A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down. – Robert Benchley
I had six dogs once, at the same time, five good-sized, as I had begun a collection of chocolate labs. In a twelve-hundred square-foot single-level with a pool and a small fenced yard. Six dogs. Zero problems except for the annual sod replacement for the track they trotted into the lawn. Went to work, came home. All dogs loose in the house. No problems. Had to feed them all in separate locations, but that was not a problem. I don’t want you in my plate either.
I came by the collection of brown Labrador Retrievers, because the Humane Society was one of my clients. Recently found the following plea from an old dog jailed in the pound, time running out.
You want a puppy? Aw, come on. Aren’t you a little more discriminating?
Pets, like fine wine, improve with age. When I think about all the dumb things I did as a puppy, I just want to howl with embarassment!
The chewing of shoes. The peeing on rugs. The unfortunate incident with that cat, which is best not discussed.
But now I am older and wiser. I may be a little slower, but I am also smarter and calmer and less likely to drive you crazy. I’m ready to be your friend and couch-mate, to share long walks and evenings in front of the fire.
I’ll romp like a puppy sometimes, but not all the time. Believe me, that’s something you’ll appreciate at three in the morning.
So, go check out the puppies and the kittens, and then, when you’re ready for a mature relationship, come back to me – or one of the older cats. (They paid me to say that.)
I’ve got a lot of love left to give. Will you let me give it to you?
My own old dog gets up occasionally at three a.m. I get up every night about that time.
No problem.
Thinking about my next dog, while my current dog won’t leave my side. We cannot live without each other. And somehow we both know one of us is going to have to do just that.
Seriously, I think of the positives. My next dog might be more portable. I’ll stop right there because this dog is my heart. He is me.
I miss him already and he’s not even gone yet.
He is the kind of creature, you know he knows you know pretty much what he is thinking.
And what makes you think I am going first?
