{"id":8032,"date":"2013-03-12T07:28:36","date_gmt":"2013-03-12T12:28:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/?p=8032"},"modified":"2013-03-12T07:28:36","modified_gmt":"2013-03-12T12:28:36","slug":"in-which-she-discusses-puppies-with-the-universe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/2013\/03\/12\/in-which-she-discusses-puppies-with-the-universe\/","title":{"rendered":"In which she discusses puppies with the Universe"},"content":{"rendered":"

I<\/span>t went something like this\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

**ring ring**<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Hello?<\/p>\n

Hey DaniGirl, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the Universe calling.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hey! Whoa, haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t heard from you a in a while. What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s up, old friend?<\/p>\n

Oh, not much. Guiding a pretty little comet your way for later this year. You should like that.<\/em><\/p>\n

I heard about that! Can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wait to see it.<\/p>\n

It should be good. Listen, I called because I wanted to tell you how sorry I am about Katie.<\/em><\/p>\n

Oh. Yeah, that was rough.<\/p>\n

She was a good dog, and you guys loved her a lot.<\/em><\/p>\n

We did. She really was a once in a lifetime sort of dog. It was way, way harder to cope with letting her go than I ever imagined. I keep seeing her out of the corner of my eye when she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not there, and keep looking to the spaces where she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s supposed to be and being startled all over again that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s missing. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still crying over her, still looking for her, and how much it still aches.<\/p>\n

Well, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only been a couple of days, you know. You have to give yourself some time to grieve.<\/em><\/p>\n

Yeah, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not so good with the grieving. I just want my dog back.<\/p>\n

You know that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not going to happen, right?<\/em><\/p>\n

Yeah, I know. And the ache from missing her is all mixed up with guilt for looking at ads for puppies on the Internet.<\/p>\n

Yes, I did notice you perusing those. Thinking about a German Shepherd, are you?<\/em><\/p>\n

Well, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had half a dozen shepherd mix dogs in my life, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always been fond of the breed. Katie had a good dose of shepherd in her. I found a couple of breeders nearby with litters pending, and a couple of older puppies that we could bring home right away. <\/p>\n

Why were you thinking about purebreds, though? You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want a show dog, do you? I think you might have enough hobbies to keep you out of mischief.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ha, no, definitely not a show dog. I dunno, I want a big dog, not from a puppy mill, smart. I looked at a hundred dog rescue ads and some of them were charging up to $450 or $500 for an adoption, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a huge amount more than that for a dog from a breeder. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something about the German Shepherds, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite explain it, but when I look into their faces in the photos, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re the only dogs that speak right to my heart. Maybe it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the Katie connection? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve looked at probably a hundred dog pictures over the past week, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always the shepherds that speak to me.<\/p>\n

Are you sure you want a puppy? Have you forgotten how much work Katie was? I seem to remember eavesdropping on a tearful call to your mother when you wondered aloud how you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d ever manage to raise children if you couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t train that willful dog.<\/em><\/p>\n

I have never forgotten that conversation. She was definitely a handful, our Katie was, when she was a pup. And yes, a puppy is WAY more work than a young dog. But puppies are more adaptable, and with Willie already in the house, that seems like a good idea. Plus, I really believe you get what you put in to a dog, and training them from puppyhood is a way to make sure they fit into your life.<\/p>\n

Okay, I can see that. But you are in a heck of a different place in your life than you were 14 years ago when you could focus all of your energies on training Katie. You may even be, ahem, a little bit older now than you were then.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ah, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s true. I do have one thing now that I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have back then, though.<\/p>\n

What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that?<\/em><\/p>\n

Minions! The boys are of an age now where they can actually walk the dog, and they can certainly absorb some of the puppy energy that was so relentlessly focused on us with Katie.<\/p>\n

Ha, minions. Yes, there is just something about puppies and boys that seems to go together, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t there. Do you think Willie will mind?<\/em><\/p>\n

Well, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be thrilled at first, but he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pretty young himself, and he clearly misses Katie. Maybe a new dog will even let Willie snuggle with him, something Katie never tolerated.<\/p>\n

So you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re sure? Is it time for a new dog already?<\/em><\/p>\n

Ugh, I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure. I know we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have a dog back in our lives soon enough \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a question at all. And I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help think, if we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to get one later, why not get one sooner? Tristan and I both feel the same way \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in his own words, he said there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a hole in the family that needs to be filled. Simon and Beloved are more cautious.<\/p>\n

Your Beloved hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t put the brakes on your search for a new dog?<\/em><\/p>\n

To my surprise, no. I keep telling him that left to my own devices, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have a new dog in the house within days and that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d better speak up if he feels he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not ready. He likes to look at the puppy pictures over my shoulder, so I know he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on board. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve talked it out a lot over the past few days.<\/p>\n

So have you found a breeder you like?<\/em><\/p>\n

We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve found a few, actually. And just last night, we found another possibility that may work out even better. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m just waiting to hear some more details, but there may be a puppy visit in my near future.<\/p>\n

That sounds promising!<\/em><\/p>\n

Promising? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d say more like terrifying, heart-rendering, anxiety-invoking\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and exciting! I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to say more. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll give you a call in a couple of days and let you know how it works out.<\/p>\n

That sounds good, DaniGirl. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t forget to listen to your heart and your head. They both have insight to offer, if you just listen. And I really was sorry to hear about Katie. She was a helluva dog and a good friend to you.<\/em><\/p>\n

She was the best, Universe. Thanks for your call. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be in touch!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It went something like this\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 **ring ring** Hello? Hey DaniGirl, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the Universe calling. Hey! Whoa, haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t heard from you a in a while. What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s up, old friend? Oh, not much. Guiding a pretty little comet your way for later this year. You should like that. I heard about that! Can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wait to see it. … Continue reading “In which she discusses puppies with the Universe”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-the-universe-and-everything"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8032"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8032\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8034,"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8032\/revisions\/8034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}