小巴特

We’ve acquired a new puppy. I can’t say I’m overly happy about the process, but whatever. I can say we’ll have to get him out to the village before he gets big enough to do any real damage to our shoes. Seems he’s got a thing for shoes.

Old friends, childhood friends, of lzh’s were given a puppy a couple of days ago. They brought him over here yesterday afternoon and decided to give him to us. lzh is happy, he’s a cute wee puppy with plenty of energy and intelligence. Also, he’s supposed to grow big. He’s a 狼青, you see. Not sure what that is in English, but the pictures suggest something German shepherd-like.

What’s the big deal about a big dog? Well, lzh’s parents’ house was burgled on Friday morning. They turned the place upside down and ran off with my brother in law’s laptop and about 1000 kuai in cash. Also, a puppy that, being half-wild, presumably was making a lot of noise and perhaps even biting, seems to have been given a very hard kick and is now in a very poor state of health. Needless to say, everybody’s rather upset about this. Somehow somebody raised the idea of getting a big dog, something alsatian-like that can be trained and can act as a guard dog and can take out any person trying to screw with us.

And so now we have 巴特/bātè, who we are promised really is a 狼青/lángqīng, whatever that may be in English. It’s an odd name, sounds a bit like Butter, but I was thinking Bateer, as in the basketball player, is a better comparison. Then nciku informs me that it’s a transliteration of Bart. Our dog is a Simpson? If so, then Bart would seem to be the appropriate comparison, as this puppy’s got energy and a good nose for mischief. Especially mischief involving shoes.

I wasn’t overly happy about the process of acquiring this dog. There’s something somehow not quite right about friends bringing their new puppy over then giving him to us. Also, I just didn’t feel that connection I felt with Zaizai when we first got him. Bate is cute and energetic, but there was something missing. And the timing is not so good for rational decision making, I don’t think. But lzh insisted, and I have the scars to prove it, and so we kept Bate, and soon we’ll be taking him up to the village where he’ll start his career as a guard dog.

lzh has gone off shopping this morning. Bate was determined to go with her, then after she left, he would play for a couple of minutes, then run to the door, stare at it and bark, then start crying and try to dig his way out. So so what if he hasn’t formed any particular bond with me yet? There’s clearly something between him and lzh.