Yippee! We got a dog! or Oh Shit! We got a dog…

I knew it was coming. I sensed a disturbance in the force. It was out there. I realized it for the first time about two years ago when Mrsfabp said those fateful words “I’d really like a lap dog when we get to Las Cruces.” I held strong for as long as I possibly could. I changed the subject when she brought it up. I said, poor Kanye Kitty will be so upset. I told her I would not walk the dog, no matter what. I said if he caused any trouble I would have to bring him to “the farm.” (This is the mythical place that myparents took our first dog to, when I was growing up, because he nipped me.)

But this disturbance was strong. It kept intensifying no matter what I said. Of course Kanye didn’t help, he would never go to Mrsfabp when she called and if she picked him up, he quickly jumped back down. “I just want a lap dog,” she would say. "One who will sit with me."

There was a tremor in the force the first time we went to the Farmer’s Market, the first Saturday after we moved here. We walked among the dogs from the Mesilla Animal Shelter, and like the beautiful songs of the Sirens that tempted Jason and his Argonaut crew, the pull was very strong but I lashed Mrsfabp to my wheelchair and was able to help her resist.

The second tremor occurred just before Christmas, when our friends, the Zees, rescued a cute little black dog, documented here. He has had some issues, proving to be a bit of a Houdini, escaping several times from their yard, but he is cute and lovable and precious and Mrsfabp had trouble resisting his charms. CollegeBoy and MissNicole, here on a visit also had trouble. But in the end, Mrsfabp came to her senses once again, and allowed the Zees to keep their rescue dog.

Then yesterday happened. The plan was for breakfast, a trip through the Farmer’s Market and then a seat at the LCNM Centennial Parade. Breakfast was great and the Market was hopping and then Mrsfabp got to the Mesilla Animal Rescue area and ALL the puppies and dogs put on the show. She kept looking at me but I was not going to give her any positive reinforcement for this. She ended up agreeing to have one of the volunteers bring a small puppy to our home to see how he would do with our Kanye.We walked the Markey for a while and then when were going to the parade, Mrsfabp made a quick run back to the Animal Rescue place only to find out that two other people had put a hold on the puppy of her choice. However there was another puppy she had seen, a wiry puppy, a year old, named Bandit, who had been abused and in the shelter for about 5 months. Well you know what happened. I need not discuss this any further. I present our new puppy, Skipito Bandito, Skippy for short, after the children’s book dog Skippy John Jones.

SKIPITO BANDITO