We might be getting a dog. Might.
The Tall One has grown up with dogs, dogs that live on famously in family lore and create quite the benchmark for all future dogs in the family. He REALLY wants a dog.
I grew up with (in this order): two finches, a rabbit, a cockatiel possessed by Satan and a horse. Interspersed through that were appearances by dogs: Lady the Husky was before my brain laid down the highways for memory formation, Cookie the Cocker Spaniel that lasted a whole week before we gave her back, Sheba the Queensland Heeler that was the pet of a stepsister, and my dad and stepmom went through two Golden Retrievers: Zoo and Lady. But I didn't live full-time with my dad, so that was like part-time dog ownership. As you can see, I'm a little concerned about this next step in life.
Backing up, I was told that when I could keep an orchid alive, we could then get a goldfish, and then a dog, and then kids could be brought up for discussion. Now, the Tall One was setting me up for failure because I was, in fact, an orchid slayer. Until last summer, when the orchid I decapitated grew a flower stalk... and flowered. It just did it again, too. Now, a goldfish is a total filibuster of sorts- those things are genetically programmed to die anywhere from 2 days to 2 years. But, apparently we're skipping the fish and going straight to dog.
The proposed victim is a 1yr-old yellow lab that the owners don't have enough time for and it's crated an unholy amount of each day. The dog is housebroken but that might be it. My mother-in-law suggested the dog to us and the Tall One took the bait. He's been in talks with his mom about this dog. I just found out in an email that we might be having the trial run. I also learned that he likes to jump up, play all the time and run around the house chewing on anything that isn't bolted to the floor. Truth be told, this sounds like my worst nightmare. I like to sleep in and be lazy. This thing's going to have to be run around for HOURS each day so he's mellow. I know I'm trying to lose my "nursing school baby" weight and all, but that's not really how I envisioned it going down. And lab=dog hair, and dog hair means I'm swiffering the floor waaaay more than I do right now. I don't know if I'm ready to have dog hair attached to everything I own.
I really don't want to suck at the whole dog thing. I generally avoid things I might suck at, and I'm really worried I'm going to fail at dog ownership. Can't we just skip the fish and dog levels and go straight to kids? I'm all for just jumping in and learning kid skills by crash course.
What if it eats my veggie garden?!? I just got more scared.
It's going to be OK, right? I can do this, right?
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