Bear in 2001

Bear is a AKA registered German Shepherd. He lived with another family until he was three-and-a-half, but after a few run-ins with the neighborhood dogs, he decided it would be a good idea to go live in the country. Of course, there were a couple of years where Bear's persons moved him back to the city, which was rampant with dogs who have no sense of decency when it comes to walking on other dogs' lawns, but Bear learned to be tolerant, and they eventually moved back in the country.

Bear's philosophy on life is that there are two kinds of people: those who are in the pack, and every one else, all potential threats. The more people in the pack the better, because then there are fewer threats to worry about. (Caveat: mail people, UPS and FexEx deliverers are always threats. Membership to the pack denied for all time.) One of the privileges of membership is that Bear will forever after recognize your car or your step on the front porch. He's that kind of dog.

Bear watching Irish Wolfhounds on TV

Bear is truly a shepherd; he spends all his time keeping track of where his people are, herding them when necessary and moving from room to room so as always to be half-way between them. He is convinced that they keep dogs and other animals in the TV. When he hears them, he rushes up and stands in front of the TV, tilting his head back and forth like the RCA dogs, trying to figure out where the dogs are. He's extremely good at finding hidden biscuits and waits impatiently for 9:00 to roll around, which is when his people generally hide them.