OMG Is this Rusty?

As my faithful readers know, I have a soft spot for Miniature Pinschers--my own dog, Taco, was a MinPin, and I have fostered several MinPins from the Shelter, including a very sweet oversize stag red guy we called "Rusty."  We had Rusty as foster dog all summer so he could undergo heartworm treatment, and we loved him a lot.  Last September, during a Labor Day PetsMart event I adopted Rusty to a family in our area--and still have the work phone number of the wife.  Even now, we still think about Rusty--he was a sweet, friendly, laid-back dog who liked everybody, even if he wasn't the sharpest saw in the toolshed.

I went to the Shelter today to see two Miniature Pinschers.  One was a female chocolate and tan girl with upright natural ears, a docked tail and a dainty demeanor.  The other was a stag red boy.  I can't take on a foster right now as I have another set of travel dates, and have already got two dogs in foster care (both Tucker and Teencie are doing great, according to their temporary foster Mom), but we all want another MinPin to replace Taco, who went over the Rainbow Bridge at the end of April.  I had to check out the boy dog.

So...here's this stag red MinPin.  He was turned in as a stray, but the people said they found him, and no one responded to their signs.  I don't know where he was picked up yet--I plan to find out tomorrow--and while he didn't do a "Lassie Come Home" jump-for-joy at the sight of me, he was very happy to get out of the Kennel.  I compared microchip numbers when I got home--they are different, but this dog has a fresh set of microchip scan slips and a tag in his paperwork folder, so he could have two chips. He's a stocky, rather pudgy dog (Rusty was leaner) so his original microchip could have slipped.   He has the same calm, happy demenor, and he's clearly been someone's pet.  His size and basic color, stance, build, and ear/tail treatments are the same.  Could this be Rusty? 

The MinPin at the Shelter is the dog on the left in all the photos.  Rusty is the dog on the right.  It was very cloudy and dark today (thanks to Hurricane Alex, south of Houston), so this MinPin's coat appears lighter.  Plus, I tend to push the saturation on my photos, so my shots of Rusty have all been tinkered with.

My husband thinks he's a different dog.  What do you think?  Leave me a comment!