We decided to adopt Queenie (previously called Queen), who we had on a "test drive" for a week from the Humane Rescue Alliance in Washington, D.C.

She was picked up three times by the shelter for running loose with her buddy, Bunny, and the third time the shelter declined to return her to her home. She’s 9 years old, 67 pounds (needs to lose some weight!) and some kind of shepherd mix (we were told, but it turns out she's actually part Norwegian elkhound, part smooth collie, part American eskimo dog and part "supermutt," according to a DNA test).

It's a real learning process for all involved -- we don't know what her life experiences were before she came to us and how to explain some of her behavior -- but it seems to be working out well, and we're happy to be able to give Queenie her forever home.