Salvete omnes -
De domo Claudiorum Iohannorum (assuming my family would adopt my nomen-cognomen-combination), canes nostros ostendeo:
Hic "Einstein" primus erat canium. It was 1995. There was this little, sleek, Pomeranian-mix puppy wandering loose in traffic. Our next door neighbor-lady picked him up, then thrust him upon us. We all wanted a dog, so we adopted him. As you can see, he's getting a bit gray (like me) as the years go on.
Fast forward five years. My eldest was walking home from school, himself a lover of dogs, and this raggedy, fairly dirty, homeless white-yellow terrier (or whatever) was standing across the street. They looked at each other. And that was it; the dog would not leave him. We waited for her to see if she wandered off again, then we got to know her, adopted her and named her "Lady" -- although in fact she looks much more like "Tramp".
Where Einstein was a nervous, loves-everybody-dog, Lady turned out to be strictly a one-man dog; Alex was her "mate", as she saw it, and no one had better come between them without passing inspection. We all got a nip before (after 5 or 6 years) she mellowed out some. Einstein had a bit of an identity and displacement crisis when she arrived, but he adjusted with sufficient compensatory attention from us.
Lady was tough, quiet, immovable (yes, I've tripped over her) and a hunter, mostly the occasional bird, but we were always pulling her avid self off of any furniture close to the turtle tank -- oh, she was hungry for those turtles.
Which brings us to 2007. My wife is taking the two dogs for a walk, and has been for some time thinking of getting a large dog -- she wants a watchdog. And then this big golden retriever puppy comes bounding along the street, saying hello to everyone available. One woman has her door open and he just invites himself in.
Back home, my wife tells Alex about the dog. He goes back to the court where the dog was seen. And -- once again -- the dog won't leave Alex. Fait accompli, we now have a large golden retriever pup. WOOF-WOOF! Oh yes, a bit noisy, and somewhat unpopular with the little older dogs, but they get along well enough.
Valete.