Puppy love

Since well before our old dog died we'd been talking about getting a puppy or young dog. After Stikine died the search had become more urgent. I feel so much more comfortable with a watchdog to warn us of wildlife intrusions -- bears and cougars especially concern me. The kids had been asking for a good two years for a puppy. The kitchen renovation and impending music summer school / Suzuki institute weeks made the timing less than ideal, but last week at the local open-air market a puppy fairly fell in our laps.

She's a golden retriever / akita / rottweiler / shepherd / collie mutt with a mother who is locally acknowledged to be an absolutely wonderful dog. We picked her out of the litter, reserved her, and spent a very long and at time impatient week waiting to pick her up. Yesterday she came home with us. She seems like another pea in the pod already. The kids took her to the market today while they were busking with their violins (proceeds: just $36.96 -- but it was looking like rain, so things weren't terribly busy) and she just lay there quietly and patiently listening, looking too cute for words. She was so much just like the kids I couldn't help but take note of the similar temperment -- and a few other people commented as well.

Good thing the rest of the carpet in the kitchen area is coming out in a couple of days as part of the renovation. Puppyish deposits join the years of various 'droppings'.

The new floor will be cork with a robust polyurethane coating. The kitchen is nearing completion. Functionally it's about 90% there. Flooring, new countertops and backsplash will take another couple of weeks. Or more, realistically speaking.