We've been without a pet for a couple years now, and although I indicated that when the freedom that comes with "there will be no replacement pets" occurred, that I would be fine with that pet-less stage, instead I found that I missed the little critters dreadfully. So, I was sorta kinda thinking maybe when Lindsay's crew produced another litter, I would push myself to the front of the line. And I still plan on doing that.
In the meantime, Marie had puppies to train and show and welcomed visits from The Lonely-For-Tibbies Girl (that would be me) stopping by and spoiling all her Tibbies with lavish praise and attention. As it turns out, one of Marie's darlings sported a bit of a bowed leg issue that wasn't exactly going to wow the judges in Marie's show ring world. Yuuki (his given name, but I referred to him as The Little Cowboy) was going to need a new range to ride. Lindsay and I had spoken often about whether I would like a boy Tibbie (we had two of Lindsay's best boys ever, Pippin and Vash, so I am very partial to boys) or a girl Tibbie (Lindsay thinking maybe I would like to try having a little girl puppy as I loved her Tibbie girls so much). There was never a question about it being a Tibbie either way...Tibetan Spaniels are the way we roll around here. So I had sorta kinda thought maybe I would get an Uptown Girl this next round and see what girl doggies were like. All this speculation and dreaming came to an end when Marie's Little Cowboy spoke to my heart with those big Tibbie eyes and my thoughts of an Uptown Girl turned instead to a Downtown Dude.
The rest I can't explain. Well, I can, but it's complicated. Since I was getting the doggie, I figured the guys should have input into the name we chose. Gus was the favorite choice (and I got to input that he should have a fancier name than just plain Gus as he was, after all, from a noble lineage, an excellent kennel, and of show quality, except for those little bowed legs, so Gus would become Augustus for fancy occasions). Now Gus is on the smaller side of male Tibbies, so having a big tough guy name like Gus would seem to give him an advantage...like in "you don't mess around with Gus," whether this be fact or fiction.
And then, I don't know exactly what happened but somehow Gus got the last name of Huckleberry. He's no hound dog, or maybe it's because this week is the 130th anniversary of the publishing of Huckleberry Finn, or maybe they just liked the sound of Huckleberry...I don't really understand it, other than something about it being unique and no one else will ever have a dog named Gus Huckleberry. And they probably won't. And you can probably understand why without me pointing it out.
So, without further ado, Gus Huckleberry, the Downtown Dude, is scheduled to take up residence on Saturday and ride the range here for the rest of his days with his cowboy stance and his suits-him-just-fine name. This is what happens when you let guys name dogs.
A very special thank you to Hiroomi Morishita for his generosity and best wishes to us and for his wonderful little Yuuki. His kennel in Japan is Yuuki (Gus's) homeland. We are very thankful to Hiroomi and Marie Firos for their confidence in placing Yuuki (Gus) with us.