I know, two months. Sorry. I’ve never exactly been consistent here, though, so this particular hiatus was unexpected but not unprecedented.

We adopted Kooper and have been working on getting him fully adjusted to us, and us fully adjusted to him. He’s bigger than we had planned, and his size does make him a little intimidating to some people, but so far everyone who gets to know him falls in love with him. Now all we have to do is get him to realize that car rides are not punishment.

We’re also in the process of buying a house. The current housing market really isn’t bad if one can get credit, and as it turns out, we can, thanks to FHA loans (a New Deal program that the Republicans haven’t dismantled yet) and a nifty benefit from my employer that will be providing 5% towards our down payment.

The house itself is a story and a half, so the dog and cats can be on separate floors if they so desire. It’s in wonderful shape thanks to the conscientious efforts of its current owners; the house inspector only found a couple notable problems, and they’re relatively small fixes. We’ll be living in a well-managed inner-ring suburb that would have been part of the City except for the 1876 secession; the daily commute will be very short for me, and it’s very close to most of the stores we frequent. There’s also a backyard that’s big enough for both an energetic dog and a modest vegetable garden.

Closing is set for early October. Once we take possession of the house, we’ll be pulling up carpet, refinishing floors, and upgrading dual-prong electrical outlets to grounded outlets before moving. Later projects will include some work on the kitchen cabinets and upgrades to the air conditioner and water heater, and possibly even a photovoltaic system on the roof. In the meantime, though, Fred’s packing stuff and I’m hashing out details on the mortgage and insurance and down-payment program.

More on all that as things develop. Any questions?

Last weekend Fred and I met a wonderful dog named Kooper during an adoption event at a local pet store. We haven’t formally adopted him yet, but this weekend we’re fostering him as a sort of trial run.

Kooper is about three and a half years old, and he appears to be a mix of German shepherd, Dalmatian, and either husky or malamute. According to one of his foster mothers, he had been adopted before by a couple, who apparently did some training (he knows “sit” and “stay” and is very well-behaved). When the couple split up, though, they gave Kooper back to Stray Rescue.

Six a.m. walks notwithstanding, Kooper has done an outstanding job adjusting to us and our home. Our major concern, though, is getting the two cats to warm up to the dog. When Kooper first arrived, both cats started for the back of the house; Kooper’s “chase” instinct kicked in and he pursued, which made the cats run faster, which made Kooper run faster, and so on. Since then we’ve set up a gate dividing the front half of the house from the back half, with Kooper’s stuff in front and the cats’ stuff in back. There has been a very tentative détente as a result.

Every now and then we’ll gently restrain Kooper, open the gate, and let the cats approach him on their own terms. As the cats tire of their relative confinement, they’re becoming more and more willing to do it. Kooper is basically fine with the cats; if anything, he’s eager to meet them and play with them, and sometimes this eagerness makes him jump and whimper, thus spooking the cats. Oddly, though, the normally-social cat (Chip) is still extremely skittish of the dog, and the normally-shy cat (Dale), while still skittish, is making cautious progress towards full acceptance.

We’re still a little uncertain about how this will all work out. Kooper’s pretty large compared to the cats, and combined with his excitability that may keep the cats from fully trusting him. Unfortunately, if the cats and Kooper can’t get along, then Kooper will need to find another home, and we’ll have to find a smaller dog to adopt. Having met Kooper, though, we don’t see him having any trouble finding somebody to love him and care for him. (And if we don’t take him, I am willing to bet that my mother-in-law will be the first one in line to adopt him; we took him to their place today and they got along immediately.)