About a week ago, we started fostering a little whippet cross named Roo from the SCARS organization, to see if she would fit well into our little family. We didn't want to say anything at the time, because we really weren't sure how another dog was going to fit into our lives, or how it would get along with Cayce. Only a couple people even knew we were fostering.

Roo is a sweet little dog with a pretty heartbroken life; in her short year of existence, she'd bounced between three different homes and two animal rescue organizations. The first family gave her up to the SPCA in Fort McMurray because "she got too big" (one should understand that whippets are about 18" tall). Another family gave her up because they couldn't keep her in their apartment, and the last family gave her up because the husband became allergic. We were family #4 for Roo and it was apparent that she really wasn't taking anything for granted. On the car ride home, she huddled up in a corner, and was very nervous and shy.

Long story short, on Saturday we visited with the SCARS people and gave them a cheque for the adoption fees for Roo, now Ruby Throated Hummingbird - Ruby for short (Kirsten insisted Ruby have a full kennel name, since the breed has a history of racing). This last week she showed herself to be a complete sweetheard. She curls up intoa little puppy ball with us on the couch, is quiet and polite, and - most importantly - settled perfectly into the role of beta dog under Cayce.

Cayce has stayed with other dogs before; Bronte, Kirsten's mom's dog, had stayed with us for a few days, Cayce has stayed at Bronte's and Cayce had visited with Kirsten's brother Nathan's dog Boone. Both times, they ended up having at least one fight over territory, toys, etc. Not so with Ruby - the two of them have been thick as thieves since the day we brought Ruby home, and they share toys, pillows, bones and food. They do a lot of wrestling, but it's that puppy-playing kind of wrestling - no actual aggression or attempts to harm. It's nice to have a dog that can tire Cayce out, and give her a run for her money. We took them both to the big dog park yesterday, and Ruby achieved amazing land speeds for a dog. Turns out she's also a big jumper - she leapt a few times from a 10' cliff down to the river bed.

She is also really good around children, likely because they're apt to give her lots of food. Our friend Khyati's son played with her a lot on Saturday night, and she was an absolute joy for him to be with (many small dogs have issues with children under 7).

We're saving up for a new digital camera, so hopefully within a couple of months we'll have some pictures for y'all. Or, I suppose, you could just come by and see her in person.