Hope you have a lovely Christmas and we wish you all the best in the New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all!

Molly

Merry Christmas from Colleyville

That is so cute.

It is so warm out. I went swimming. Here is an elf relaxing on the sofa. Merry Christmas. Y'all. I was out trimming cedars on the driveway at sunset. The good weather was to die for. It is warmer here than at my sister's house in New Zealand and it is summer there.

Rosalee, your Alfie looks a lot like a tan and white rat terrier. My mini rattie, Button, can ID all her toys by name, learns their new names in about 10 repetitions/fetches, and if sent on a mission to bring me a particular one, she never retrieves the wrong toy. Gotta love a smart dog. :)

Mara -- I love those elf shoes!!!! Yep, it is so warm in Texas on most Christmas days you have to turn on the AC if you want to use the fire place.

Buttoni -- what a darling little dog! Button's toy in the picture looks bigger than her ... lol

I agree with you that Alfie has some Rat Terrier or Toy fox terrier in his genealogy. He has the long legs and general conformation of a Toy fox terrier, but is much bigger at about 25 lbs.. I used to visit 'Plant Maven' Kathy and admire her little Toy fox terrier Mavie, who she said was the smartest dog she ever owned. I vowed to get one someday.

Then lo and behold Alfie turned up on my front porch on Mother's Day this year. He was only about 10 or 12 weeks old, was so scared and was hiding behind some pots. I posted his picture on our neighborhood Facebook page, but no one claimed him. I guess someone thought Mother's Day would be a good day to dump unwanted puppies, It was my lucky day ... :-)

This three minute Alfie video was put together by my son using some videos I took when Alfie was about 5/6 mo. old. He was a natural at fetching a ball. I knew he was smart when he'd never give up looking for it. The poodle, Sport, appointed himself as "The Sport Police'' to 'protect' our 17 old dog Max, and would chase Alfie away when he pulled on Max's legs in trying to get him to play.

I feel all dogs are more intelligent than we give them credit for. They will pick up a lot of words on their own, but when given a little direction, as youngsters especially, they will transfer that learning into lots of other areas.

My daughter Rhonda fosters for Tracy's Dogs and made this video I Rescued a Human Today. Let a dog adopt you and have a fulfilling and happy 2017.

Definitely looks like some rattie in there, Rosalee. Kind of looks like possibly a rattie Basenji mix to me with that curled tail. Standard ratties are 25 and slightly larger. The Decker Giants get to 40# and have the best conformation for the breed IMO. Button "de-stuffs" her toys in a few days as a rule. The one in the photo hadn't been "killed" yet. Mine is papered as a Type B (longer legged) mini rat terrier, but her Toy Fox Terrier and Manchester genes are "strong" in this girlie, particularly her head. Her extremely deep chest would point to her greyhound genes. Button weighs 12-13#, so definitely a mini. Despite her one ear up and one down, we love her dearly and this dog has more personality than any other dog we've ever raised (all mini dachshunds).

Those are some lucky dogs you all have. In the country dogs get dumped all the time. Our first two were about 8 weeks old in the middle of the road at night when Dale found them. The latest was about 10 mos and walked into the yard and sat at Dale's (aka the dog whisperer) feet. The last two sheltered in our open garage when it was raining for weeks on end earlier this year. I was really, really lucky to find homes for those two where they're treated as well as any dog could be (and better than some kids).

Adoption is awesome, but please encourage people to get their dogs spayed or neutered. I'm probably preaching to the choir on this forum, but it breaks my heart when I see all the strays (and some that aren't strays) roaming around with a litter of new pups.

Lisa

Lisa, thank you for taking in those dogs. I so agree on your comments! According to my daughter, who works with dog rescue organizations, San Antonio has a stray population of over 150,000!!! That's a LOT of stray dogs!

Yes, we are probably preaching to the choir here, but it bears repeating. Only spay and neutering can prevent poor stray dogs from being euthanized in shelters or dying from disease, starvation,, hit by cars, etc.. Yes, I'm happy to have found Alfie, (who btw is neutered and chipped) but if I had not I would have gotten another 'little brown dog' through my daughter who fosters for Tracy's Dogs .

Buttoni, your little 'ratty' is precious as well as beautiful. Thanks for the education of the different sizes and types. I imagine Alfie does have more than a bit of terrier in his lineage. And yes, I've had the same thought; that he is built very much like a Basenji, a breed I raised and exhibited for years. Because your comment took me back to those days I did a Google search for Spearwood Basenjis, my kennel name, and surprisingly since it was so long ago, I found several mentions including this.

Oh and by the way, there is a small pile of Alfie's toys waiting to be re-stuffed and sewn. If I put a few drops of lemon grass oil on the 'wound' he will not open it back up ... :-)

And to stay on topic I'm wishing you all a happy and peaceful twenty-seventeen.

Rosalee, thank you. Button is blushing. She's a cutie, and a total goofball, but not great on breed conformation. She was not a rescue, but I used to have another one that was, named Zipper. Sweet dog with people, but she was too "alpha" and getting too aggressive with Button, fighting and drawing blood. She nearly starved to death on the streets before I adopted her at around 3 months. Her aggression was gradual, but after 5 years, she began to totally mess with Button's personality. Button was totally afraid of Zipper. She has been living with a new family who run a horse ranch a few miles away in Nolanville. Their rattie was stolen (or taken by a predator, they're not sure). Zipper's new humans love her and there, Zipper can be the only dog and as alpha as she wants to be there. They called after 6 months and said she is happy around the horses and their two barn cats, so I think we found the right forever home for her.