"That would be hardly necessary," He told her quickly, "I wouldn't want to bother him. I'm certain he has far more important things to tend to." Doing whatever it was that shop owners did, away from his sister-in-law and her potential suitor. Barnabas wasn't overly fond of the idea of taking in a street pup. How did you know what you were getting into? They were so dirty and wild and... he'd had a run in with a pack of them back in April. His opinion of them had solidly formed to something negative. At any moment, this Dora could turn into a rabid, raving beast and attack them both.

"I suppose the best way is to just dive in and go through them to see which one is best," He leaned his cane against the kennel and reached for a brown puppy with short, curly hair that had been chewing on it's littermates ear. It saw his hand incoming and darted away, tail tucked between its legs and ears pinned back. Embarrassed, he glanced at Elsie, "Perhaps not that one, then."

Try as he might, he couldn't get any of the larger pups to pay him any mind. One had nipped at his fingers; another had growled. He blew out a breath and ran a hand through his hair, unaware that a small, orange and white pup was sniffing curiously at the bit of his cane that poked through the bars of the kennel. He turned to Elsie to try to say something charming and witty so that she wouldn't think him incompetent, only to be startled by the sudden sound of teeth scraping against wood. The puppy was chewing on his cane.

"Stop that," He moved his cane away in annoyance, only for the puppy to suddenly grow very interested in him and attach itself to the sleeve of his robe with its sharp little teeth.