Adventures in Dog Sitting

Jason, Bayli and I had the adventure of a life-time this weekend...dog sitting.

Anyone who has known me for at least, oh say, 5 minutes knows that I really don't love dogs, or cats, or any other animal, to put it lightly. Actually, I can't think of any other way to say it than to say that I really, really dislike dogs...strongly. Very strongly. I don't like to see them hurt, or hungry or abandoned along side of the road...but even more than the fact that I don't like to see them suffer, I really don't like to see them at my house at all.

But I love my sister and brother in law, so we decided we'd help them out during their long weekend away. We agreed to watch their little 8 lb dog. 8 lbs, couldn't cause that much trouble, right? I should have went back in my memory to when someone else I know was 8 lbs, then I would have had a clear recollection of what trouble an 8 pounder could really be.

Now, let me begin by saying that as far as dogs go, this one is pretty cute. Adorable actually. Cute personality and little floppy ears, very cute. And had it not been for the 4 times that she escaped from our loving arms to frolick around the subdivision, complete with me diving to the ground in hopes of catching her. And our neighbors laughing at us because they know of our "love" for the canine friends. And the fact that we've been woken up at 5:30AM every morning, because even though this cute little doggy sleeps until 10:00 with Mommy and Daddy...apparently it just ain't so when she's away from home. Aside from these few little incidents, we might have decided to keep her...because she's just that cute.

But, 3 really great things came out of this weekend:
#1- Jason has decided he doesn't want a dog after all
#2 Bayli even decided that having a dog is over-rated
#3- I now have even more leverage if any of the above-mentioned folks have a weak moment and change their mind about wanting a dog. I can casually bring up this weekend...enough said.

It's just a lot of work. And when you are as busy as we are, you have to pick and choose the things that are important enough to spend extra time and energy on. And, I think we established the fact that having a dog doesn't fit into the right category. I'm sure it's like having a baby. It's a lot of work, and a lot of extra time. But see, God knew that so he created this thing called "Maternal Instinct" and He makes your "Biological Clock" tick, etc. If there is such a thing as a "Canine Instinct" or "Canine Clock"...I missed it. God didn't give it to me or I've lost it or something.

But, tomorrow is a new day. And then sweet pup will be going home. I'm sure that we'll miss her...although she may not miss us. I'm sure she'll be much happier to get home. But we made it through and we learned some important lessons. And praise God...I'm no longer the only person in my house that doesn't want a dog!