Our "Dog Day" of Summer, August 10th

These days, I am kept quite busy taking care of a puppy. I had forgotten how time-consuming taking care of a baby—be it human or animal—is. Our last child stopped being a 24 hour a day project fourteen or fifteen years ago. And our last puppy quit being a puppy over 12 years ago.

Today marks the one-month anniversary of us bringing this new puppy home. However, it is also the one-year anniversary of our last dog’s death. At the time we knew it would be a long time before we considered getting another dog. Even when not a puppy, a dog is a time-consuming job. And it is a serious limitation on one’s freedom.

Well, the “long time” ended up being just eleven months. And I have come to a realization. This latest puppy may not be our last dog. Despite the work, despite our tendency toward neat-freakiness, and despite how frustrating puppies can be, the good outweighs the bad. We are dog-people.