If you had asked me in 2019 if I was a dog lover, I would quite emphatically have said no. “Dog hater” was not accurate either, because I actually owned a poodle growing up. But I did not love dogs, did not walk up to random strange dogs and pet them affectionately.
Then my daughter held a family meeting in 2020 and declared we should get a family pet. She did not say what kind of animal it had to be, leaving my husband and me to research. While pet birds and geckos and possibly even chinchillas had appealing aspects, a wise friend warned me that the less care the animal needs, the less enjoyment we will most likely receive from said animal. Fair enough.
So we decided on the OG family pet, a dog. After hours (and hours and hours) of research–seriously, how many different articles can one person read on the “perfect” family dog–we decided on a Shichon, a Bischon-Shitzu mix. Fast forward a few weeks later and our family drove down to Millersburg, Ohio, stayed at a Holiday Express overnight, and met at man only known as “Mr. Dale” who drove a blue truck. It was 6:30 in the morning; he handed us a eight-week old puppy, told us “good luck” and drove off.
Teddy has now been with us for almost 5 years. We describe him as a “Covid dog,” which basically means he thinks he should be around people all the time, every day. As I am the one in the family who spends much of my day on the couch, either writing or napping, I do appreciate him as a snuggle buddy. And now today, I would describe myself as a dog lover. Teddy fills our day with conversation (he has a voice, and we all use the same inflection to speak on his behalf).
I’ll try to post pictures of Teddy every so often. They are mostly of him napping, since that’s what he does best. But come back here if you need a picture of a cute dog, if you need some joy in your difficult day, or if you’re just looking for an excuse to avoid the thing you don’t want to do.
