meet Rusty

We've been toying with the idea of getting a dog for Dennis for some months now. I had decided a Springer Spaniel or breed very similar would be perfect (largely because I want one myself, I guess, and because they're so darn cute), and Dennis wanted a black and white "fire dog". So Sunday, when we were at Bob's birthday party, Becky's aunt had brought her little dog with her. I got a short glimpse of him, and Dennis went out to meet him as well. Dennis really liked Rusty, he said, and thought he was "so cute!" (and mentioned wanting a dog just like him even though he's not black and white). I casually mentioned this to Becky, said that Dennis had seemed to really like Rusty, and today we are Rusty's new family. I'm still sort of shocked how that worked out... They apparently hadn't really planned to give him up but were interested in traveling more, and when a good home presented itself, well, there you go. We're a two dog home again. We've been casually speculating about the mix of breeds that might comprise Rusty, and we think there might actually be some spaniel in him. His snout (muzzle?) and ears look very Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and his tail looks very Shih-Tzu. And though I typically don't love small breeds (because their ego is SO LARGE), this little guy is pretty personable. He's two, came with a crate, leash, and all necessary accessories, is housebroken and crate trained, and likes to fetch. He and Dennis have spent large periods of time in Dennis' room playing today. Rusty likes to fetch his toy, drop it in front of Dennis, and just as Dennis reaches to grab it, Rusty snatches it away and repeats the process. When Dennis gets the toy away from him, he tosses it and Rusty brings it back. Dennis giggled for an hour as they played variations of this game. Rusty's crate moved right into Dennis' room, and we didn't hear any "I'm scared of my room" excuses when we put him to bed tonight. In fact, I heard him talking and singing to the dog after we turned out the lights. I know it's the first night, and I hope Rusty likes to sleep late, but he seems to be working out well so far! He gets along well with the dog and cat that already live here, and hasn't irritated David at all--it's a win-win. Let's hope it stays that way! Dennis is thrilled to have, as he says, "my very own dog!". He didn't even go after the Tootsie Roll Pop Dennis is feasting on in the picture.