Dog=Joy

We've been getting to know Bruno, and he's been getting to know us.

He's rather more shy than he looks. He's learning a lot of new stuff. He showed up here after a week at the rescue shelter. Before that, he spent most of his time in a crate in someone's basement in town. Unlike every previous hound we've had, he's not a fan of car rides. 

He's a gentle beast. I was leery of getting a male, because they can be aggressive. Last male I had, a beautiful Alsatian named Buddy, would still be trying to chase the porcupine up the tree even after he had a hundred quills in his face. He was actually a German Shepherd, but my elderly Jewish neighbour at the time couldn't make the word "German" come out of her mouth, and since I otherwise quite enjoyed her as a neighbour, we kind of reached an unspoken agreement that both Buddy and I were Alsatians.

He loves to job-shadow the Farm Manager as she goes about her cooking voodoo. He's a very attentive student and will become a famous chef someday, I'm sure. 

I had him out on the stoop just before I sat down to write this. It's just getting dark, and the coyote choir was conducting a rehearsal. You'll hear an eruption of yip-yapping from the ridge to the south, and it will be answered, call-and-return style, with a chorus of yip-yapping and kye-eyeing from the ridge to the north. 

Then neighbourhood dogs join in the action. There's a couple of Shepherds just east of us, a couple of Aussie Shepherds half a mile to the north, and a Lab just to the west. Often the dogs will keep talking to one another even after the coyotes have finished their rehearsal. We've had dogs who sing along, but so far Bruno is content to just take it all in. 

I've taken him on a couple of short walks, and hope to build up to my normal 5k over the next week or so. He shows no interest whatsoever in passing vehicles, which is a happy thing. He did however take off after a dude who jogged by in the dark last night. That in itself is highly unusual. In the first place, nobody jogs by here, period. And in December, in the dark? Anyway, I didn't even see the guy till Bruno rocketed off the porch in a great display of athleticism. Then I hear a panicked voice, "does he bite?"

Well, he didn't, and I can't imagine he would. He's the best thing that's happened around here all of 2020.

On the downside, Doublewide, the barn cat who made good, will never forgive us.