Puppy

The demand for photos of Tapas (a.k.a., the "cutest dog in the world") far exceeds my ability to catch him on film, but I took a little time over the weekend to shoot some photos while we played. Only about 10% of the exposures result in a photo of Tapas. The remaining 90% are "parts of Tapas" or just blurs. He's a fast, little dog.

One of the great things about toy breeds is exactly that -- they're toys. Unlike the huge, beastly animals most of you call "pets", mine will peacefully lie next to me (on my desk) as I work. This, of course, requires that I tire him out beforehand, but that's not really too hard. He wakes me up at 5:00 AM, eats about two tablespoons of food, runs around in wild pursuit of my feet, and then falls back to sleep.

Oh,...and I should mention that he is a total girl magnet. The downside is that he's also a boy magnet and bum magnet. In fact, bums will be all like, "Ohhhhh...what a cute dog. What sort of dog is he? Can you spare some change?" (Which is too full sentences longer than they usually get out before I kick them in the shins!)

In an act of cross-border solidarity with our culturally rich neighbors to the south, I've adopted a Mexican baby. Now I know that you are all throwing your hands up right now and screaming, "NOOOOOO! Richard can't be allowed to adopt a baby!" I'll overlook the part where you impugn my potential parenting ability, because you haven't given me a chance to fully explain.

My Mexican baby is a chocolate and white, longhaired Chihuahua named Tapas (as in a "small dish of Spanish food"). He and his sister were born on April 26th, 2006 to Sparkles (mother) and Keeper (father), and will come to live with me on the 24th of this month (June).

A series of photos are available. Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for the emotional reaction you might have. He is, afterall, the cutest dog in the entire world.