Dog, Dog, Dog, Dog, Dog, Dog.... OCD strikes again!
Every year I go through a period of wanting a dog. I generally see someone's dog and start longing for one of my own to follow me everywhere I go. I have a cat but she definitely does her own thing. I love her a lot though. She's pretty smart for a cat and I'm not just saying that. I mean I'm not a cat lover AT ALL. But for some reason Olivia really warms my cold dark heart. :)
What's really fueling this desire to get a dog is that for the past two plus years I've worked at a place where you can bring your pets to work. Year before last I was not in a stable place to have a dog. I lived in a small apartment in Oakland which was about an hour and a half commute from work. I was out and about WAY too much to devote any time to a dog. Bringing a cat to work is no fun. You can't take them outside to poop and there are way too many dogs around to make that a safe situation. Cats are much more comfy in their home environment. Mine tends to not like to be taken anywhere ever.
Anyway today after playing with a co-worker's dog (tug of war over a chew toy) and seeing another co-worker's dog during a meeting it really tipped me over the obsessive "must get a dog" edge again. Last time it went on for a few months. Driving my boyfriend insane with "I want a pug! I want a pug! I want a pug!". Lately it's been "I want a norwich terrier!". I tend to glom on to whatever cute small dog I see. The real truth of the matter is that I can't get a dog like a pug (sheds too much, too many health conditions) and I probably can't get a terrier (like to hunt cats... BAAADD).
So I went and looked at all the dog shelter websites I have bookmarked knowing that the best dog I'll probably ever find may be a mutt and will most deifnitely be an adult dog versus having to devote time to housebreaking and all kinds of other training you have to do for a puppy. I saw two excellent dogs today though. I wanted to run right out and get them! One's a West Highland White Terrier. Very pretty, very cute, nice and young, pure bred and sociable (has a broken leg but on the mend - Terrier does equal bad with cats as stated above). The other was a shih tzu/schnauzer/poodle mix. I love this dog! LOVED IT! Wanted to bring him home NOW! Only downside? DRY EYE! What the heck? May be permanent must be treated often with eye ointment. Great. That just sucks. Now I'm going to long for this dog I can probably never have.
Of course I'm not mentioning the other downsides which are a) I'm going to Europe in August and will be gone for two weeks and b) my landlord says no dogs even though I have a large garden private patio area, just perfect for a small dog. I suspect that my neighbors have a dog though or have one part time at least. And the neighbors over the fence have two loud yappy dogs that could mask any barking my own dog would do. Or I could at least blame them for any noise. PLUS the landlords don't live onsite so that's a bonus. Anyways I might just go see "Perry" to see if he's worth all the fuss. The eye thing might not be as bad as it could be and could potentially go away. If he's around when I get back from Europe then maybe it was meant to be? No no no, gotta stop right here! No way do I have the type of lifestyle where I can take on a special needs dog. Unfortunate, but true.
What's really fueling this desire to get a dog is that for the past two plus years I've worked at a place where you can bring your pets to work. Year before last I was not in a stable place to have a dog. I lived in a small apartment in Oakland which was about an hour and a half commute from work. I was out and about WAY too much to devote any time to a dog. Bringing a cat to work is no fun. You can't take them outside to poop and there are way too many dogs around to make that a safe situation. Cats are much more comfy in their home environment. Mine tends to not like to be taken anywhere ever.
Anyway today after playing with a co-worker's dog (tug of war over a chew toy) and seeing another co-worker's dog during a meeting it really tipped me over the obsessive "must get a dog" edge again. Last time it went on for a few months. Driving my boyfriend insane with "I want a pug! I want a pug! I want a pug!". Lately it's been "I want a norwich terrier!". I tend to glom on to whatever cute small dog I see. The real truth of the matter is that I can't get a dog like a pug (sheds too much, too many health conditions) and I probably can't get a terrier (like to hunt cats... BAAADD).
So I went and looked at all the dog shelter websites I have bookmarked knowing that the best dog I'll probably ever find may be a mutt and will most deifnitely be an adult dog versus having to devote time to housebreaking and all kinds of other training you have to do for a puppy. I saw two excellent dogs today though. I wanted to run right out and get them! One's a West Highland White Terrier. Very pretty, very cute, nice and young, pure bred and sociable (has a broken leg but on the mend - Terrier does equal bad with cats as stated above). The other was a shih tzu/schnauzer/poodle mix. I love this dog! LOVED IT! Wanted to bring him home NOW! Only downside? DRY EYE! What the heck? May be permanent must be treated often with eye ointment. Great. That just sucks. Now I'm going to long for this dog I can probably never have.
Of course I'm not mentioning the other downsides which are a) I'm going to Europe in August and will be gone for two weeks and b) my landlord says no dogs even though I have a large garden private patio area, just perfect for a small dog. I suspect that my neighbors have a dog though or have one part time at least. And the neighbors over the fence have two loud yappy dogs that could mask any barking my own dog would do. Or I could at least blame them for any noise. PLUS the landlords don't live onsite so that's a bonus. Anyways I might just go see "Perry" to see if he's worth all the fuss. The eye thing might not be as bad as it could be and could potentially go away. If he's around when I get back from Europe then maybe it was meant to be? No no no, gotta stop right here! No way do I have the type of lifestyle where I can take on a special needs dog. Unfortunate, but true.
