other dog
very quick thought that occurred to me the other day as a possibility -- andy and howard have always had a jack russell-ish dog called basil, and theyve always had this nameless other dog who's a girl and a small staffy mix, and, in my head they got her later on -- but it occurred to me she might have actually been howard's family dog? from before he even knew andy. which means she'd be at least kinda old by the time they move out and get basil. also opens up a few cute scenarios for a younger howard and andy...