This is Nox.

And he was at our local SPCA. But now he's here with us.

I can't say enough good things about the SPCA. They do important work. We got Purdy, our border collie, from them a little more than a year ago now. She had been left locked in a bathroom with a few other dogs when the owners moved. We figured (with the help of our vet) that she was about 3 years old when we adopted her. And she is the best dog ever. No, seriously. Best. Dog. Ever. I can't imagine life without her. So we thought we wanted to add another dog to the mix, because she really enjoys other dogs and there are always great dogs that are waiting for home. I said no puppies, both because puppies are a lot of work and because I really pictured us bringing another grown dog home, one who needed another chance. But there was Nox, and it was love, and truly, he needed a home, too. And he's fitting in really well. It's nice to see Purdy wrestling with him, because she's never really been comfortable rough-housing with us. (We think her past owners were less than kind to her, so I'm sure that has something to do with it.) And he's a lot of work, but we're armed with some great training material, plus we'll be taking him to a puppy obedience class after his 3 month shots. And, well, he's lovely.