With Pebbles at my feet...

Last week, a dog walked onto our yard. She was the third stray in probably a year. She was a big Golden Retriever, beautiful actually. We played with her, fed her and eventually found out her owner really is having a bad go of it, so we ended up delivering her to the nearest shelter. But not before we thought of names for her...Whiskey, Zena the Warrior Princess, Hera (wife of Zeus - Zeus is the Rottweiler that lives next door), and Vega - like a falling star. But we let her go.

Our dog, Pebbles, came back from getting spayed a little while after that. She's a good little dog, a little on the submissive side, but we're working on helping her build confidence. A little petting here, a little reassurance there. Hopefully she'll learn to sit pretty.

But my question is this: why do we get so attached to these animals? Pebbles is silly, distracted, and a little whiny. But I think I speak for the whole family when I say she's just one of the bunch of us now. It's fun to be with her when she's experiencing new things. It's hard to figure out how to redirect her weird behaviors, like shying away from passing vehicles when we're on a run. I like her so much, I'm even looking for another Brittany. Know where I can get one?