Well, I'm a big fat liar. Less than three months after stating for the record that I'm a cat person, and nothing but a cat person, look who's coming to dinner. That's right, we got a dog.
This is much like the time I swore we were never going to adopt agan and then I caught myself looking at waiting child listings. I should have known better than to promise we were never getting a dog at the same time that I was haunting petfinder.com "just out of curiosity."
The turning point came when I stopped seeing a dog as something the kids wanted and considered whether it might be something I wanted (I already knew Big A secretly wanted a dog but would not admit it). Now that I'm working at home more, I've been looking for ways to force myself to be more active. Also, when Big A is on a business trip, as he was last week, it's downright lonely here during the day. The big hurdle is that my family never had a dog, I know nothing about dogs, and most of the dogs I meet seem to be rather ill-mannered. But I did some research, consulted with friends, conducted a searching and fearless self-inventory of myself, and started sending out inquiries. I knew we did not want a puppy. I knew we wanted a medium-sized dog, neither a toy nor a Big Dog. I knew the dog had to see cats as potential friends, not prey.
I had a hunch about a one-year-old dachshund/Australian shepherd/mystery mix that had been rescued from a kill shelter in California. She was described as sweet and crate-trained. We had her brought out for a home visit to meet the kids and cats. (This was like a home study in reverse -- I worried that if the house was too tidy, the rescue people would feel we were not ready for a dog, so I left newspapers and shoes lying about.) Once we saw her, the jig was up. She was adorable. The cats didn't like her -- heck, the cats don't like each other -- but she didn't seem compelled to chase them. She didn't know spoken commands but was basically well-behaved.
It has been two weeks now, and I can say that the hunch proved right. She is a very nice dog. She does not jump up on people. She is quiet. She acknowledges that A and I are the alpha dogs. She loves our yard and runs figure eights around the trees at breakneck speed; we may need to put her in agility training as well as obedience classes. She is a lovely companion who gets me outside for walks and play time. The cats are still mad, but we give them extra love and make sure they have some dog-free time several times a day.
I am learning a lot about dog world -- where dogs can and can't go, the protocol involved when your dog meets up with another dog, what dog body language means. It's a whole new dimension for me, and I'm enjoying it. I guess you really can teach an old dog new tricks.


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