New puppy.

So obviously we have too much spare money and free time lying around, because we got a new puppy to make our home more chaotic and to keep our big boy, Tralfaz, company.

Mostly successful so far!

Nipper was named for his resemblance to the famous RCA Victor mascot (advertising mascots being terribly important to me, of course).

So far the teething Nipper is well-named, as he is biting everything that comes within a foot of him. He can't destroy the teething toys, but he's hell on hands. The furniture is safe so far, as it is too big for him to get the mouth around. The laptop wire looked like fun, though! Mrs. Key made a yank save on his leash on that one. Basically, it's like living with a miniature land shark. A barbarian, at that---he doesn't know the rules and he doesn't speak the language.

But he has cuteness, which is one of the major forces of the universe (magnetism and gravity being two other examples). Cuteness is also an evolutionary defense, protecting the young from their exasperated elders and helping ensure survival to adulthood. Cuteness is a gift from God "to stop us from eating our young," as a friend of mine put it.

And indeed, even dogs that look awful as adults are cute as babies. All puppies are cute.

Yes, all.
NB: This is not one of our dogs.

And Tralfaz was about as much trouble when he was a babe. He was not so bitey, but he was bigger, so his bites mattered more. Nowadays he's 97% good, the other 3% being his random teenage varmintry when outside.

Well, maybe 91% good. He can be a real pain in the ass outside, especially when joggers or other dogs go by.

But it's been a long time since Fazzy was in need of 3:30 a.m. pee runs. Have not missed those. Nipper's baby bark goes through your head like an ice pick. Then, after the hauling out and getting the pee and/or poop, he may have trouble getting back to sleep. Sometimes I've just stayed up. Eventually he'll conk out. Sure, kid, fine. Not like you have to work. 

We have to feed Tralfaz first, because he's such a sucker for other dogs that he'd wind up getting pushed around by this pup---and Nipper takes this as a personal affront, yowling like mad while El Fazzo is trying to have breakfast.

On the whole it's been a challenging time. Sleep deprivation makes you feel sick. And what we learned with Tralfaz does not always apply to Nipper. Tralfaz is endlessly fascinated by the little guy but resents the time he's lost with us since puppies are so needy. By the end of the day all of us are dead.

But you know what? Last night Nipper slept through the night, all the way to when I got up. He bounces around like a happy balloon when I get home. He already will fetch a ball and bring it back. He was bombing around on the porch this morning, just loving life. He's getting bigger and better every day. He's going to be a good dog. And he's so darn cute it hurts.