Finn

I took the plunge and got a puppy last night.

It was sort of a spur-of-the-moment decision but also one into which I had put a lot of thought. I've wanted a puppy for ages, and I always felt when the time was right, one would show up on my doorstep. I've rescued or sort of rescued a couple of dogs, but none of them worked (one was too hyper to do well with the cats, but ended up going to a really good home; the owners of the other one showed up a few hours after I found him). When I've seen flyers about dogs needing a home, I've called, but they've always either found homes or gone to good rescues. I've held off going to the Humane Society because I know it will break my heart, even though the animals you actually see have made it to the no-kill level. (They euthanize for almost any problem when animals come in, I've heard, but once they're deemed adoptable, it's no-kill.) I saw this flyer at Starbucks a few weeks ago advertising puppies free to a good home. I almost called, then opted not to. Saturday, there was a flyer showing one puppy free to a good home, and it looked like it came from the same litter. I tore off the phone number, tried to talk myself out of calling, but held onto the number anyway.

Lately when I see people with dogs, I get an ache, a sense of loss, this feeling that there's a tangible absence in my life. I used to feel this way about babies; thankfully, that's passed. (I think getting to play with friends' babies and toddlers has helped a lot! It's like being a grandparent--you get the fun, you get to spoil them, and then you get to hand them back to their parents when they have messy diapers or get cranky.) But with dogs, it's increased to the point of being actually painful.

Yesterday at lunch I went to Mellow Mushroom. There were four or five people sitting outside with their dogs, and usually I stop to pet the dogs and chat with the owners, but instead I felt sad and virtually dove inside. On the way back from lunch, I decided to call the number from Starbucks. I figured enough time had elapsed that someone else had already claimed the puppy. Turned out not to be the case.

He's 10 weeks old. His mother was a rescued German shepherd who gave birth to a litter of eight puppies. They think the father is a black lab and/or border collie. He's partially house-trained and has lived with cats his whole life, so he's very good with them. He wants to play but doesn't push it or get aggressive, and as a result, the cats, while wary, are doing much better than I expected they would this early in the game. They're curious and even getting a little bold about approaching him. He's already bigger than they are, and he has enormous paws, so he's going to be a big guy, I think. And he has already proven waaaay easier to train than they are!

After running through every name I could think of, I settled on Finn. I am looking forward to taking him places, to having opportunities to socialize with other pet people. My cats don't like leaving the house, so I've never been able to take them to Petsmart or anywhere else, which is fine, but I've always had that wistful feeling. Plus, there are many activities for dogs and their people in Savannah that I've always wanted to attend, and now I can. I didn't get him to help boost my social life, but I'm hoping that's a side benefit. Finn and I went to Petsmart right after I got him, and these little girls with a Maltese puppy stopped to exchange puppy names and coo over him.

Most of my friends and acquaintances heartily disapprove. Dogs are expensive and need more attention than cats. I already have what most people consider to be too many pets. My sister-in-law, who got a dog in July and adores him, was thrilled, however--can't wait to see pictures, hopes I can bring him home at Christmas (I'm looking into fares already), is totally excited about it. This is one of the many reasons my sister-in-law rocks.

And really--I feel like it's a good time to do this. My friends are wise (perhaps wiser than me) and have valid points of view and concerns, but in the end I have to do what won't leave me with regrets...and I've regretted not having a dog for years....