Burberry blues

I’m not even two months old and already have to face the hard facts of life.

I won’t get to know cousin Wellington, the big brown alpha dog. He got sick quite suddenly and the vet had to put him down. Without an autopsy, which Mom says isn't necessary for an old guy like Wellington, the vet's best guess as to why one day the dog was well and the next he wasn't, is that one of Wellington's tumors--common to Labradors later in life--ruptured. He suffered pretty serious internal bleeding.

Mom was inconsolable and the whole family rallied around her. While I'm disappointed I won't get to hump Wellington's leg or bite his ears, paws and tail--the puppy stuff I'll get so good at--at least I know I'm going to a home where I will be loved with ridiculous abandon.

To underscore that fact, Uncle Bob bought me a Burberry leash. Because of my British roots. Such a clever family…