Puppy Shopping

I'm not sure how this even got started.  Apparently, when I described how Lucy didn't want to spend time with me on certain days and it depressed me, Shawn felt the same way.  But he's a guy so he's not going to open wide and actually talk about this.  His way of broaching the subject was wanting to surprise me by taking me all the Waco to look at a puppy.  I hate surprises and finally dragged out of him what he was wanting $100 for.

"A puppy!  No, Shawn I don't want a puppy!" I said.  This spurred a vicious fight later that evening.  I won't go into detail because if I do, I'll only make Shawn out to be the bad guy (he was) and I did no wrong (I didn't).  Let's just say it got very personal and became very ugly, very quickly (his fault).  We both hollered, we both cried, we both went to bed at separate times without saying a word.  And apparently, it's my fault we don't have a child and that's all I'm gonna say on that matter!

The next morning, I thought quite a lot about this.  I called Shawn from work and told him I'd make a deal with him.  The fence on our neighbor's side is a wooden, dilapidated piece of crap that's just waiting for one good gust of wind to shred it into saw dust.  I told Shawn if he promised to put up some chain link there, we could get a dog (even though I was sure I am not yet ready).  We argued on the phone a bit and hung up.

Shawn is pretty adamant about a young dog so "we'll have the most time with it".  And he told me several times, "I don't want to replace Prissy".  This is so true that he even stated that he didn't want a dog with white in its fur.  Part of having Prissy in the house was the constant finding of a single white hair in the oddest of places (such as attached to the milk carton while in the fridge, in my underwear, a single hair on the stove top).  I'm a fan of getting a dog from a shelter but frustrated that we didn't see much in the photos online, Shawn decided to check the classifieds of the local newspaper.  "You're gonna need about three-hundred bucks," I said.  And of course, Shawn got a good old fashion taste of sticker shock when he read the classifieds.

When I was fourteen, I watched a program on TV about puppy mills--true puppy mills.  The image of one dog whose skin had grown around and on top of his collar is forever burned in my mind.  Etched in the recesses of my brain are pictures of puppies forced to sleep in huge piles of their own fecal materials.  So, I'm kind of against the whole breeder thing in general.  On the one hand, you may be saving a shelter dog from certain death, but then again, the puppies are the first to go; they're never euthanized.  And you're not exactly sure how big that puppy is gonna get.  With a breeder (a good an honest breeder, of course) you can see the dog's parents, interact with the siblings, see the conditions the dog is living in.

One thing that decides this dilemma for us:  We don't have $300 to spend on a dog.  Although at this point, Shawn really doesn't seem to care.  Shawn is not the one who keeps the budget, pays the bills, and balances the check book.  I don't really feel up to the task of house training another dog, cleaning up pee, and keeping a VERY close eye on poor Lucy.  I don't really feel like driving here, going there, looking at a hundred dogs, all of whom I'd like to take home based only on the sole aspect of their pitiful faces..  I'd hate to fall in love with a dozen photos, only to discover the photo had been adopted.  I just don't want to go through all this.  Let it be noted that I am being unselfish.  Let the world know that while I do not feel ready for a new dog, Shawn does feel ready so I am giving in to play the role of the loving spouse.

This is a new thing for me, so let's not go overboard about my selflessness.