(Adding files from my FA account to Weasyl)

This is my buddy Nick (aka "The Bear"), a German Shepherd Dog I adopted from the German Shepherd Dog Rescue Society of Austin, TX. When I first saw him he'd been with the rescue society for only a few days, and was in rough shape: drab coat the feeling of steel wool; dull eyes; skin and bones thin; a patch of fur shaved off on one foreleg from where they'd given him IV fluids.

I dropped by one of the foster homes some weeks later to visit with the dogs and get a feel for their energy and temperament, and while we were talking in the woman's den, Nick approached me and rested his head on my knees, staring up at me with huge brown eyes.

"I don't think you have to look any further," the woman said. "That dog just chose you."

This picture was taken last year. Since then a lot of things have changed: new job, new state, etc etc. But my buddy is cool with it, and so am I. And that's all that counts.