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The trouble with walking a dog with legs as short as Dogby's often came about half way through the walk itself. Dogby, being just a puppy and easily excitable, spent most of the walk to the park barking at everything and running around in circles as Tony tried to keep her in line on her harness. Once they reached the dog park itself, he unhooked her and the tiny legged tornado took off to play with the other dogs.

From where he was sitting on the side lines, Tony could see the trouble setting in. She was getting tired. It meant she would have to be carried all the way home, thus defeating the purpose of the walk to begin with. Once they got back to his place, he would give her food and some more water and she would be back to a full tank of energy.

It was very difficult to manage a puppy, as it turned out, but he adored her regardless. His world had certainly been a lot brighter with her in it.

Sighing, he watched as the orange furred corgi loaf flopped down in the grass, tucking her legs under her and putting her head down as the other dogs bounded around her curiously. She whined loudly, Tony shaking his head but not exactly jumping at the chance to get leaped at by a bunch of stranger dogs.

Still, she looked upset, and his instinct to protect flared to life.

Tony jumped at the whistle, looking over to the owner of the pretty dog sitting next to his corgi and giving her a small wave. He was not as used to taking care of dogs as most of the owners in the park that day, as Dogby was his first one and she was still pretty new.

To his life, and life in general.

"Ah, Dogby, you silly thing. You can't just park yourself in the middle of all these big dogs. Come here," he said gently, kneeling next to Dogby and scooping up the puppy. She whined happily, nuzzling against his chest and then looking up to lick awkwardly at his face. He chuckled, then looked at the dog that was keeping her company.

"Hello there," he said awkwardly, "are you her protector? Thank you." He chuckled, turning to look at the owner. That must have been what the whistle was for, now that he was thinking about it. He wondered vaguely if he could train Dogby to respond to commands like that. Looking down at the puppy, who was wiggling to try and get to the Pointer, he somehow doubted that.

"She's about three or four months, I think. I rescued her, so I didn't get an exact date. But I think that might be close," Tony said with a chuckle, looking down at the puppy who no longer seemed tired. She was looking at the other dog with excitement, wiggling her butt and wanting to go play as if she had never wanted anything more in her short life.

Tony sighed, setting her down carefully. The little dog hopped over to her new best dog friend in the world, as far as she was concerned, yipping and bouncing on her stumpy little paws excitedly.

"She is a strange little bundle of energy that refills itself and then runs out at random intervals. I'm still trying to figure out just how much exercise she needs in a day. Her name is Dogby. And I'm Tony, by the way. I appreciate the help, keeping all those other dogs away from her."

Tony offered Imara a friendly smile and a hand in greeting.

Dogby was all short hops and floppy attacks, not particularly coordinated but certainly excited all over again with her new playmate. Any tiredness was forgotten as she used her tiny legs to crawl over the bigger dog happily and lick her face. She was immediately distracted by Imara's hand, bouncing gracelessly toward her for pets and stumbling as one leg went the wrong way in her hurry.

Tony chuckled, watching his puppy and feeling the need to apologize for her at least three times in the last few moments. She was such trouble, but at least she was adorable. Somehow, he felt she already knew that, and was keenly aware that she could get away with just about anything.

But surely she was still just an innocent puppy, and such things would not occur to her, right?

"She's pretty good about telling me when she needs to go outside. Usually. Well. I've got some puppy pads out, just in case." He laughed, shaking his head. "I've had a hamster before this, so this is quite a large jump in learning as far as animals go. I know she is a small dog, but she is still quite a bit larger than a hamster."

Dogby started yipping at Imara impatiently, wanting to be cuddled.

"And louder. But I think she's a good girl. You seem to have a good understanding of dogs. How long have you had Missy?"

Tony laughed at that, shaking his head as he watched the puppy and her new companion.

It seemed to him that she was the kind of dog who would become immediate best friends with anyone that pet her. More than that, she would go out of her way to ensure that anyone she met did, in fact, pet her, and thus ensuring she would have a constant stream of new and exciting friends for her to cuddle with. He liked that about her personality already, how out going and excited by everything she was, though he doubted he would be adopting any of that carefree puppy philosophy for his own life.

It was a nice idea, but not all that practical for the older librarian.

Dogby wiggled her butt, or what would have been a tail if she had one, and watched Imara curiously. Her tongue lulled out of her mouth and she planted her bottom down, tilting her head to the side in wonder.

"Dog training, huh? Well, that explains why you're so good with them! I might be in need of your techniques in the future," Tony laughed, rubbing the back of his neck and knowing he was going to have to learn a lot about dogs in a short amount of time. He watched as Dogby gracefully flopped onto her back, kicked her feet and then somehow ended up on her side, not facing Missy and looking terrible confused about the whole thing, then wiggling and trying to get back to her by rolling. He sighed. "Somehow I doubt she has a future in hunting, though. Still, I'd like for her to be able to come with me to work, and not eat all the books. Or worse."