I Want A Dog

I want a dog. This thought has been swirling around in my head for weeks now. The idea of pet ownership wasn't an original idea; someone planted it in my mind but ever since the idea has bloomed into a full burning desire to get a dog.

I pore over animal shelter websites for the perfect match. The problem is that all the dogs look sweet. They all look wonderful. They all wear that sad, pleading look on their face as if begging viewers to choose them, pick them up and carry them away from their current ambiguous status.

Even going to the animal shelter in Santa Fe makes choosing one difficult. If you open the latch to a kennel door, the dog will leap up on their hind legs, press their front paws on the edge of the door and look at you with a heart breaking earnest expression.

Just how did I get this obsessive desire? It was all my mother's doing. I think my sister contributed, too.

My mother informed me one day that she and Kim decided I needed to get a dog. My whole family are big-time dog lovers. My parents have always had some kind of Labrador. First it was a black Lab named Situate. Then it was a chocolate Lab named Molly and now they have Sam, a yellow Lab.

Kim has a whole herd: a golden retriever named Bruno, a sooty-faced pug named Bailey and Chaco, who I believe is a mix of breeds.

My grandfather used to speak lovingly of his childhood dog, which was a Scotty dog. And my mother's childhood pet was a Dachshund named Fritz.

And me? It might not have been my idea but I would love a dog. One of my favorite parts of James Harriet's classic book, "All Creatures Great And Small" is when Harriet discussed how his boss at the veterinary clinic never went anywhere without his posse of dogs. It wasn't something his boss would even thought about because the dogs were a necessity.

Reading that, I thought it was so cool this guy valued dogs so much that they had become an essential part of his life.

So when my mother first brought up the whole dog ownership idea, I have to admit I entertained a fantasy of taking a dog every where with me. It was would be nice to have a pet be an essential part of my life.

Now if only I could just pick one.....