Introducing Tina Imelda

'This won't come as any surprise to anyone who knows us, but we've adopted our foster dog Tina. She's pretty and mellow and sweet and everything we could hope for in a dog. She even plays with Dylan very well - something that no other dogs we've known does.

Unfortunately, since she's nearly completely black, she doesn't photograph well, so this photo simply doesn't do her justice. But it's a start.

Tina is about 20 months old and was tied outside most of her life. She doesn't appear to have been abused (apart from general neglect), but she definitely needs to put on weight and she suffers from "happy tail" from wagging her tail so much that she scrapes the tip of her tail. When her tail bleeds, the walls look like something from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. And still we adopted her.

She's as malleable as play doh and when she lies down, it's like a 7 on the Richter scale. She's settled in enough to start showing her naughty side, including an obsession with stealing shoes or simply lying with her nose inserted into one of Mom's sandals, and a fondness for Mark's leather chair. Consequently, we're working on "Off" and "Drop It." She's learned not to charge down the stairs or through doors, Sit and Bushes. Still working on where she goes bushes, but that will come (it had better!).

I feel as though we've failed as foster parents, so after a settling in time, we're going to continue fostering. Hopefully we won't fall in love with the next one too!