LOKI
It was the end of August, when we were more than five months into our self-isolation, that we decided another dog would be a perfect new addition to our house, for a realistic look forward had made us realize we would probably continue like this well past Christmas. “We’ll forget about the pandemic,” we said to each other. “A puppy will cheer everyone up and keep us busy.” Although we considered adopting, we were reluctant to risk additional stress by acquiring a grown rescue dog – we had tried it before, and it had not worked out - so we decided to get a baby dog, a two-months-old male German Shepherd puppy from a kennel in the mountains. Brought to our house he turned out to be an adorable velvet-black soft-furred bundle with innocent dark eyes and very sharp little teeth. Victor named him “Loki,” in Norse mythology the brother of Thor, thus honoring the memory of our beloved Malinois, who died exactly four years ago. We all fell for Loki, except for Zaffy who looked like she’d...