08/30/2026
Meet Clyde
Clyde is a wonderfully strange combination of Victorian chimney sweep and aghast pearl-clutching socialite.
Most of the time, he's firmly on the chimney-sweep end of that spectrum: scrappy, cheerful, ready for whatever we're doing, and carrying the spiritual energy of a dandelion that discovered it can, in fact, grow through concrete. Give him a tennis ball, take him outside, and Clyde is quite pleased with the state of his little world.
Then an unfamiliar person gets a little too familiar a little too quickly and, without warning, the chimney sweep clutches his pearls. “Excuse me?! We have NOT been properly introduced.”
Clyde likes people. He just has firm opinions about how strangers should become friends. If the pearl-clutching warning goes unheeded, Clyde may take things in a slightly more “catch me outside, how ’bout dat?” direction. A few people who skipped the introductions have received a nip for their trouble. He's never broken skin, although he has left a bruise or two, so underneath the comedy is a boundary we genuinely respect.
Let Clyde meet you before you decide you've already met Clyde.
We know what time can do for him because we've watched it happen. Every staff member currently caring for Clyde was once a brand-new person he didn't know, and he has acclimated to every single one of us. The dog who once needed careful introductions is now the dog whose squishy cheeks we grab, who gets lovingly jostled around, and who happily rolls around on the ground being an absolute fool with us.
When Clyde gets excited to see his people, he'll also produce a whine so impossibly high-pitched that it sounds like someone off in the distance slowly letting helium out of a balloon. There is no emergency. Clyde has simply noticed that you possess hands and are failing to use them to pay attention to Clyde.
Reactive Clyde isn't all of Clyde, and Stranger Danger Clyde isn't forever Clyde.
Unfortunately, his kennel presentation doesn't always show that. Clyde can be loud and opinionated behind the kennel door, so visitors may meet Clyde, Defender of the Realm before they get the chance to meet Clyde, Ridiculous Tennis Ball Enthusiast.
He's also dog-selective. Another dog isn't necessarily out of the question, but the match matters, and slow, thoughtful introductions are important.
Clyde is a come back, spend some time with me, observe the social formalities kind of guy. Give him that time and respect his boundaries, and you'll discover that beneath all that scandalized pearl-clutching is considerably more chimney sweep than aristocrat: scrappy, silly, loyal, and probably wondering if you remembered the tennis ball.