Sooo...

One of the best things that could possibly happen has happened: my brother has gotten a puppy. An 8 week old German Shepherd/Collie mix temporarily called Bruno (well, that's been his name for the past 8 weeks but they're probably going to change it). He's the result of an 'accident' which occurred while his mum's owners dogsat a friend's Collie, both unneutered. My brother wanted a lift to 'pick something up' and wouldn't tell me what, but said 'trust me, you'll like it'. Then when he got in the car, I asked what it was and he said it was a piano/guitar for Finley, I was disappointed as I thought it was a puppy or kitten based on the 'you'll like it' comment, and the fact that Finley laughs his head off at every passing animal and was close to worryingly mirthful on a recent trip to the RSPCA. So we pulled up outside the house, went to the door and a guy pops his head out asking if we're there for the puppy lol. I near as damnit lost my shit all over the pavement, screamed like a little girl on Christmas morning who wakes up to find a pony, and then we went inside and met him. He's really small (actually, small compared to me but huge for an 8 week old puppy... think he's gonna be massive), and fat, with these huge fat paws, and the cutest face you've ever seen. When we took him back to my brother's to surprise Finley, dog and toddler were both shy initially but before long they were chasing each other around while Finley laughed so much he must have had a stitch. I'm a bit worried (more than a bit, because of how important Fin is to me) about the safety of having a German Shepherd/Collie dog, which are usually big, around a toddler, given that neither my brother nor his gf have had dog owning experience before and I don't think puppy training classes are quite enough to assert their dominance over the dog and will know how to train the dog so as to know that Finley isn't a toy (and how they're gonna tell a child that doesn't speak yet not to grab his tail, poke him in the eyes). Still, not my decision to make so fingers crossed it will all be alright. I'm SO excited about having a puppy in the family that I can borrow for walks, take to the park, generally spoil. On the other hand, I now have even less chance of getting attention from Finley, I was already largely ignored by him a lot of the time, now there's a puppy above me in the 'interesting things' stakes I can't see us ever having the close auntie/nephew relationship I want more than anything else in the world :P

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