Monday, November 23, 2015

The Dog

The Husband had been wanting a dog for the last couple of years.  My answer was always "no" because we had a cat and I knew she would NOT enjoy having a dog in the house.  When Cierra passed away in January 2015, I was absolutely devastated.  I did not want another cat, dog, guinea pig, bird, hamster, or whatever in the house that I would become attached to and then lose.  My heart couldn't take it, but as the months passed, I realized how empty the house had become without the sound of little paws running up and down the hallway.  I missed having a fur-baby.

I started warming up to the idea of getting a dog and kept looking online (adoptapet.com) to see what was available.  Robert wanted an Australian Cattle Dog.  I wanted something cute that I could snuggle with, but not one of those little yappy ankle biters.  I quickly found Delphine - an Australian Cattle Dog/Bordie Collie mix - and fell in love with her little face in her profile picture, but we were soon going on a three week vacation and Robert didn't want to look at any dogs until we returned.

Everyday while we were on vacation I checked  the website to see if Delphine was still available and a day or two after our return home, I showed him her picture and said, "I like this dog."  We had our 'play date' with her and took her home that night!  We've had her a bit over two months and she really is the 'perfect' dog - knows commands, walks well without a leash, doesn't pee in the house, and only barks when necessary, plus she likes to snuggle even though she is 50-pounds!

The shelter estimated her age at about 5 years old and I know there will be a time when we will have to make that difficult decision as we have done with our last two cats.  I will again be devastated, but now is not the time to think like that.  Now is the time to enjoy Delphine and give her the best life possible, because she makes my heart happy and I think we make her happy too.