A snapshot of Archer

I know we all think our dogs are the cutest and most special, but I have to share a verbal snapshot of Archer.

My husband, Paul, and I have three dogs. We tend to stay at three - an older dog, a middle aged dog, and then a young one. I can keep three trained, groomed, exercised, etc. When we lost our oldest dog, Dax, last January, we were going to wait a while for a puppy as my husband had a real hard time losing Dax.

Well, in April we got a call from the breeder we usually go to and she offered us a five month old puppy. She wanted a special home for this guy; he had been her pick as owner of the stud dog, but he had a retained testicle and wouldn't be show/breeding material. But personality wise, she felt he was very special with lots of potential. We fell for that hook, line, and sinker once we saw the puppy.

Archer is named for the character played by Scott Bakula on the last Star Trek show; he is charismatic, good looking, and oh what a charmer. Uh huh. He has charmed his way into our hearts, that's for sure.

But anyway, long story short. Last night I was on the sofa, reading, when one of our cats, Squash, jumped up and snuggled in next to me. Archer jumped up on the other side of her. He placed his favorite Orbee ball (his very favorite!) next to her and nudged it so it bumped her. Obviously a play invitation. She ignored him. He bumped it closer to her. Again, ignored. He reached over and very very gently, began grooming her with his front teeth. She was indignant but tolerated it. However, when he began licking her ears, she decided she'd had enough and with no claws, bopped him on the head. In his rush to be submissive, when he rolled over on his back, he rolled off the sofa. Squash said, "My job is done!" and snuggled back up next to me. Meanwhile, I'm laughing so hard I'm trying not to fall off the sofa!

Ahhh.....this is why we have pets. Laughter is good for us.

Archer was fine, by the way.

Liz