Our friends Clyde and Sue stopped by to meet the new pup and reminded me of the truest of truisms: you can always tell who loves dogs and who just says they do (who doesn’t love dogs, right?) The “says they do” will –upon meeting the dog– bend carefully from the waist and gingerly pat the dog on the head before asking if there’s “someplace I can wash up.” Real dog lovers almost always get down on the floor with dog, oblivious to slipper and dog hair.

One of these pups is Riley. In a couple of weeks she’ll be part of our little family.