Dog

As of this time tomorrow I might be the owner of a dog. Technically it will be the boys dog but I am under no illusions that they will take care of it. Certainly they will not clean up after it. A guy that I work with is giving a 6-week old black female lab. When he describes the dog it sounds a lot like the one I used to have. Her name was Nerd (because some people might find Retard a tad offensive). All I have ever wanted was a dog that would fetch. When I was a kid I had a doberman/hound mix that I got from the vet. She would not fetch. But she had mange on her feet that we could not get rid of. So there was sort of a trade off. Or not. But this will not be my dog. This will be the boys' dog. I think that all boys should have a dog. Any dog. Well except one of these.
There are all kinds of things that dogs can introduce boys to at an early age.
1. Responsibility.
2. The birds and the bees: "Hey dad, what is Spot doing with that other dog?"
3. Death. Either the sudden type: "Hey dad, why is Spot sleeping in the road?" Or the more natural type: Heart worms, tapeworms, parvo, anti-freeze.
4. Loyalty. The dog that I had when I was a kid would sit on the porch and wait for me to come home in the afternoons. We would play until it got dark. As I went through high school she would wait for me still. But I had outgrown her. This still makes me feel guilty. As I type this I think I might cry. And if these books/movies don't make you cry then there is a dark black hole where your soul should be.




















Anyway, the boys might be getting a dog। They are a lot easier than making a little brother.