"One Nation Under Dog"
Cute title for a book, isn't it? I heard about it on NPR and chatted with some friends about it a while back. Well, now I'm about to be a dog owner myself, and the comment about dropping a few hundred bucks on the first day of dog ownership is relevant. M and I went shopping yesterday for dog gear even though we don't pick up the dog until Friday. It felt like prepping a nursery - we bought a dog bed, a bag of food, a collar, two leashes, a few grooming essentials and a few toys. It's super easy to spend that much when kitting out a place for a new dog. I'm actually surprised that anyone would be picking up their dog without first spending some money and time on setting up their house for the dog. We also discovered the amazing friendliness of the local pet supplies store, which has doggie bathtubs available for customer use whenever and was a favorite stopoff for dogs out on their nightly walks, and promised to bring the dog in to meet them on our next visit.
Hopefully everything goes well on the dog pickup. He's technically a "rescue", as he's a 3 year old with too much energy for his owner. But we are getting him from the woman who bred him. He just got neutered today, I don't know how much recovery time is involved following that but I can see myself teasing him for lacking balls if he shows reluctance to explore our place. :-) Really, I'm nervous that he won't like us enough, that he'll miss his old owner, and I won't be good enough at understanding what he needs. I wish Friday would come so it won't be just the fretting and we can get started on trying to mold our lives and home to incorporate him. A dog is totally such the proto-baby!
Hopefully everything goes well on the dog pickup. He's technically a "rescue", as he's a 3 year old with too much energy for his owner. But we are getting him from the woman who bred him. He just got neutered today, I don't know how much recovery time is involved following that but I can see myself teasing him for lacking balls if he shows reluctance to explore our place. :-) Really, I'm nervous that he won't like us enough, that he'll miss his old owner, and I won't be good enough at understanding what he needs. I wish Friday would come so it won't be just the fretting and we can get started on trying to mold our lives and home to incorporate him. A dog is totally such the proto-baby!