Dogs, Dogs and More Dogs! by Bozemama
October 10, 2012
Posted By: Shaunescy
I’ve bought about a hundred different dogs in my mind over the years. It’s kind of
like shoes. Do you ever do this? I visualize the purchase in my imagination; feel
the adrenaline coursing through my veins, bask in the afterglow, consider the
myriad ways in which my expensive new acquisition will change my life forever:
I could wear these Manolos with seven different pairs of pants! I could carry this
Dachshund in my lap while I drive! I’m assuming there’s some psychological term
for this schizo behavior, but I just like to think of it as ALL of the pleasure with
NONE of the commitment. And then, like a toddler with an overpriced wooden toy
from Germany, I move on.
The funny thing is that I’ve lived with dogs for all of my 42 years and have never
actually bought one of my own. I went from my parents’ Golden Retrievers and
Brittany Spaniels to my husband’s Airedale and black Lab and am now on the cusp
of transitioning right into my daughter’s dog. Here’s the deal: Our family dog, Lola
the famous Lab, is now 13 (and a half). Considering that this equals 94 (and a half)
in human years, Lola is still going gangbusters and it’s hard to even contemplate the
day when this is no longer the case. Frankly, I’m still just waiting for Lola to lie down
and take a nap already. And – just to complicate matters even more because, why
not? -- My almost-13-year-old kid is now officially planning and plotting her first
dog purchase of her very own.
Like me, Hermione loves nothing more than leafing through the pages of her
tattered DK Dogs book and tagging the pages with her favorite breeds. At last count,
her favorites were:
Braque de Bourbonnais
Dachshund
Cairn Terrier
Border Terrier
Soft-coated Wheaten Terrier
German Hunting Terrier
Miniature/Standard Poodle
Canadian Eskimo Dog
That’s quite a list, right? Exciting. Most recently, however, she has narrowed it down
to a small dog. It must be a small dog and she will buy it herself for her 8 th grade
graduation. Why a small dog? Because ever since the age of three, all Hermione
has ever wanted is a dog that can ride on her lap on the airplane. The fact that
she flies the friendly skies maybe two, or perhaps three, times a year makes no
difference whatsoever. This has somehow become the key stipulation. As of today,
the miniature poodle is in the lead. Darn good choice if you ask me, but it won’t be
my dog, will it? No. It will be her dog.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that my mom and her two very large and drooly Italian
Spinones who will soon be moving to Bozeman and taking up more of my doggie
bandwidth without actually being my dogs.
Is this a problem? I’m not sure. But it’s fun to contemplate and complain about.
Maybe it means that the Higher Powers That Be don’t think I can be trusted to
responsibly choose my own dog because they know deep down that I would
choose primarily for cuteness and color. Maybe it means that, when it comes to dog
ownership, I’m a cipher without any real input or impact of any kind. Still, I can’t
help but wonder whether I will ever get my own dog and what kind of dog I would
choose if I did.
I can picture it now: Cute little old blue-haired lady walking a wee frisky French
Bulldog who is perfectly trained, sweet as can be and, of course, hers and hers alone.
A girl can dream, can’t she?
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Of course she can. And so can you. So please share your own pooch pipedreams with us below. And when you do so, you will also be qualifying yourself to win a $25 gift certificate to Bozeman’s very own hound happy emporium, dee-O-gee . Now there's something to howl about.
