My wife had wanted a dog ever since we moved in together, but I was firmly against it. We live in a small apartment, and we work alot. I didn't think a dog was consistent with that lifestyle. I thought the dog would likely cause destruction, and might disturb our neighbors as well. But the real reason was that I didn't think it would be fair to the dog. But Jill kept "working" on me. :-)
In late July of 2003, what appeared to be a chocolate Lab started hanging around our place. It gave every indication of having been "dropped off" by someone. Jill and Cassie took to feeding it, of course. Cassie, after discarding the name "Johnny Knoxville", christened the dog "Tom Green". (Well, she was 13.) Jill talked about taking it in, but I stood firm as the voice of reason.
I managed this until two or three days after the dog started hanging around. That's when I noticed the dog was now limping severely, probably from pounding around on the hard, hot pavement all day. Finally, I relented, and suggested that we could allow the dog to stay the night on our deck. I didn't have to say it twice before Jill had the dog on our deck, and was on her way to the store to buy dog food, a collar, and a leash. Not fond of the name "Tom Green", we settled on "Guinness", after our favorite beer. We had discussed previously that this would be a cool name for a dog, but it is even more appropriate for this dog since he's actually the color of Guinness.
The next day I took Guinness to the vet to get his shots and a checkup. The vet gave him a clean bill of health, so I felt safe allowing him to come inside on a "trial basis". After some initial hissing, Patina got accustomed quite quickly to the new family member.
Guinness got "tested" more quickly than I had intended. I had planned to put him back on the deck when nobody was going to be home, but the very first time I had to go to work there was a horrendous thunderstorm outside, and I didn't have the heart to do it. So I left him "home alone", with the cat. When Jill returned six or seven hours later, all was well and no accidents.
So, it looks like he is staying. He is not a purebred, according to the vet, but he is very close. The vet also estimated his age at 1.5 years.
This photo was taken by me on our deck at our home in Knoxville, Tennessee, on July 31, 2003.
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