The fourth of July, Independence Day, A day of freedom from tyranny... And also the day Aegir was finally accepted into the Peyton Place household. Betty and I already counted him as a son as soon as he was brought home. Hrothgar came around a few days later and they're now the bestest of buddies. But Alarm and Differ just tolerated the newcomer, thinking "he'll leave soon, and we can get back to normal". Now to be fair, Aegir is a big goofball, more so than the other dogs. He thinks he a small 10 lb doggie. He is a busy body with no coordination and and no sense of boundaries... He just wants to play... and can't understand if you don't. He's also not the brightest bulb in the pack. But those are the same things we love about him. I joke that Betty likes her men big strong and dumb! (except me of course... ) But on Friday, The 4th of July, we had a breakthrough moment. I usually wake up before Betty and putter around the house... (I mean do extremely important work) and when Betty wakes I go back in and love on the doggies while we get ready, which normally consists of rubbing Hrothgar's belly and getting kisses from Alarm and Differ. So many kisses that I have to stop them so I can breathe. Well I was surprised by an additional kisser... Aegir, who was not about to be left out, joined right in. At first I was a little worried that a fight would start... with my face right in the middle! But it turned into a who could kiss daddy better contest. Talk about not being able to breathe! Then it happened Aegir kissed Alarm and Differ and they let him... a breakthrough had been made. A thing of beauty and a joy to behold. Later that day Alarm and Aegir even played tug of war with Aegir's new pull toy. It went pretty well until Aegir got a little to rambunctious. A little fight broke out but soon Aegir was kissing Alarm again. Aegir is trying to figure out how to play with Alarm. Aegir gets too rowdy too fast... but just like he did with Hrothgar he'll figure it out. He may not be too bright but he's persistent. He is becoming a great addition to the household. Now we have to work on his bedside manor. He thinks the bed is his... we are still working on that, but he's persistent....