Yep, Another Dog Story!

    It was the day after Thanksgiving, cold and snowy.   I walked out the front door of our rented duplex with a bag of garbage destined for the trash can that leaned against the side of the building.  But, the gods had other plans in mind for me.
    "Look at that!" said I.  The bag fell from my hand onto the cement porch as I stepped into the snow to scoop up something small and fury that was whining and running toward me.  What else, a puppy.  Not just any puppy, a four weak old, pure blood, golden lab.  He was shivering from the cold and fear and from hunger.  Trudging through the door, I pressed him in front of Karin's face and said, "Look what I found."
    Her eyes grew large.  "OH!!"
    What we had here was another Marley.  Only this was a few years before that movie came out.
    Karin placed the puppy on the dining room table and I slid a small bowl of milk under the little guy's chin.
    Three children discovered the new arrival.  Yep, another dog.  Joy!  Giddy wonder!  What the hell were we getting into?
    So, of course, we would give him the run of the house.  Beau, our five dollar farm dog, was skeptical.  He barked a couple times before retreating to the couch for a snooze.
    The furry ball lapped up the milk and squirmed in Karin’s hands when she lifted him from the table.  He hadn’t forgotten Beau and when little feet touched the ground he ran to the couch.  Peering up at the cushions with his front paws pressed against the fabric of the couch, he was whining and yapping.  The farm dog sniffed down at the fluffy thing and their noses touched.  The little intruder’s petite tail wagged into a blur.  Time to play.  For Beau, it was time to growl.
    Beau jumped off his comfort spot and ran to the kitchen looking at me with eyes that demanded an explanation.  About that time the little lab was right behind Beau nipping at his back leg.  Another sharp growl and Beau trotted away with the lab in pursuit.  Beau moved from the kitchen through the dining room into the hall and through the other entrance to the kitchen, completing a circle.  The big dog was shadowed by the very little dog as both canines ran around and around, through dining room and kitchen and hallway.  Over and over and over.
    “Hmmm, Beau’s digg’n this,” said Abby the daughter and middle child.
    The humans of the house lined the perimeter of the run way where Beau and the Ball of Fur were charging.  We were fans, spectators - witnessing barks and squeals and whines.  When the little one got tired and expressed his distress in being left behind Beau would stop to let him catch up.  Both started barking, running round and round and barking.  Beau barked so much he lost his bark, like a human can lose her voice when shouting at a football game.
    Well, it had been an eventful day.  New dog, old dog laying on the couch together snoozing.  They were crowded around the humans who were watching a movie - a large bowl of popcorn wedged between Joey the youngest son and Jeremiah the elder.  Lucky (he really was), the new dog, sniffed a becoming smell.  Climbing over a fallen forest of human legs, he found the bowl as he struggled to scale the final leg.  Liking what he saw, he slid then rolled end-over-end into the bowl of popcorn.  Success!  He ate his way to the bottom of the bowl then fell asleep, in the bowl.