BIG
Meet our Head of Security: Lionel Trainwreck Puppypuppypuppy, a half border collie who was born on December 26, 2000 and came to live with us on February 24, 2001. Lionel loves to play tug-of-war better than anything else in the world, but chewing up sticks is a close second in his affections. No stuffed toy is safe, since once he's chewed on one long enough to discover that it has stuffing inside, all the stuffing must immediately be removed.
Lionel's border collie heritage makes him a serious-minded dog, and he is still learning all about Things That Need Barking At, and Things That Don't. He worries about all kinds of things, but he and Butterfly take obedience classes at Sandia Dog Obedience Club to help him meet other people and dogs, get over his shyness, and learn to let his pack leaders do the worrying. Border collies excel at dog sports like flyball and agility due to their "relentlessly industrious" temperament, and Lionel is working toward getting involved in something like that.
BIGGER
Rowdy came to us as a foster greyhound but ended up with a prolonged stay due to behavioral issues. He is a very sweet boy and since he seems to have settled into a position in our pack, we officially adopted him in November 2003. He knows all the most comfortable spots in the house, and has toys stashed everywhere. When Cu howls, Rowdy never fails to add a descant line to the song.
BIGGEST
After many years of reading about Irish Wolfhounds, admiring them, and ogling various dogs at the North Texas Irish Festival, Butterfly and Gryphon applied to adopt a wolfhound from North Texas Irish Wolfhound Rescue in 2002. Not quite a year later, at the 2003 Irish Festival, Butterfly found out that the group had a prospect for her. Cu was considered a special needs dog due to his age (at 5, he was considered a senior in wolfhound terms) and background. After growing up in a family, Cu's recent history was turbulent with a loss in the family and inability of the surviving family member to care for such a big dog. Butterfly went to meet him the next day, and fell in love on sight.
In March of 2003, we loaded Lionel, Rowdy, and the parrots into our ancient RV and headed for Dallas, Texas, where Gryphon would meet the new boy and, if all went well, we'd sign the papers and bring him home. Nobody was surprised when the deal went through - Cu and Gryphon liked each other, so home we came. Cu discovered on arrival in New Mexico that our LazZBoy recliner fit him nicely.
"Cu" is Gaelic for "hound," and while it's not an original name it is the one he knew and he'd been through so much change by the time he came to us we decided he didn't need to learn a new name as well.
Since we brought him home, Cu's weight has stabilized at about 137 pounds, making him on the small side as wolfhounds go. Nonetheless he is a major food hound, and will steal and eat anything he can find. Below is a picture taken immediately after a binge in which he removed an economy-sized jar of Tums from a desk drawer, carefully unscrewed the lid, and ate all 400+ Tums inside.
