Every single day for the past couple of weeks, Isabella has asked me the same question: “When are we going to get a dog?”
And my answer is always the same: “Someday…”
She doesn’t like that answer very much.
Here’s the thing. Dogs are cool and everything, but I’m just not much of an animal lover. (I cringe as I write this, knowing that some of you may not like me anymore.) I think it’s something genetic, because no one in my immediate family is enthusiastic about pets. In fact, I’m going to share a rather humiliating story…
Back when I was in fifth grade, we had an adorable Shetland Sheepdog named Bosco. He was the most mild-mannered dog ever, perfect for non-pet people. But because he was so mild-mannered and because we were so non-pet-like, he tended to fade into the background. One day, my family and I were sitting around talking when my brother started to look around the room. “Hey,” he said. “Where’s Bosco?”
“I was wondering when you were going to ask,” my mother said. “I gave him away three days ago.”
She wanted to prove a point that we no longer paid any attention to the dog, and therefore we didn’t deserve to keep him. Point proven.
I still feel like scum whenever I remember poor Bosco. Yet not enough to buy my own child a dog. They’re just so much work. And they’re expensive. And they smell. And I don’t know how to talk to them. (I usually do the high-pitched baby babble to dogs. I can speak baby. I can’t speak dog.)
And then there’s the problem of deciding on a name. Isabella and I have been trying to name our non-existent dog for the past year or so, and we have yet to agree on one. My names are all AWESOME (and, oddly enough, food-related), like Ravioli, Chopstick, Granola and Pasta. Isabella’s preferred names are “what everyone else in the world names their dog,” I tell her. (“Nuh-uh!” she replies. “Allison’s dog isn’t named Buddy!”) She’s also a big fan of people names (Ashley and Max are her faves), but I am adamantly opposed to calling an animal by a person’s name. That’s just creepy.
Perhaps one of these days I will grow a heart and buy the child a puppy. Until then, I will continue to give her the evasive “Someday…” response.
But our dog WILL be named Ravioli, dang it.
March 6th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Ravioli? Really?
I went through a dog-indifference stage in my twenties…but puppies always enchanted me, and I finally got my first one when I was 40. I thought I might not like my dog when he grew up, but I love him even more. (Even though he has a HUMAN name.) Now I can’t imagine not having a dog in my life.
And he smells sweet to me, like a flower.
March 6th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
I just recently became a fan of your blog. I am 7 months pregnant and I spend most of my day at work doing pregnancy and parenting research (shhhh). I am so happy I came across your blog because it makes me look forward to motherhood even more than I already was.
My husband and I are dog lovers. We love them so much that we have 3! I think it is funny that you mentioned that you don’t know how to “talk” to a dog. My husband has this concern with babies. He is afraid he won’t know how to talk to his son. I think it is pretty funny because he does the high-pitch baby talk to our dogs, but he is worried about what people will think of him when he talks to our baby. By the way, our dogs love the high pitch voice so you DO know how to talk to a dog.
You should definitely get one though. I think an Italian Grey Hound would work with the name Ravioli.
P.S. They don’t smell
March 7th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
puppy breath should be bottled and sold as it’s that damn cute.
March 9th, 2009 at 12:06 am
I can’t talk to babies when other people are around, but I sure can talk to my dog. It’s very much the same as talking to a baby, but I don’t imagine that I would say things like “bottle” or “nap” just to see my baby perk tilt his or her head sideways and perk his or her ears up.
I never really had a pet as a child, and I sure wish I had. My dog makes me more happy than I would have ever imagined.
I like the name Potato or Eugene. Eugenia for a girl. My aunt got a cat that was already named Phyllis, and my grandma (her mother) just happens to be named Phyllis. Eugene is my grandpa’s name, and I just think it would be humorous.
March 12th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Our kids are asking for anything…cat - dog - puma for all they care. For some reason our lone goldfish is not enough for them…wonder why.
After hubby and I putting down two long time pets within two years of each other we are just not ready. I don’t know if we will ever get another cat or dog, but we tell the kids someday, so we can at least hope we will get there.
March 15th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Hmmm, I think we need to talk Julie. I don’t know how Jack’s going to handle your latest update.
UD
March 19th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
My kids are pushing me to get a dog too. I’m like you–I don’t dislike pets, I’m not just wild about them. I’ve never really had one. Plus, I know that I’m the one at home during the day, so guess who will end up having to take care of Ravioli? So, what I do to end this line of inquiry is I give them the plastic baggy from the newspaper, and say: “Let’s go outside and pick up some dog poop.” As soon as they’re willing to do that without screaming “YUCK!” then I’ll be willing to get a dog. That’s reasonable, isn’t it?
September 11th, 2009 at 11:24 am
[...] Isabella still keeps asking me for a dog and I still keep saying “Someday…” But I was beginning to feel bad that I kept [...]
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