Dogs

I love dogs. Growing up I was terrified of dogs. I remember coming home from my piano lesson one day, and there was a dog on the sidewalk in my path. I was just down the street from my house, but this dog was in my way, and I was terrified to try and get around it. I hid behind a concrete wall so it couldn’t see me and waited. The dog finally wandered off and I was able to go home. But I had been so long getting home that my mom had started to get concerned and was about ready to come looking for me. Funny thing was it was a little dog. I don’t know what kind, I can’t remember now, but so small it shouldn’t have been that scary, at least that’s what my adult mind thinks. My brother had a smaller dog when I was growing up, he was alright, I wasn’t scared of him.

When my husband and I got married I decided I wanted a dog. He is not a dog person. He loves cats. But he agreed, and we found a dog that even he liked! He was 1/4 wolf, and I don’t know what else. He was a very independent dog, that’s what my husband liked about him. But that independence is what led to his death. He was hit by a car several miles from home because he always wandered off, as soon as he was out the door. He never listened very well. Our second dog was my favorite, he was my baby. He was a Husky/German Shephard mix, and he was a great dog. He was easy to train and became a very well-trained dog. He was very protective of me, and he loved our oldest daughter when she was born. But when he was about 5 years old, he got cancer. It was in his foot, and they said if we amputated his leg, he would be fine, so we did. But, unbeknownst to the vets, the cancer had spread into his neck by that time, and he died several months later. That was really hard and took me a while to get over.

After our second daughter was born though, I decided that I would like another dog. A neighbor’s dog had just had puppies, so we got one of those. I was excited for this new dog, but soon after learned I was pregnant with our older son. Between being pregnant and sick whenever I smelled the dog, as well as the girls unintended untraining of the dog, this one wasn’t as well trained. But we loved him just the same. I had my son, and one more son, and we all loved this dog. But when he was about 5 years old, he started to get sick as well. We took him to the vet, and they discovered the same cancer that had taken our last dog. This was devastating, and after he died, I decided I couldn’t do that anymore. My husband, who also loved these dogs, even though he doesn’t like dogs, was done as well.

Our kids over the years talked a lot about getting a new dog. My husband’s stipulation however was that it had to be an outside dog. He was done with the hair all over the house. He also knew that I was a softy and would probably struggle with that, I knew it too. So, it has been many years since we have had a dog. However, daughter number 2 is living at home and working for her dad and had expressed a desire to have a dog for many years. The other day while selling art at the local farmers market I saw someone carrying a sign that said Asian/German Shephard puppies for sale. They were the type and price range she was looking for, so I called her, and she came to look. She obviously fell in love immediately and picked out a cute female puppy and took her home. By the end of the day, she had a name – Luna, and over the course of the last couple of weeks she has really worked her way into our whole family’s heart, even my husbands. I had almost forgotten how much I love dogs, but I am so glad to have a new one here at our house. And yes, she has been outside the whole time. We’ll see when subzero temperatures hit this winter though!