Timothy has always been a dog lover.

When he was about 6 a friend gave him the Usborne book Understanding Dogs. Feeling rather blue about our disobedient dog Weatherby, Timothy mused, “I wish we had an understanding dog.”

Later as a young teen he spents hours pouring over a used book we had picked up by German dog trainer Koehler. He prefaced every sentence with, “Koehler says…”

Therefore, it was no surprise when he asked to get a dog for Alex and Andrew. I was a little miffed that they named the dog on the way home. It is true that they spent their childhood apologizing to visitors for our dog Weatherby’s name. I frequently heard the boys say to visitors, “My mom named him.” But I love to name dogs. I think I might have named the dog John Carmichael but they named him Achilles.

Poor little Achilles has been welcomed with so much joy and love I fear for his life. He is very cute in an ugly sort of way.

Anyone want to guess where I got the names Weatherby or John Carmichael?