Quote for the day:

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and man.
—Mark Twain

A couple weeks ago as I was walking in the neighborhood, I came across a little fellow and just reflexively bent down to scratch his neck. His human companion didn’t seem to mind.

Ever since then, when I’ve seen the two of them, the little guy seemed to recognize me, but I was always either too far away or the human part of the duo was engaged in a conversation with another human, so I just kept walking.

Until a few days ago, when I returned from the Acme, and the two of them were on the sidewalk in front of my neighbor’s house. I nodded to the human, and as I stepped onto the curb, the little fellow, who had been behind a parked car until then, saw me and tugged at his leash so suddenly that he brought his human along with him as he came to greet me.

Naturally, I stooped down to greet him properly, of course.

“What’s his name?” I asked of his human friend as I scratched his neck.

“Tugboat,” came the reply.

“What a perfect name!” I couldn’t help thinking how Tugboat had tugged his friend along in his effort to greet me.

I’ve seen them another time since then and learned that Tugboat is an English bulldog (I figured the bulldog part but I didn’t notice an English accent) and is six months old. When he’s full grown he should be between 50 and 60 pounds.

Oh, and his human friend is named Ted. They share a house just up the block from me.

Meanwhile, the mural is progressing.