Last night my beloved and I put down the money to adopt a dog. It is yet another step along that long, dark path some call suburban living.
But enough about the Dork Side of the Farce, let's talk about the dog. We found her at the Humane Society Silicon Valley. Regrettably, they do not have a picture of her on the web site -- if they did, they've pulled it already, which is the right thing to do since the dog is no longer available for adoption. :-)
The dog is about six months old and perhaps 35 pounds, a mix between the Japanese Shiba Inu and a German Shepherd Dog. She still has a little bit of growing to do, but not too much. She has only one color, and we call it red. Her ears are mostly upright and fox-like but a little bit floppy. It is quite likely we can train her to behave properly, especially towards the cats. Her fur has a pleasantly rough texture, which complements the sleekness of her body quite well.
She seemed quite happy to be out of her kennel and socializing with us. Her name was Hurricane but we will pick a different one, as my beloved says that name is not sufficiently female. (I am inclined to agree.) My leading candidates for a name are Maggie (sounds like a redhead) and Sarah (yes, the argumentative Biblical one) in some order or other. I imagine there could be a suitable Japanese- or German-sounding name out there, but I couldn't think of it immediately, and because I'm lazy, I won't expend effort on it. I'll let my beloved do that. :-)
I imagine that if we can manage a dog and two cats and still live our lives in a house that still stands, then maybe, just maybe, we could handle the most dangerous pet of all: the human child. Fortunately, that's not even on the map yet.
I imagine we'll have many pictures of the dog after we get her home. Those of you looking for puppy pr0n will just have to wait a bit. Your patience will be rewarded.
Late update: the winner for the naming contest is "Sarah." So that is what we shall call her.