Outside of a Dog....
"Outside of a dog a book is man's best friend.... inside of a dog it is too dark to read" - Groucho Marks.

Just after my off Broadway run some years ago we had to put our dog Smooch to sleep because she had developed a tumor on her spine and was in great pain.  It was a terrible event and I was the one elected to be the last one to hold Smooch as she went to sleep for the final time.  It was a traumatic experience for the whole family.  I think I was the last to get over the event.

Smooch toward the end

We had gotten Smooch from my Brother in Law who trained her from a pup and taught her all she needed to know to be a great house dog. He had to give her up when he moved back to New York.  Sandi loved that dog and before we got her she used to say to her brother, "Give me that dog...I want that dog," over and over.  She finally got her wish.
We doubted that we would ever find a dog like Smooch and we were not ready to jump right in and try to train a puppy in hopes it would turn out as great as Smooch.  Well, you never know how things will work out.
A couple of weeks ago at a poker game with some actors who are involved in Actors and Others for animals, Mary Willard casually mentioned that a friend needed to find a good home for a dog because it was not getting along with their young children.  I mentioned this to Sandi and Taylor and they decided they wanted to at least meet the dog.  So I pursued the matter with Mary.
Turned out that the dog was a 2 year old cockapoo, like Smooch and I was amazed that the dog looked exactly like Smooch. I guess it was already a done deal, but we had to meet the dog to see if it was going to like us.

Boo

Meet Bambu on the right. She is a clone of Smooch, and even limps a little on the same leg as Smooch. She is the a great dog, smart, knows all the tricks that Smooch knew. It was like Smooch had come back to us.  And for some reason Boo has become my shadow. She follows me to every room in the house and sits under my desk as I write. I have such a connection to this dog it is a little spooky. I have never had a pet that immediately took to me over the others in the family.
She loves to chase a tennis ball.  Last night when I was getting ready for a show at the Comedy and Magic Club, I got Spaulding ready. Spaulding of course is my tennis ball character. Although Boo has several tennis balls to play with, Spaulding became the one she wanted. No other toy or tennis ball interested her. Taylor finally had to make a magic switch with one of her tennis balls to get her to stop stalking Spaulding.
The funniest part of the whole adoption is that the dog belonged to Suzanne and Weird Al Yankovic. The joke will be that we rescued Boo from Weird Al, the fact is Al and Suzanne found the perfect dog  and trained her for the Johnson house. Things work out in Weird ways sometimes. Marry the lady that first mentioned the dog saw me walking Boo the other day.  She said to Boo, "Well, you just went from one weird person to another... didn't you?"
Maybe so....
As you were,
Jay