[Elspode]

I'm pleased to introduce you all to our newest fur child, Rocky. He is a two year old miniature Pinscher/wire haired somethingorother mix. He's sharp as a tack, terribly obedient, and responds to the following commands: sit, lay, speak, and give me five/ten. He is also keenly aware of the meaning of the following terms: outside, cookie, walk and baby (which I discovered, completely by accident, is his idea of what his stuffed fluffy toy dog is called).

Selene found Rocky on craigslist last week. She's been convinced for some time now that Bridgid, the dog we've had for five years now, was lonely during the day while everyone was at work and school, and thus needed a companion. I had argued that this was unlikely as Bridgid has, up until now, been utterly unaware that she was in fact a dog in the first place. She simply considers herself the shortest, least employed member of the family. She's *never* socialized well with other dogs, but we gave it a try anyway.

So far, so good. She's still a jealous animal, and commands the first and best of everything (such as position in the bed, food, attention, etc), but they are adapting well to each other.

Rocky is great. So great, in fact, and so obviously loved by the man from whom we adopted him, that we're not quite sure why he was let go in the first place. We are the fortunate beneficiaries of someone else's misfortune, I suppose.