The animal update

Sometimes I just sit and look at Ransom in grateful amazement. At 80-pounds of lean muscle, he is stronger than I am. His powerful jaw contains large, sharp teeth that can easily rip through flesh. I am convinced that he does not have the cognitive ability to reason and therefore reacts basically on instinct and learned-conditioning that we have taught. Yet, when he is laying on the floor and I give him a look, his tail immediately begins thumping in excitement. When I ask him to go downstairs, he does. And when we are watching a movie, he forgets his size and insists on cuddling-up in between us on the [two-person] couch.

It's amazing that an animal is so responsive to my words, actions and even my mood.

And he is so happy to please. One night, I had put him outside for the evening. I didn't realize it had gotten dark until I heard him pound on the door to come inside. He happily trotted inside and went straight to the front door rug, but not before I noticed something strange about his mouth.

"Ransom," I said in a suspicious voice. He turned his back-side to me but I was able to see that there was indeed something between his jaws.

"Drop it," I commanded. Slowly, he released the catch and thankfully, it was already dead.

"Leave it," I said, and then realized he should not be in trouble for retrieving, so I praised him and gave him a deep belly rub. This is what he brought me:



I really don't think he killed the bird, but who knows. He didn't seem too upset that I wasn't going to let him eat it, but he was very happy that he brought it to me. Who said you need to have little boys before strange animals get brought into your house?

Ransom needs a brother or sister, but it just hasn't been right yet. I look at adoptable dogs often and hadn't found one that I loved until a few weekends ago when I met this guy.

He's the same age and size as Ransom and I think they would be buds. They'd at least expend their energy on each other playing outside. We are still thinking it over, but I would love to give him another hug!