Warmest Spot in the House

Not long ago my brother (who lives in Hawaii) sent me a photo of his dog snoozing on the cool tiles behind the toilet. The caption was, "Coolest Spot in the House." Around here, Pippi is like a heat-seeking missile when it comes to the lit fire. At the first sound of snap crackling twigs, she makes a beeline for the hearth and there she stays until forcibly removed. As the fire gets hotter or fades, she shifts closer and moves back, keeping herself in some kind of blissed out Goldilocks zone.

I attribute this heat appreciation trait to her whippet ancestry. Whippets have virtually no body fat, thin skin, and hair so short they are virtually bald. When you meet a shivery whippet, it's not because the dog is nervous, it's because it's hypothermic - even in summer. Pippi's other half (standard poodle) has at least blessed her with a bit of hair. This thin, scraggledy coat, though very cute in a disheveled-I'm-an-orphan kind of way, doesn't seem to offer the full insulating qualities of her poodle relatives.

Hence, the Keeper of the Hearth has arrived at Dark Creek Farm.