this dog I am 'sitting'...

...is a bit big to qualify as a 'yapper', but with a high pitched bark that definitely brings much smaller canines to mind. Like poodles, and other things that don't seem to know how small they really are, leaning towards trying to sound really aggressive/impressive, but with pip-squeak voices. Like seeing that big barrel chested guy, who you assume is the bass singer in the gospel quartet with the amazingly high pitched voice. Big dogs can intimidate with size, but little ones often appear to not realize they could be stepped upon, and tend to make lots of defensive sounds, not realizing no one is fearful of the noise coming out of a three pound fuzzball.

I put her on a string and took her for a walk yesterday late, when it was getting dark. I've enjoyed going down to the end of the street, and seeing the fireflies coming up out of the weeds in the semi-dark, so we strolled down the sidewalk. She is a bit jumpy, skittish, and kept getting underfoot. I've been trying to do some walking every day, in addition to the constant to-and-fro that occurs when I am at work several days a week.

This little dog was so tired when we got back to the house from walking about two miles, she put herself to bed. She came to my house with a crate, food, bowl, leash, and as soon as I took the leash off when we got back inside, she drank some water and headed off to bed. I went to look for her, and she had already situated herself on the pillow in the crate, settled down for the night.

I'm guessing she has been mistreated in a former life. She is wary of men, and barks at strange noises, anything that is unfamiliar, but really pretty congenial and mostly so quiet and peaceful you would not know she is in the house. My only complaint is that she has obviously been allowed to sit and sleep on furniture. She apparently thinks everything she sees is within her domain. Jumping up on chairs, couch, bed. Not something I had planned on. But she will only be here a week, and I can tolerate it for a few more days. Not so sure about Lucy: she has been usurped, and  not taking kindly to the canines who have moved in on her territory. Perhaps this will persuade her to reconsider the cushy life, and revert back to an 'outside' cat?