At Google+, I have been telling the story of Kate from the beginning, to my friends in various "circles."  Well, it's not really the beginning, since I have no documentation from Kate's first dog year on Earth, the first eight weeks or so when she and her siblings were presumably fed by their mother (who is either a Labrador or a Cocker Spaniel, I will likely never know).  The story starts about three dog weeks into Kate's stay at the local animal shelter, along with (what I can guess) her two sisters and one brother.  Long story short:  Kate is now in what I hope isn't her terrible twos (in dog years), and she's grown a whole lot since we first met.

Photographed above is Kate in all her majesty, one human month after she moved into my home -- and life.