Dog

As some readers of this blog know, for many years my family has included dogs as members. When this blog began, we had our dog, Mr. Lumpy, who came to our family when his own couldn't keep him. Mr. Lumpy died last summer. Before Mr. Lumpy, we had our wonderful Malamute, who'd been with us almost ten years.

At the same time we lost Mr. Lumpy and our Malamute, [The Man I Love] and I watched our son go off to college. So our nest really was empty. Although we wanted to spend some time getting used to living without animals or kids around, we kinda missed having other creatures in our home.

So after a year, we've started thinking about dogs again.

Each weekend, as we drive around, we pass pet shops or animal clinics or Farmers' Markets where tents are set up and signs say, "Pet Adoptions Today". And we look yearningly at the animals in the wire kennels, but we don't go in - no - we're afraid we'll be smitten.

Well, today, a co-worker came into my office and asked, "Hey, are you still thinking of getting a dog?"

A few months ago, he lost his own family dog, a bulldog, who had to be put to sleep. We were sharing stories of what it was like to lose a dog. Today, he said that he had recently taken in a dog that belonged to a friend whose home had been foreclosed. It was a golden Labrador, pure-bred, a male one-and-a half years old. He's a nice dog, said my friend, but too big and rambunctious for his children, who are toddlers. Would I be interested?

Here's his picture. His name right now is Yeller. Nice looking fella, isn't he?

What do you think?

I'm not sure of the proper procedure here. Do you do a trial visit? How do you determine if he's the right dog for you? If you express interest, are you stuck with him? What if you don't like the dog, can you give it back?

Adopting him means crate training, and obedience training, and a lot of oversight. Also, we have to have him neutered, because right now he's not.

Still, it would be cool to have a dog in the house. I remember how much we both treasured the companionship of Our Malamute. And it would be good to have a dog, even just to encourage us to go on walks again.

Should we give him a go?