THE RUBITS' HOME IN CONNECTICUT HAD FELT EMPTY LONG ENOUGH — ENTER CHARLIE

Ever notice how sometimes a dog can keep a house from feeling “empty.” 
Take, for example, Charlie, the Southern hound, who now lives in Connecticut. 

We’re not sure how this guy Charlie feels about snow, but we do know he has warm feelings for the people who gave him a home. He’s the featured fellow in this edition of Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap.
Charlie lives in New Fairfield, CT. That’s because he won some hearts — the hearts of rescuers and the hearts of Andrea and Victor Rubits. He didn’t start out in
The Constitution State (AKA The Nutmeg State), as Connecticut is known. Nope, he has links to The Peach State and The Sunshine State.
Andrea proudly sent us these photos of the new resident of New Fairfield and told us his story.
She wrote, “We just adopted this guy on Thursday [Feb. 11] up here in Connecticut.

“As you can see, he is a champion counter surfer!  He’s also a champion sleeper!  The shelter listed him as a ‘Hound.’” [LARRY ASIDE: The photos would support that listing, don’t you think?]

Andrea says that Charlie “came up here from a shelter in Georgia by way of a rescue in Florida. He was listed as being one year old, but we’re pretty sure he’s a bit older. Whatever he is, he’s the sweetest mellow dog we’ve ever had and we’re happy he’s ours!…

"We’ve named him Charlie — we thought it was a good Southern name!  He lives with my husband, grown son and I, with two of my grandchildren as frequent guests!” [LARRY ASIDE: Yes, Charlie quickly had a fan club!]

Andrea provided a description of his path to his new home: “He was originally in Jesup/Wayne County Animal Control [in Georgia], rescued by S.A.F.E. Pet Rescue in St. Augustine, Fla., and adopted by us at the New Fairfield/Sherman Animal Welfare Society in New Fairfield, CT., where we live.
“Since we lost our last dog, Betty, in November, I’ve stalked rescues on Facebook and when I saw him, we applied. The rest is history and it’s wonderful to have a dog back in the family.”
Now, all or you whose hearts are owned by dogs and/or cats may see some familiar emotion in Andrea’s telling of how Charlie fit in with the family.She explained that the people helping with the adoption “said he was an owner-surrender and, if he was, it was a good thing because he’s so skinny now and was apparently 10-pounds lighter when he was neutered in Florida.

“Actually, Betty, the last dog we lost, was the last in line of a pack of five miscellaneous mixed- breeds we loved for the past 14 years. I always say she was the last dog standing.
“December and January were the first months in over 50 years that there wasn’t a dog in my home — so it was time!”
And there's Charlie, all curled up in the home that was feeling empty until he arrived. Probably dreaming of a kitchen counter and his own personal ladder.
[DEAR READERS: Please send photos of your sleeping dogs and napping cats and slumbering “other” to dallrp@aol.com and we’ll post their pictures and stories in our long-running feature, Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap. And FYI: You may recall seeing lots of snow and wintry scenes in your Texas neighborhood in the past week. See this
photograph? Looks like Texas did, right? A little bit. That’s a photo by Neil Zobler on the official New Fairfield, Ct., city page HERE. Yep, snow and a counter-surfing Hound Dog — might as well be Texas.]
-- Offer appreciations of animals or tips for driving in the snow now that it's melted by clicking on 'comment' below or by emailing dallrp@aol.com. How about that Charlie! --