Dog Days

You know what I like a whole lot? Puppies. They're on my what-makes-me-happy list and for good reason. Today a very cool thing happened. I'm down in Miami visiting my new home and my man (don't I sound like Katie Holmes talking about Tom Cruise? "My man" - oy vey, she got on my nerves last night on Letterman) and we went to pick up our new dog this morning. He's a rescued pooch who was found wandering in some farmland south of Miami, where there is no water or food to be found if you're of the canine variety and you don't have opposable thumbs or indoor plumbing.

He was very gaunt (he's supposed to be around 100 lbs. or so), he was so skinny you could see only ribs & bones, he had lost all of his fur because it fell out due to mange and malnutrition, his back leg was dislocated and he was severely dehydrated. A very kind woman was driving along the road and spotted him. Lucky for him, she had just driven through McDonald's and picked up a couple of Big Macs. She unwrapped one and set it on the passenger seat... pooch climbed up and scarfed it down. That was mid-April. Since then he was taken very good care of by a generous vet and his staff. This guy is awesome (he travels the world helping sick animals and you can just tell the man has a heart of gold) - he took such good care of the dog that he's put almost all his weight back on (still has about 15 lbs. to go, I'd say), his fur has almost all grown back, his skin is almost all healed up, and he's the nicest animal I think I've ever met. He's so grateful, he nuzzles up to you like he's a cat, w/o regard for his own size. I'm convinced he thinks he's a Yorkie or something.

The folks at the vet's office were calling him Mister. I don't know if that will stick, but whatever his name is he's Lucky, that's for sure. And we're lucky, too - because we have the sweetest big boy of a dog we ever could have hoped for. Maybe Mac - for Big Mac. A friend suggested Ronald, maybe Frieswiththat. Mickey might work. Mickey D. Any suggestions?