My parents, the animal lovers

My parents have an old friend, Jojo, who is a dog person. He breeds dogs as a hobby and everyone know him to be a dog person, so when someone has a dog they need to get off their hands, they come to him. That's how we got Xiao Hei, our 150-pound Neopolitan mastiff, 10 years ago when he was just a pup.

Last week, Jojo brought my parents a 1 1/2-year-old dog named Nalua to check out. She's a breed that is indigenous to Taiwan. "Formosan dog" is a possible English translation.

Nalua is 30 pounds of lean, wiry muscle. She behaves like a skittish cat, prancing away when you try to touch her. She's extremely aware of everything going on around her, and savvy enough not to try to compete with Xiao Hei for the humans' attention. She's also a bit of a coquette, and can be persuaded to pose for photos:

A bit of background about the parents: My dad is a dog fanatic, and has for years been hoping to get Xiao Hei a playmate. But my mom generally is known to view animals as little poop machines that she has to pick up after. Imagine my dad's surprise when Mom went out and bought a new dog house the very day after Nalua's arrival. Not only that, but she also has nicknamed the dog Lulu.