boxofdelights

Newt just went in to have his teeth cleaned, but they heard a heart murmur. They were willing to anesthetize him anyway, but I am not feeling lucky. So I have to take him to CSU for an echocardiogram to find out whether it is heart disease or a mitral valve issue, which they say is common in small dogs.

I had a really good time at Wiscon. I'm just now getting over the tired. Yesterday and the day before, every time I sat down in front of the computer I'd discover that my eyes were crossing and I had to go back to bed.

kalmn had asked for some pictures of me with Newt, to give to her son, so that when he asked "where's Newt?" she could point to the picture and remind him that Newt lives with Susan-you-met-at-Wiscon. I'm not going to post any of those because they are terrible but here are a couple of Newt in his new environment.

I am not holding a treat. This is how he looks at me ALL THE TIME.

This time I am holding a treat, since I want both dogs to look at the camera at the same time.

I believe firecat is right, Newt has no idea how big he isn't.

Newt needed a new home because he would not give up his conviction that it was his job to restrain Betsy's three-year-old son from moving quickly and unpredictably. Now Newt is doing the same thing to my son, but it is not the same thing, because my son is six feet tall. When Mungo jumps up and strides across the room, and Newt throws his tiny body at Mungo's giant feet, it reminds me of the little boy's attempt to turn a stampeding herd of cattle in Australia. It's a miracle he doesn't get squished.


Newt also keeps reminding me of Beginners. There's a Jack Russell in that movie who needs a new home, and gives a lot of soulful gazes. When Newt gazes at me that way, I always think he's thinking, "Thank you very much for having me. May I go home now?"

That is, I have adopted kalmn's dog Newton. Aiko looooves him. Newt does not love Aiko back, not yet, and sometimes needs to tell him so. My German Shepherd accepting a rebuke from a dog the size of his head is hilarious.

I've never had a little dog before. He seems so vulnerable. Much more so than a cat.

He's smart, though. In the house and the back yard, he stays next to me, but when we went out the front door, he trotted out ahead, ears and tail high, to the sidewalk, then right, then, two doors down, into the street where the van that brought him here had been parked. His ears were flat to his head and his tail to his belly when I scooped him up. I don't think he was afraid of me, since he didn't back away; I think it was just the overwhelm of the situation, realizing that he couldn't retrace his steps any further and he had no idea how to get home.

He will get home though. He'll come home to Aiko and me. You were wearing the ruby slippers all along, Newt.