Bringing Up (A Wild Dingo) Baby

So let me tell you about dogs. They give lots of kisses (unfortunately, they don't mind licking inside your mouth) and fall asleep in your lap. They prance on walks around town and balance on their hind legs for treats (yum, Beggin' Strips). They like to hump their pillow, even though they are a neutered female. They jump into empty laundry baskets and scale couches in a single bound. They are excellent walkers and like to watch all the same shows as you (even the surprisingly risque Hope and Faith).

Tanya is the best dog in the world. Her nicknames thus far are "Momma" and "Wild Dingo Baby." She is lovey and snuggly and has excellent manners. She hardly ever barks. She had a puppy about four months ago and the shelter we adopted her from told us that she was a really good mother. The aforementioned shelter found her pregnant and ill and about to be euthanized at a different shelter, so they resuced her (they are a no-kill, private shelter). They gave her a place to crash, nursed her back to health, and then, helped her raise her surviving pup. I knew the minute that I heard this story that she was coming home with me. This was several hours before meeting her, but I just knew. My attachment was instantaneous -- so odd, but in a way, not.

Some of you may not know this, but Russ and I had another dog two years ago named Bearden. We call him "the brute" or sometimes, "the lug." That's because he was a chocolate Lab and didn't so much walk as destroy everything in his path. We had to get two different photo albums because of his inquisitive teeth. I never bonded with him as much as just felt pissed off every time he woke up because it meant I had to take him to dog park again. He needed a lot of space to roam and our 710 sq. ft. backhouse (in among oaks) just wasn't cutting the mustard. So we found him nice, new owners in Fallbrook, home of rolling avocado orchards and mid-life retirees. Bearden is huge and shiny and still a little unwieldy, but very, very happy with his new owners. Last time they wrote, Bearden was learning how to skateboard. I know, it's so Californian. We can't help ourselves.