Pistol Pete

That's the dog's name. Every morning he gets to walk a mile with his faithful owner, who is partially blind. Whenever the dog sees me coming, he sends out a yelp and begins to tangle his chain with the wild hope that I will stop to pet him. If I do, however, he jumps up and puts his front paws on my chest.

That's why the previous owner--a three year old boy--gave him to my neighbor, the mile-a-morning man. I think I could cure the dog of this disconcerting jumping habit by stepping on his hind toes every time he jumped on me, but I don't want to upset the status quo, so I'll leave him ignorantly in his misconceptions of what people like as dog behavior.