Yep. It's true. There are two new pups in the house. Can you believe it? I can barely believe it myself. We've been looking for another dog. One other dog. Remember Mandy? When Lucy moved in, Phoebe already lived here. Phoebe was our first born and she died last February at the regal age of fourteen. I'll write about her someday, but not today. For the time that Phoebe and Lucy overlapped we really enjoyed having two dogs in the house, and we knew we wanted to do it again. We tried all spring and summer, but each attempt seemed forced somehow. Neel kept reminding me that the right pup would fall into our laps. He didn't seem to realize that the right PUPS would show up!

Thea

When I called my friend Greg last week, he surprised my by saying that he had a Corgi on his lap. It was a trial run. They think they're not ready for a dog. I can appreciate that. Still, I think you're always more ready to open your heart than you think. So I jumped on that right away. Lucy needs a Corgi sister. (Right, Lucy?) Then Greg told me, "Well, Miss Corgi here has a daughter."

Violet

Here's how it happened. Greg has a friend who is the kind of guy who just has a warm and open heart. You can feel the goodness simply by standing near him. I think these dogs knew that when they showed up at his doorstep a few weeks ago, bundle of belongings tied to a stick. Dogs know, you know? This guy will take care of us. And John did. He had two beagles for them to hang with, a great yard to run around in and a lot of love. He tried and tried to find their owners. Did all of the right things. But the sad fact is that we have a transitory population in this town and people move a lot and animals get abandoned. We think that's what happened. After Greg and his wife decided that this just wasn't the right time for them to have a dog, John pointed out that he'd like to see these dogs stay together.

It's clear. They go together. Thea and Violet. Neel and I were pretty wary of two dogs. We took Lucy over for a meet and greet, and as soon as we saw them we knew it would be fine. They're little dogs! It's the Black-and-Tan Brigade. So we got another crate, some new toys and pink collars and here we are. And so far things have been going fine. Better than expected.

There's definitely a lot more movement in the house. It'll take some getting used to. Lucy was very jealous last night. "Look, I can jump on the bed! Oh? You can't? Too bad. So sad." And I wish I had a picture of the sleeping arrangements. The new girls sharing a crate. Lucy finally in her crate (we couldn't take her lording it over them by jumping off the bed and then asking to be picked up over and over again), and Callum asleep in a sleeping bag on the floor between them.

Today Lucy has been all, "Here's my ball, and here's my bone, and oh! You want to go in the living room? We can go in the living room, let's go!!" And then I look into the backyard and see Lucy and Thea and no Violet. Of course total panic. She's a baby. We think she's only about six months old. Throw on shoes and a jacket. Bring the other girls in. Run into the front yard. Finally see her in our neighbor's backyard. She dug under the fence (shades of The Pokey Little Puppy). So I go next door to get her. She's gone back into our yard. So I go home. And she's back under the fence in their yard. I finally wait at the hole and she crawls under to me. A little muddy and terribly pleased with herself.

And here's Thea's response to all of this mess...

Welcome home, girls. Except someone has gas.