Five years before I was born (and ten years before my sister was born), my parents got a cat. He was a big black cat named Satan and he lived to a ripe old age of 18 years. My mother always likes to joke that she was so glad that neither of her kids had allergies because she would have hated to have to give us up for adoption.

Although we had a cat and later some fish (and I brought two hamsters and a dwarf rabbit on the scene when I was older and capable of taking care of them myself, including buying their food and other necessities), we never did have a dog. Both my mother and father had grown up with a family dog but they chose to not have that responsibility once they were on their own, though they do both love dogs.

I love dogs too. I love animals, period. Not including the cats that my parents had I have owned and loved a couple of cats of my own, the aforementioned hamsters and rabbit, an iguana, a gecko, two more hamsters, two rats, and two dogs.

Whew.

Back in June we had to find a new home for our dog, Pearl. She was a beautiful animal and she had her good moments but she was incredibly aggressive and would often snarl and snap at the kids, even when they weren’t doing anything in particular. It got to a point where I couldn’t let them play together and it was unfair for everyone, including Pearl. Luckily I found someone through a woman I know up at the school so I know that Pearl is doing well – in a home without kids – and I get regular updates on her.

I was happy to no longer have to be afraid that my dog was going to go after my kids, but it wasn’t long before I was really missing having a dog around. As much as I love animals in general, in the end I’m a dog person (well, truth be told I’m a horse person but alas, they don’t tend to do well in suburban apartments). I wanted a dog and I knew the kids wanted a dog.

There are different levels of people when it comes to dogs. There are people who don’t like them at all and don’t wish to own them. There are people like my parents who love dogs very much but just don’t want to own one. There are people like George who also very much like dogs but are ambivalent in the sense that he can live with a dog or live just as happily without one. Then there are people like me who just feel a need to have a dog in their life. I could have lived without one if my kids were allergic of course, but for me a dog fills up that last space in the family.

Basically I spent months looking for the right addition. I discovered long ago that I have my own type of obsessive-compulsive disorder; once I have my mind set on something I will spend a ridiculous amount of time compulsively looking for it. I would check out Petfinder, Craigslist, and Kijiji on a near daily basis, usually more than once per day. I found a lot of dogs that looked good but either the owners would tell me that they had never been around kids, or worse, that they had seemed agitated or unnerved by children. I had one who wasn’t sure how his dog would be with kids but said that he had been abused in the past and was scared of sudden movements. Considering kids routinely make sudden movements I said a hasty no thanks to that one. The few that I found who seemed perfect were always snatched up before I could get a chance to meet them.

Hell, I even contacted the Dartmouth SPCA when we were in Halifax because I had seen what looked like a great dog on their site. They would have considered doing an out-of-province adoption on a case by case basis, but alas, she was adopted mere hours before I called.

About a week ago I found an ad on Kijiji for a dog; the owner lived with her parents and since she was so busy with full-time work and school they were the ones who ended up taking care of the dog most often and they didn’t want that responsibility. We emailed back and forth and finally set up a meeting here at our place for last night. I spoke to her on the phone the night before and got nothing but good vibes from her. She sounded like she loved her dog very much and only wanted to find the most loving home she could.

In the hour leading up to our meeting time I was so nervous it was ridiculous. I worried that maybe she wouldn’t be a good dog for us. I worried more that she would be great but that her owner wouldn’t get a good feeling from us and would refuse to let us keep her.

We met the dog. She was fabulous and gorgeous and just what we wanted. The girl thought we were great, loved the kids, and asked us if we would take the dog. I said absolutely. She cried and so did I, partly because I was so happy and partly because it was so heartbreaking to see a girl who loved her pet so much having to give it up. I promised her we would take good care of our new dog and give it all the love in the world.

We have a dog. I can’t believe we finally have a dog again. She’s not perfect, she needs some work of course. But she’s amazing and I’m in love.

Her name was originally Lola but Breanna had chosen the name Winnie even before we met her. Winnie fits her very well so we’re working on getting her to learn her new name (I was relieved she picked a normal name since her usual names for stuffed toys and Club Penguin characters are things like “Sparkle Rainbow” and “Pink Butterfly Unicorn” and whatnot).

She did really well last night. I had fully expected her to whine and fuss at bedtime but aside from a few barks when we put her in her cage for the night at about 11:30, she settled right down and slept quietly until I got up at 8 am. After breakfast the girls and I took Winnie for a nice long walk, including a stroll through the woods. Between the walk and all the playtime, Winnie is exhausted and has been snoozing on and off all afternoon.

I’m also impressed with her bathroom habits so far. The girl who had her before said she was housebroken but I still braced myself for some accidents just because of a change in routine and environment. It could still happen but so far she’s doing a great job of letting me know when she needs to go out. She either goes and nudges her leash that hangs by the door or she barks once at the door. Each time she’s peed right away when we get outside so I know that she knows what she’s doing.

I’m so happy. The kids are ecstatic. Life is good.