Rinny sat beside Philip when he opened the door that evening. The puppy wasn’t what I expected. Almost a year old, his paw covered my hand when Philip told him to shake. I squatted down to eye level and barely avoided a lick on the lips.

“You’ve got a big dog here for such a small apartment,” I said.

“I had the apartment first.” He turned the oven on, and I put the potatoes on to bake. As soon as I took care of that, Philip threw a messy yellow tennis ball ...