First day canine antics aside, it wasn't long until I was smitten with Sirius/Exeter. He was playful, smart, in tune with our body language and improving daily on our leashed walks (read: he no longer dragged me down the street, and would stop walking when I said 'wait'). Most importantly, he was the biggest, mushiest love bug. Leave it to a Mom to fall in love with all those traits. The rest of the family, though, was not fully on board with the idea of keeping him past Tuesday.
"You guys do what you want, but I'm not going to get too attached to the dog," my 20-year-old avowed. We suspected lingering loyalties to our sweet Bailey, who we lost some 8 years ago. But I knew that, in time, Ben would come to love this new dog too, given the chance. He was not my biggest hurdle.
By Monday afternoon, my husband said, "we should probably have a conversation about the dog." His tone suggested I shouldn't get too attached either. But it was too late.
Hubby wasn't really interested in adopting a dog. I understood. Exeter/Sirius is only about two years old, which translates to a 10- to 15-year commitment, and would mean a lot of responsibility. Still, I made my case.
"Yes, he'll have to be walked multiple times a day, and I'm willing to take that on. Get my steps in, and all that," I said. And before my husband could point out that winter was just around the corner, I said, "Yes, even in winter. I'll layer."
He didn't seem convinced, and I admit I sounded like a kid who wants a puppy and swears up and down they will take care of everything the animal needs. We all know how that story goes.
"Have you noticed how much he's learned in just the past couple of days?" I asked, referring to how well the dog had adapted to our daily routine, listened to commands and loved to play whatever game we came up with to entertain him.
My husband did concede the dog was very smart and sweet.
"And he loves our neighbors!" I went on. "He's good with every kid and dog that he's come into contact with!" Did I sound desperate? Could he hear the exclamation point at the end of my every sentence?
"The neighbors wouldn't be adopting him, we would," he said, still not convinced.
I had one card left up my sleeve. True, it concerned me somewhat. I wasn't even sure whether anyone else had picked up on this fact, or what was causing it. Maybe it was a temporary thing, or maybe it was a medical issue. Maybe it was caused by stress or the fact that Exeter/Sirius never really had an opportunity to learn how to be a dog. But these were questions to delve into later. If the trait would help my case now, I would play it. My ace.
"He hasn't barked once, have you noticed that?" I asked. "No early morning yapping, no barking at the wind or people walking by. Not even at dogs." I took a breath. "Hon," I paused for emphasis, "he's practically the perfect pet."
My husband considered this. Sirius/Exeter was lying at his feet, one paw on my husband's slipper, as if he couldn't bear the thought of being apart from him, even while sleeping. I pointed this out as well. Yes, I was shameless.
"All right, I guess we have a dog. What has to happen ne--"
"I'll take care of everything," I said, rushing to my computer without letting him finish. I wanted to finalize things before he changed his mind. Or Sirius started barking relentlessly.
I'm kind of happy to report that Sirius did eventually bark. It was about four days after we'd completed the adoption process, and he was sitting by the bay window in the living room, sandwiched between me and my husband as we discussed something that was, for once that week, not dog-related. Sirius couldn't see the street from the window, since we're on a hill, but he could look up into the pine trees that line our property. Maybe he saw a squirrel or bird. Maybe he just wanted to join in our discussion. Or maybe he is smarter than we realized, understood everything we were saying, and was perturbed at no longer being the topic at hand.
He barked. Once.
It was short, sharp and loud. My husband and I looked at each other, stunned to silence.
"Yes? You have something to say?" he asked Sirius.
And our new Dog Star put his head against my husband's leg and licked his hand, as if to say,
"I'm just so happy to be home, and I wanted you both to know it."
No comments:
Post a Comment