Harry Truman said, “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog!” Well, we’ve had dogs most of the time we’ve been in Washington and there are days when I’m satisfied that Old Harry knew what he was talking about. A year and a half ago, however, our dog, Holly, died. We had truly lost a dear friend. We were in no mood to replace her. Plus, we were in our sixties, about to retire, and wanted to travel.
So, here we are, sitting on our couch, starring at a little bundle of fluff we have named Nikki. We spent a year talking about how much we missed Holly, and it didn’t make any sense to replace her. We discussed how great it was to be able to pick up whenever we wanted and head out on the “spur of the moment.” Of course, we had never been “spur of the moment” people. We fall somewhere between deliberate and regimented. So, what are we doing with this puppy?
Carole would say, “Of course if we ever did get another dog, I would want another Sheltie and to go back to Pat Schap.” That is how we got Holly. Pat evaluated dogs for temperament and steered us right on Holly.
So here we are 18 months later and still questioning ourselves. That probably was most telling. For 18 months, we have been saying, it just isn’t very smart to acquire a pet. But, if we didn’t want one, why is the conversation continuing.
We made the decision driving back to the St. Louis area for that Class of 57′ reunion. We have made many significant decisions on long road trips. That’s how we decided on a career in the Army. Miles together in a car is an excellent time for discussion and decision making. We were driving through Mexico when we committed to the Army. Not much on the radio to distract our conversation.
Pat Schap is no longer a breeder, but she put us on to Linda Sanders in Clifton, Virginia, who according to Pat, “knows her puppies.” Last week, we picked our eight-week-old Sheltie, who didn’t know her name, wouldn’t come when we called her and would potty whenever she felt like it. But we knew all that when we got her and Nikki is improving every day. Training a dog requires you first train yourself. You need to look on puppy mistakes as great training opportunities. We are getting lots of great training opportunities.
As I said, we knew about all the time demanded by a puppy when we entered on this trek. We probably didn’t factor into the formula how, at our age, she was going to wear us out. But it’s a cost-benefit thing. The cost in time and energy is high. Plus, our plants in the backyard aren’t fairing too well. She is trying out those baby teeth on everything (plants, flowers, rugs and ankles). On the benefit side, we have a little creature who we are enjoying and loving and she is learning to love us. So the costs are high, but so are the benefits. And, the costs will be going down and the benefits will be increasing (invest in a dog)!
Nikki is already stalking toys, then leaping on them. When she leaps, sometimes the toy fairs better that she does. But with her herding instincts, it’s just a matter of time till she has all of her toys in a tight little group.
Our daughter, Missy, helped with the name Nikki. When Carole told Missy that Missy’s name was one of the more popular dog names (top 20), she came up with a name quickly.
Taking liberties with Harry Truman’s quote, I would say, if you want an additional loving friend in Washington, you can’t miss with a dog.