Mabel

We have a new grand dog. Her name is  Mabel. Our daughter's family found her at Tara's House, a shelter in Frederick, MD.  She's part pointer, about a year old, housebroken, spayed and mischievous. 

She's been spending weekdays at our house. We'd been keeping her elderly and rather incontinent predecessor, Violet, confined to the kitchen and family room by blocking the kitchen door with a rail from an old baby crib. This worked for Violet and Ramsey. It seemed like a sensible arrangement for Mabel, but she would have none of it. She sailed over the fence with ease, like a horse at the Olympics steeplechase. 

Although she arrived at our house with her own bag of toys, she soon found others around here that she liked better. She pulled down and ripped up Ramsey's stocking. Perhaps it was still redolent of treats from Christmas Past.  She also made a chew toy out of our TV remote, seen below in the photo of the Beautiful Dreamers,  just prior to its ruination,

At 13, Ramsey is totally bored by squeaky toys. This polka-dotted plush bone temporarily revived his interest, but only because it belongs to Mabel. By making it his, he hoped to show her who was boss. 

We don't know much about Mabel, except that she was found on a country road in West Virginia. We think she must have grown up around cats, because she gets along fine with Georgie.