Meet Maisy

During Jake's party on Saturday, I noticed a dark shape darting around our backdoor neighbors' yard. I couldn't see it clearly, but I was SO HOPING it was a puppy.

These neighbors were the Actual Owners of our dog Moses, who we lost a couple of months ago to old age. I'd wondered if they would get a new dog but thought they might not ... they didn't spend that much time with Moses -- but we loved him to pieces!

I dashed out after our party guests left and went to the fence. I scanned the yard twice but didn't see anything. I clicked my tongue and called, "Here, puppy puppy! Here, puppy puppy!" And look who came running:



(In case you missed it upon first glance, YES THAT IS A CENTIMETER OF PINK TONGUE STICKING OUT OF HER MOUTH. Look again; it's too cute to miss.)

Of course I opened the gate and let her right in to our yard ... I had a momentary thought of, "What if it's their houseguest's dog and not really theirs?" I quickly disregarded that thought. Who cares? She's already partly mine.



Her mouth is full of puppy teeth, and she's not shy about using them. She can already retrieve a stick and a ball, and she was gentle with the boys. I'm smitten.



She loves to chase and be chased. Here she is in Fake Resting Stance, ready to dash away when I get about two feet from her:



Later in the day, after I'd returned her to "her" yard, her owner came over to officially introduce us. Maisy is about 10 weeks old and is a chocolate lab mix. Mixed with WHAT, they're not sure. But she's a precious little thing. I asked if I could buy a leash to take her walking with me on the weekends, and he said, "Sure! She'd love it." So, I'm putting "leash" on the Wal-Mart list.



Can you smell the puppy breath from there?