Otis

Lorie Armbruster, a friend and terrific rescue person in Orange County, called with a problem. Their rescue group had a three-year-old shepherd mix named Otis that they had unsuccessfully placed three times. Each time, he had been returned with a complaint; he was too aloof or too aggressive or too skittish or too whatever.

They felt that he might be unadoptable, and euthanasia was under consideration. That was why she turned to us, even though Otis was a much younger dog than we usually took in.

When I went to get Otis, Lorie gave me a speech about his emotional issues, one of which was that he was completely unfriendly, bordering on aggressive, with women. Perhaps a woman had mistreated him earlier in his life, but there was no way to know that now.

I brought Otis home, and it was clear that he loved having the other dogs around. Debbie was at work, so I called her and told her that she should be very careful around Otis until we learned whether or not he presented a danger.

When she came home, she sat on the couch quietly with a glass of wine. It was hard for her to drink it, though, because Otis jumped up on the couch, draped himself across her lap, and went to sleep. I told Debbie that she must not be a real woman.

Otis has a bunch of friends that he wrestles and runs in the Maine woods with. His best friend is Benji; they are completely inseparable.