. He was a white husky and when I approached he put his ears down happily and half-rolled over onto his back in the universal dog language for “Will you be my boss?”
We brought him home on Saturday to give him a test run with the kitties and to observe him in the house and around the baby and generally try him out. Shortly after arriving he lay down in the kitchen and slept like the dead for about four hours. Since then he has been making himself at home.
Like most huskeis, he believes that part of his job is babysitting, so he follows Wallace from room-to-room and generally keeps an eye on him. He’s as unlike Joey as possible, with much more interest in people than in food. He’s quiet and well-behaved except for a tendancy to chew when left on his own.
The only downside that we’ve found is that, again like all huskies, he sheds. With the heat lately he’s blowing a coat like I’ve never seen. So I’m raking him daily and thank Bob for the Dyson.
Still, he’s gentle and seems to be kind to the cats and quiet and sweet and just a gorgeous dog. He’s going to the vet today to get his pre-neutering checkup.
We’ve named him Bruno.
Welcome home, Bruno Poopyhands!
Pictures will be available shortly.
Essentially, the game is a losing game. There are strikes against me, a few valid, many not. What I can do about these strikes is exactly nil. I need to stop caring about winning the game, because the game isn’t winnable. This is a good job that is getting me through school; it is not a function of my sense of self or universal success or failure. I need to stop giving a crap. I need to smile and bend over and when I am out of the office be Out Of The Office. Unavailable, both physically and mentally. 
