Doggone It Anyway

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love dogs, especially when they belong to other people. I've owned several myself, from an Akita to a Welsh Corgi. Not exactly A to Z but close enough. For a guy like me a dog is just one too many responsibilities: Up early to walk the dog. Feed the dog. Water the dog. Take the dog to the vet. Board the dog every time you want to be gone overnight.  In fact, my last dog, a Jack Russell Terrier, I gave to the groomer at my kennel: He was spending more time there being boarded than home with me.

Funny how things change. I've been married for 7 years. I've had a son for 5. Saturday afternoon we brought home dog. Well, not yet. What we brought home is a puppy-- a puppy that needs to be housebroken, is tempted to chew on any unattended piece of footwear or exposed piece of wood in the house, a puppy that will attempt to put anything found on the floor or in the yard into its mouth. A puppy that will someday be a dog, probably an 85 pound dog, making 85 pound dog messes in the yard to be cleaned up by...... probably me.

For now it's a puppy. For now I'll start getting up an hour or so earlier so that I can exercise and do my morning thing before I take the dog out, feed the dog, water the dog, clean up after the dog. With any luck at all, someday he will be someone else's dog: My son's. Then he can walk the dog, feed the dog, clean up after the dog..... We'll see.

Next up will be training the dog. Thank goodness he's a smart dog. Thank goodness he's a willing dog. Thank goodness he's a dog that's bred to please his owners. Thank goodness my daughter's home for a couple of days.  She's raised and trained several dogs all through primary and secondary school. I tried to hire her away from her junior year at the University of Michigan last night-- but to no avail. Alas, she's no longer a puppy and wants to pursue a life of her own.