Back in my corporate days, we used have a saying whenever something was claimed to be free: “Free? …. yeah sure …. free like a puppy!!!” The meaning of course is that receiving a puppy as a gift is far different from a new watch you can stick in a drawer; it can be life changing (life challenging? life altering?)… or at least so until they get potty trained. How long does that take again?

So sure has heck, for my birthday I received a certificate for a puppy, one that hadn’t been born yet, but one which I could happily pick out in April. I’m sure my enthusiasm failed to show through as I pondered cleaning up pee on the carpet, the stolen (and perhaps eaten) shoes, the midnight jaunts outside to try and get the idea across that real earth is the preferred target for all things being relieved.

Going to the breeder to find our furry friend was ‘interesting’ (to say the least). Not sure what it is, but let’s just say I couldn’t live like that and leave it at that. The one thing I agreed-on with the breeder is that if you are lucky, the puppy picks you. And in this case that’s exactly what happened… Roxy picked us, as if to say “I want outta here, I want to go home with them!” So bring her home we did to meet her now-big-sister Stella and our dog-friendly feline, Willow.

So I conclude this little post two weeks into this new experiment. I’m sleeping less, running outside more often and cursing under my breath at times. Shoes are put up high, missing socks are searched-for, and and just-cleaned kitchen become a mess in a matter of minutes. I wonder sometimes why we didn’t just adopt a more mature adult until I see the smiles on my kids faces as they play with their new best friend, plus who knows how a grown adult would have melded into our existing one-cat-one-dog environment.

Besides, we’re hooked. Roxy, for all her mischief and stealthy trips upstairs to poop in the laundry room, has won us over. We’re a “two dog” house now for sure.

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Free Like A Puppy