My new dog 'Cracker'

Day three with this delightful, bright, energetic, super-affectionate cuddly-kissy pedrigree Australian Shepherd black tri-color I got for free via the "Pets" listing under Community on Craig's List after months of looking via rescue sites and the usual Craig's List page. He is 10 months old, was named 'Flapjack' which I was not wild about so last night after thinking of other ones that would sound similar, then tried 'Cracker' (slang for a Florida native like me and him) and he responded. So 'Cracker ' it is. I found a few poopy and one pee accident in my workout room this morning so will pay more attention to giving him time outdoors on a leash. He wants to be GLUED to me and amazes me by invisibly entering and exiting with me by shadowing my feet. Oddly, his tail is bobbed, which I read on-line might be natural. Like the young woman I got him from says he moves like lightning! He weighs about 15 pounds, strikes me as underfed but now he eats the super-nutritious home made high fiber stews I raised Sweety on that does wonders for general health while preventing anal gland problems so in a month he should be plumped up a little. Next to find a cheap place to get him fixed. Based on his feet I THINK he may get a little bigger but not much. His eyebrows and white line on the bridge of his nose are adorable. Today for the first time he BOLTED across the street to the McMansion as I unpacked a big roses shipment and he briefly ignored my telling him to come back, so I will be very cautious about the front door as we have a couple asshole speeders in this neighborhood. (no grieving on my part if they fatally encounter a telephone pole as there are readily visible young kids on this street yet they persist).

Angel and Luvyu are SLOWLY warming up to him, especially Luvyu who ADORED Sweety from the moment they met 12 years ago. Sweety died May 11...this is the longest I've been dogless, with just one month passing between my previous dogs. So it is a joy to have such an adorable pooch in my house again. I can't believe how much he wants to cuddle when I wake up in the morning! I look forward to folks meeting him at the Wacky Hat Firepit Potluck the 19th. He has NO desire to chase or hurt the chickens, which I told the young woman that day would be the litmus test for my taking him...whew!

John

p.s. attached is a pic of  42 pound Sweety taken here not long after I bought this house in November of 1998 when she was a little over 2 years old. She was SUCH a sweet dog.