The dog we didn't even know we were looking for showed up in our driveway one day in early May 2006, and he hasn't left yet. Despite an aggressive publicity campaign, no one came forth to claim him, and eventually Erik took him to the vet to have him overhauled. He came back minus his male-hormone generators, and other than a slightly attenuated tendency to pee on everything in sight, we can't really tell the difference. He's the perfect match for Bailey, since he falls within B.'s world view ("if you aren't a yellow lab, you might as well be a fire hydrant") and the boys are starting to play well together. The cats have learned to stay away.
Adopted November 2001 from the Orange County Animal Protection Society, probably at the age of 7-9 months, though given the extent of her duplicity we can take nothing at face value.
She gave all appearances of being a lap cat during our initial meeting, but in retrospect she must have just been drugged or playing it straight to get out of the pound. Her papers alluded to "hissing and spitting at the dog" as a reason for her being "let go" by her previous family. Ironically, she sleeps peacefully on or near the dog, but if we dare to move unexpectedly in the middle of the night we'll be surprised by no less than a claw in the forehead. All that aside, she has moments of sweetness. She enjoys a good cuddle, on her terms, and purrs with abandon. Pet at your own risk.