For little “Pirate” he had yet another new place to check out and get used to. He had a yard that , to him anyway, seemed way too big to explore in just a day.

His new mom was real nice. She stayed real close to him and picked him up a lot. “Pirate” liked that. She stayed especially close to him when they would go outside at night. That was fine with “Pirate”. There were some strange sounds at night. Sounds he had never heard before.

He would hear some sounds that would scare him a little and get ready to run inside. His mom would just laugh at him He did not see what was so funny. There was one sound that would send him running to the door and inside every time. There was some dog barking in the distance. “Pirate” could not figure out where the dog was or what she wanted. All he knew is he did not want to stick around long enough to find out.

“Pirate” discovered there are other animals in this new home. There is a “bird”, he was told. Strange looking thing. There is also a “cat” or they also called it “your brother”. The cat stayed out of sight for the first several days. He did not seem to like “Pirate” very much. “Pirate” could not understand why not. He tried to be friendly. Every time he saw “your brother” he’d run at him to greet him excitedly. Cats just don’t seem to understand happy.

His new mom and dad told him he needed a new name. Poor “Pirate” was being called all sorts of names not knowing which one was really his. For a long time he thought his new name was “no” because they called him that a lot. His mom kept joking that the cat, who he found was named Arthur, wanted to call him “Gone”, and then she would laugh. He doesn’t get the joke.

Finally mom sat down with him and asked him what he would like to be called. He sat in front of her staring. She asked again. He tilted his head. They stared for a while. Then “Pirate” walked over, grabbed a stick and chewed on it a while.

There were several names in the running. Bailey, Reily, Quasar, Nutrino, Aragorn (but everyone had trouble remembering it), Styx (because he likes eating them) and Happy (since he always seems to be). Snoopy was a thought since he looked a bit like him. For a while they even considered “knough” (pronounced “no”).

It took a while picking just the right name. His mom said it was important to pick just the right name that suits him. Finally they decided on Strider. His mom says because, like the character in Lord of the Rings, he is brave, a good skilled fighter but gentle as well, kindhearted, and good looking.

So Strider became his new name, unaware that he shared one other thing with the character. His journey would take him on many adventures.