Canis Albicaulis Maculata

"Huh?" That's what Kevin decided should be his name. I know that we had to change it. No offense to the musician, but Kenny G just did not fit. He just didn't look like a saxophone player. Ok, what does that mean? Kevin said it was Latin for white, spotted dog. Kevin is a self-taught botanist whose memory is amazing when it comes to scientific names of numerous California native plants. I understood why he chose the name, but it's really not something that rolls off the tongue. I couldn't see either of us recalling him with that huge moniker. Still, I was fine with the name as long as we could find something we could call him in mixed company. Mac was one choice, but I pushed for Albie. I thought it fit his personality and there were nowhere near as many dogs with that name as there were with the name Mac. From that point on, he was known as Albie. One problem solved. 

Albie seemed to settle in pretty quickly to our home, but as soon as he felt comfortable we were packing up and hitting the road. It was important to have a nice, quiet evening the night before all the chaos began. We decided to relax and watch a movie, figuring he would sleep through it. Alas, little did we know our choice that evening would cause quite a bit of excitement for him. We settled in and started watching 'Up'. I won't go into movie review mode, suffice it to say the dogs near the end of the movie really got Albie worked up. With all the growling, snarling and barking, he was captivated and a little upset. We felt horrible. What awful parents we were! It hadn't been more than 48 hours and we were all ready traumatizing our little boy. Though he did make it to the end of the film, we have noticed he is easily attracted to things on the television, often rushing the screen in 'attack' mode. Great. It's never too early to scar a formidable mind.