I remember the first hours like they were yesterday. I was so happy with my decision. BiJae, all of 15 pounds was a scrappy looking pup. I opened the door to my Toyota 4x4. He followed my direction to "load up" and tried to jump right in. He wasn't quite big enough for that. I helped him in the truck and in to the passenger seat. He road just fine in my truck leaning with the turns. I smiled deeply as I looked over to his panting face. He was one fifth his grown size, except for his ears and tail. He had king sized ears that flopped over, and a tail for a dog twice his size. I couldn't help but smile he was so cute.

It was early afternoon and I had to head back to work. I knew the Peterson's yard was fenced. I took the chance to see how this new pup was going to react to me working and not paying too much attention to him. We played a little bit when I first arrived back on the grounds. Then it was time for me to go to work. BiJae caught on quickly. Sensing my ignoring him and repeated pushes away. He wandered off to find a place to lay down. He found a spot near by as I transplanted the new plants.

I got pretty involved in my work. I would glance over at BiJae occasionally. However as time went by I did so less frequently. I must have worked on several plants before I looked up to where I last saw BiJae. I looked over to the spot where he was laying. My heart began to race when my mind pieced together that he was no longer there. I hollered his name, thinking, "does he even know that's his name?" I was just about to go in a panic when BiJae lazily poked his head out from one of the bushes I'd planted not more than an hour ago. When I wasn't looking he moved in a little closer to keep a better eye on me.

Little did I know, this would be a clear indication of how our relationship would go. BiJae was clearly the one looking out for me. He saw where I was and had no intention of leaving my side. He was simply looking for a better, cooler vantage point to keep an eye on me. Here I was thinking I had to keep an eye on him! It was becoming clearer that I had a smarter than average dog. Only time would reveal how much an understatement that was!!!