The Terrible, Horrible Stinky Bad Dog Who Taught Me About Taking Risks

I had a dog for 17 years, who growled when you said "Republican" and could dribble a ball between his feet like a soccer player, even when he went mostly blind.  He responded to hand commands when he went mostly deaf.  He never met a big dog he didn't want to fight with (he was a 20 lb. cocker spaniel).  And when he died, I thought I was done with dogs.  I had a demanding career, a husband and a child with our second on the way, plus a couple of neurotic cats.  No time, no room, no patience to train and discipline and love a new dog.

And we had our third child, and one cat up and died, and the other cat started getting rickety, and I had even more reasons not to get a new dog.  A new dog has to be housebroken - and we finally live in a house where I actually care if an animal pees on the floor and furniture.  A puppy chews everything to pieces and harasses decrepit old cats.  Training takes a lot of time.  Dog fur everywhere makes us sneeze.  Dog poop!  Lots and lots of reasons not to get a dog.

And then my youngest started begging for a dog.  This child LOVES dogs, big dogs, small dogs, everything in between dogs.  And my husband started whining for a dog.  And one day, I caved.

And, you know what?  I WAS RIGHT.  Yes, I was right, I was right, I was right.  The dog peed on the carpet, a few times.  He howled and cried all night long - the first week we had him.  He chewed up hundreds of toys - and ALL the door molding - below 3 ft - in our kitchen. He nipped at the kids, tore countless T-shirts.  He shed, he harassed the cat (a couple of times, until the 'poor defenseless' - and fully-clawed - cat taught him a lesson).  He was a pain in obedience class.  He's about 40 pounds BIGGER than I expected he'd be. And there is fur all over my house.

And.  And my oldest son, who sometimes struggles to get close to other kids, wrote a paper for school saying he would never be lonely because of this giant hairy dog.  And my youngest son, comes home from school and cuddles with the dog, cooing, "Tico, I love you so much, and I know you love me, and you're the very best dog in the world."  And my daughter, who was afraid of dogs, takes this 80 pound behemoth for walks and crawls into his crate to hang with him.  And this dog softened up my tough, snarky husband.  This dog plays hide and seek with the kids.  He can run like the wind - but always stays close by.   And - miracle of miracles - the kids clean up the poop in the yard.  (Bad mom confession: they may have been responding to loose talk about Tico wanting to go back to the farm with his mom.)  They brush the dog and take him for walks.  

Our dog taught me that you can be RIGHT about all the bad things that could happen and all the worries that keep you from taking risks - and even if you're right about all the bad stuff, it's still worth the risk.  And for all that you've taught me, I thank you Tico.