When we picked her up, the staff person told us she was a lucky girl, for if she hadn't been adopted on the day we did, she was scheduled to be euthanized, as she had her time at the SPCA. It wasn't the last time she cheated death, and time revealed that she wasn't the lucky one, we were.

From day one, the rules were set. Except we didn't set the rules, she did.

Taking her home, we thought we would keep her in a crate when we weren't there, until we were sure she was housebroken. We would put her in the crate when we left for work, and when we got home, she was always loose. My wife and I would accuse each other of not latching the crate, and it took us a week to discover that she was letting herself out, she refused to be confined. No room or area of the house could be closed off to her, she had to have complete access. She let it be known that her place was with us, and that doors and leashes were not necessary.