Introducing U'gi

As you may have heard, we are welcoming a new little guy into our family.  

His name is U'gi, he is 4 weeks old and weighed 2 pound, 4 ounces when we got him last week.  He was abandoned and needed a good home.  He is brown and furry with four legs and a tail.  He's our new dog!  

Although this is not the addition our parents and grandparents were hoping for (a-hem), we are excited to have this new pup in our lives. 

U'gi was valiantly rescued by Stu last Tuesday.  Here's how the story goes:  

Stu was coming home from work on a normally not-too-busy street, but this night there was a traffic jam.  Stu was less than impressed.  But when he got further through the jam he saw the cause of all the commotion - a tiny puppy, stranded in the middle of the street.  Clearly the dog was lost, scared, and about to become roadkill.  So Stu drove away.  

But 20 seconds later, Stu realized that this little dog needed some help.  So he turned around and went back to valiantly scope up the little guy and bring him home.

Then Deb gets a text message from Stu reading, 'I got you a present'.  'Oh yay' thinks Deb.  'What could it be?  Something to help me relax, surely.  Flowers.  A bottle of gin (real gin - the expensive stuff that is imported...).  Chocolate (real chocolate - the expensive stuff that is imported...).  A chick flick.'

Deb gets home, opens the door, eager to see what this present could be.  No flowers on the table.  No G&T with condensation gently beading down the outside of the glass waiting to be consumed.  No chocolate.  No chick flick.  Nope.  Just Stu holding out a flea covered dog grinning from ear to ear saying, 'I got you a puppy!'  No sooner the dog wriggles around, hops to the floor, and pees.  Then cries, scratches himself and leaves the evidence of a dozen flea carcasses in his wake as he runs to the corner of the kitchen.

'Now this is going to be relaxing', thinks Deb.

And then on cue, we both look at each other and say, 'Can we keep him?'  Yes.

His puppy dog eyes, wagging tail, insane need to dig his nose as deep into the crook of your arm as possible, and ability to fall asleep while sitting up (due to eating a large meal very fast - think this guy had to fight for his food out in the open?), have made a spot in our heart.  He looks to be an exclusive breed of dog known as the 'Kampala Mutt', aka 'we do not have any idea about his breed because he's a street dog', but there appears to be some German Shepard / Rottweiler heritage.  Right now he is tiny, but we think he is going to be big.  Deb's only hope is that he doesn't grow to be as big as Clifford, the Big Red Dog.  We'll have to keep you updated...

First day.  Scruffy, scared, sick.  But also adorable.

Tiny dog.

U'gi sleeping in his makeshift bed.  He now has a proper home - also made out of a local basket and metal crate welded at our version of Petsmart, i.e. the local market.  Dog ownership in Uganda is cheap if you are not looking for name brands.

U'gi enjoying one of his favourite spots on Stu's stomach.  Must be because it's so soft...

The definition of 'puppy dog eyes'

PS: The name U'gi, pronounced you-gee, is a popular term for the local gin called 'Uganda Waragi'.  We figured this was a good name for the new guy since we must be drunk to be thinking we can take care of a dog!