Sometimes You Can Only Learn Through Experience

For as long as I can remember, I've been a dog person. My dad brought home a Cocker Spaniel when I was a young boy, and even though he was kind of an asshole dog, I've loved dogs ever since. One thing that always puzzled me though was how a dog owner could go out and get a new dog within a month of the previous dog's death. It always seemed to me like these folks were trying to replace the pet that had died. I've had a dog for the last 12 years -- two for the last nine years. One thing that I've always been firm about though, was that I wouldn't go out and get a puppy immediately after a dog died. In fact, I figured that after the first dog died, I'd go with one for a while, and then after the second dog died, I'd go dogless for a year or so. With Athena's death a couple of weeks ago, that mindset seems to have changed. Now that Athena's gone, my home is a little out of balance.

This out-of-balance feeling isn't like losing a friend or relative. I grieved when Athena died, but it's like the process occurred at light speed. Furthermore, there was no anger, denial or pleading when it came to my dog's death; outliving a pet is part of the natural order of things. But like I said, things are just a little bit off. It's kind of like driving down the road with one tire that's low on air. The car isn't quite driving right. You know what's wrong, and the fix is pretty easy.

Shortly after Athena died, my younger daughter asked me if she could get a dog, saying that she would take primary responsibility for training and day-to-day care of the dog. She even said that she'd consider it a 16th birthday present, and that she'd be willing to wait. To my dismay, I found myself not only saying yes, but saying that we could start looking when school is out for the year (months before her birthday) and I found myself looking on the Humane Society's web site this morning.