They're not just pets anymore

We have crossed the line. It has not been a month since we added a puppy to the household, and already we are full-fledged members of the seacoast dog culture.

We shop at stores where pets roam the aisles. We stop the car when the passenger in the back seat whines. We carry little blue bags everywhere. We can never go anywhere on Earth where dogs are not allowed. We talk to dog people about dog things. We have moved wholly to the other side of the fence, and we may never find our way back.

Certainly kids are more work, but puppy ownership isn’t what it used to be. No more tying the thing out in the back yard until it grows up. Today’s liberated canines have to be "crate trained" and we have one crate for the house and a portable collapsible one for the car. Dogs now have their own organic food, their own edible toothbrushes, specially approved toys, vitamins, training classes, medical exams. Pretty much whatever people have, dogs have too, but at a higher price. Our dog has his own doorway from the living room to the kitchen. He has his own composting sewer system buried in the back yard. He has a variety of leashes, a couple of special pillows, even a little yellow life preserver for ocean voyages.

His name is Reverend Beebe. His namesake was a minister at the Isles of Shoals in the 19^th century. On his first visit to see the Isles last week, Beebe seemed immediately at home. Though barely a foot tall, he leapt from boulder to boulder as if he were born to the barren rocky shores. He is all but fearless. He is incurably smart. And he is always and forever afoot. No matter what we do, Beebe is there.

Despite a lack of legs, Beebe, a corgi, has learned to travel up and down stairs with frightening speed. Last week, after 100 attempts to get up on the couch, he left the TV room in a huff. Seconds later he came roaring back and launched himself skyward from the middle of the floor, landing smack on the couch. He was so pleased with this engineering feat, he did it five more times. A week later he learned to avoid the long, fast runway approach by bouncing on his hind legs like a pogo-stick until he reached couch-height.

Already, since I mentioned him in the last monthly newsletter, Beebe is getting male. Readers have sent in dog training tips, dog stories and dog queries. Eileen Terrill of Peterborough, NH, a fan of our monthly newsletter who also works for Pet Care News, wrote personally to welcome Rev. Beebe. Since I half-jokingly suggested that we will need to create a "Pets" section on the site, readers have been asking when it will appear.

So for all those pet owners – although I promised myself never to do this – here are some pix of the young pup. If he’s going to hang around here in the office, he might as well earn his keep.

READ ALSO: Rev. Beebe Stay in a Hotel

Article and photos by J. Dennis Robinson, SeacoastNH.com.