Jeff decided pretty quickly on this one. We didn't go to the adult dog kennels. I didn't even have time to go to the cat room, which I love to do. As we're filling out the application, we come across questions about the pets we've owned in the past five years and their whereabaouts. Writing in what happened to Thor made him cry (though he fought it hard). Seeing him get upset made me emotional, as well. We then talked to an "adoption counselor." Telling her the details about Thor got to be hard to do, too. I got a lump in my throat. I did most of the talking about that subject. It was quite a bittersweet day, though mostly sweet.

We were quickly approved, picked him up, got a free bag of Puppy Chow, and a discount in the pet store there. We bought a couple chew toys for him there. In the car, I held him in my lap in a blanket. We then went from the Humane Society straight to PetSmart to get a crate. It's huge, but has a divider that can make the space smaller.

We have named him Filo (not sure how we'll spell it), as in Philo Beddoe. (For those who don't know, that's Clint Eastwood's character in Every Which Way But Loose.) "Right turn, Clyde." I first thought of Josey, as in The Outlaw Josey Wales, but Josey by itself sounds like a girl's name. Harry (as in Dirty) and Hogan (his character in Two Mules for Sister Sara) are not good dog names, either. I was leaning toward Sid ('cause he's so Vicious). Jeff couldn't think of anything. I wrote down over a dozen names I saw on a pet name website where you could search by animal, gender, and stuff like musician, ethnicity, actors, etc. I'm not sure if I like Filo, but it'll do, I guess. Besides, Zeus seems pass�.

He seems to be smart. I've already had a discussion with him about trying to get on the couch. He's messed in the floor a few times, but we usually catch him and take him outside before it gets out of hand (so to speak). We got him lots of chew toys, including a tennis ball think that is shaped like a dildo. OK, not really. It's like a stretched out tennis ball small enough so he can get it in his mouth. Jeff said, "I guess we can call it that (tennis ball dildo) if you want to, dear."

The cats are having mixed reactions. Baby was pissed all day Saturday and most of Sunday. She was by herself for a few years, and has been through the additions of 2 other cats and 2 other dogs. She's thinking, "Man, I'm too old for this shit. I did not approve this." She seems okay with it now, just a little annoyed. Buzz, who grew up with Thor, seems hardly fazed at all. It seems like Filo's his new buddy, which is appropriate. He and Thor were buddies. Thea has hid under the bed like a freak. She finally came out to use the litter box, but is now hiding out in the laundry room. I guess she thinks there's only room for one freak, since Filo acts a bit freaky - like a puppy, that is.

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Should I go for the Gold Membership? I'm not sure I'll have the time to utilize all the extras to justify spending the money. I do at least want a better template, and to put a profile pic up. If I did decide to splurge, I could bore you all with pics of the puppy and his interaction with the cats. Or, his getting smacked in the head by the cats. Good stuff.