Doggy Dog...

So it's been well over a year since we lost Miss Stella the boxer. There are times that I find myself thinking how "nice" it is not to be tied down by an animal. There are other times that I find myself missing that tail waggle when you come home after only being gone 15 minutes. Then there was last night when Steven was out of town and I was certain that a serial killer was in my house. Again, one of those weird ones who keep you in a cage and feed you nothing but cheese slices until they decide to kill you. Oscar the boxer would have torn a serial killer's throat out. However, despite the fear of serial killers, usually the the joys of being dogless win out with me.

For the last 18 months almost every single day Sophie asks for a dog. Steven follows right behind her. I've put them off and put them off with a million and one perfectly logical excuse. "We don't want to get a dog going into winter, who wants to stand outside with a dog in the snow!" "We don't want to get a dog during tax season because I'm the only one who will be home to take care of it." "The beginning of summer is hard because as soon as we get it, we'll have to leave it to go on vacation and we always want to go away in the summer." So really there never is a perfect time.

But. Our girl is turning 6 in a few months. She begged for a dog for Christmas. We told her that Santa just wasn't able to put "live" cargo on his sleigh. She asked GiGi for a dog. Gi knew better. We came really close to getting one when our neighbors across the street got a super cute chocolate labradoodle and we found out that Charlie had a brother that needed a home. But we talked ourselves out of it. The time just wasn't right. And truthfully, we are a little gun shy in the dog department. We lost Oscar tragically. We lost Stella because she was terminal from the get-go. I wouldn't recommend anyone loose a dog a year.

The point is that we are thinking that all signs pointing to the "right time." I have my awesome friend "aunt Kim" on the case. She's a dog whisperer and the only kennel owner that I would trust to watch our furbaby. I know that with her help, we'll find "the one."

And do you know what our girl is willing to do to get a dog?! She is willing to forego birthday presents! Rather than presents at her birthday party, she's going to ask that everyone bring an item that can be donated to the local animal shelter. Cat food, dog food, kitty litter, bleach, leashes, treats. Girlfriend has it bad. So we shall see. Less than 2 months to go until the big 6!