Adding a new puppy to the household has resulted in a jumbling of the canine behaviors. Kismet is still Alpha, but now she has to share a primary person. And Kenneth, all joking aside, has taken on a serious side as he does a lot of the training (and playing with, and checking in on) of a puppy.

And Kismet has been feeling, out of sorts. She has been more than willing to put Babbage in his place (with Kenneth looking on worriedly), but she’s been acting… upset.

Yesterday, she had her dental cleaning. And, in passing, the vet tech noted that she weighed exactly the same as the puppy. This isn’t good, keeping weight on geriatric dogs is a must, and while we knew she was bonier than we’d like, it’s hard to see under all the fluff.

So tonight, Kismet had the first meal of her new, switched-to-canned food diet. We’re putting more calories into her bowl, to put some much needed weight on her. And of course, the dogs are fed in order of seniority, so she eats first.

Not only did she inhale her food (and I may have put in more than I intended), but for the rest of the night, she has been radiating a certain smugness. It wasn’t just the extra calories, getting a food upgrade seems to have reinforced her position as senior dog, and made her much happier about her situation in general.

Food is love. Now certified by both the Jewish and Canine members of the household.

Back in the 1990s, kalluna and I founded and ran (out of a tiny house, on a tiny shoestring), Pomeranian Rescue in Denver.

And one December 24th, I got a call. Could I go look at a Pomeranian cross who had been in Denver Municipal Shelter for a month, because if I didn’t take him, he’d be euthanized.

I went out there, and what I found was a miniature version of Pippin, a dog kalluna had had before we were married, who still lived with her mother. He had arrived labelled “timid” and was about to be euthanized for being “aggressive”. I didn’t think he was, and well, it was the day before Christmas and I can either take him with me, or let him be killed. What do you think happened?

He went straight from the veterinary hospital to an adoptive family, but his first placement didn’t work out, and he came back to us within a few days. He spent about a month as a foster dog with us. When kalluna took him out into the yard and picked up a stick for him to fetch, he hid. He was maybe 18 months old, but feeling along his body his ribs had been broken multiple times, and his tail had been broken multiple times. And he was such a good dog, despite everything that he had been through. He was well mannered, he was easily housetrained, he would jump from the floor and land and perch parrot-like on your shoulder if you were sitting on the couch. And he wanted his own person, terribly terribly badly.

The right family turned up, and he spent the drive back to the house (all of 45 minutes) on the daughter’s lap. And that was it. She had a shadow, and he had a person.

In the years since then, we’ve brought three dogs into our household, and we’ve been successful in setting the primary bond for the dog the way we wanted each time. And we’ve been careful to follow Romeo’s Rule. “When you’re bringing the dog home, make sure the dog is in the lap of the target person.”

Kismet remains Senior Dog, reporting to me.
Kenneth continues to report to kalluna, but has been promoted to Lead Dachshund. Our new hire, Babbage, will report to me, with a dotted line to Kenneth^* for Dachshund specific training. As he is a puppy hire, Babbage comes to the household with no relevant industry experience, but the AsApp assured me that “he has the passion to excel in this role”.

Because he has shown no abilities in software development or testing, he has been slotted in to a PM role.

^*HR assures me that as I am Babbage’s manager, anti-nepotism rules do not prevent him from reporting to Kenneth for additional duties.