I Must Be Nuts

I honestly think I'm taking leave of my senses these days. I am actually looking forward to getting a puppy in December sometime. I am apparently going to have to go to other organizations, since the Golden Retriever club in my area has proven pretty cavelier and has not answered my request for information on breeders, etc.

I am not sure why the idea of a puppy appeals to me. Sure, I love puppies as much as the next person, but I am also aware that puppies have this really nasty habit of growing into dogs. And I am not all that particularly enchanted with dogs.

I guess perhaps because I am growing older, and spend so much of my time alone these days, maybe I am beginning to feel the need for some sort of companionship. I know I'm almost painfully lonely, and that is not going to change any time soon. That's as much a personal choice as it is circumstances, given my life and my experiences. I'm very severely pain adverse, and any human relationship is sure to bring even more pain than I have already suffered. I guess I am not prepared to deal with that.

I have been making lists and checking costs of dog ownership. Insurance for their health for instance. How utterly ironic that I cannot get affordable health insurance for myself before Medicare, but I can for a dog. I have researched toys, ways of aclimatizing Brisco, beds, cage training, and the ultimate obedience training at 12 weeks. I have a mental vision of the type of dog that I find acceptable, and obedient is the most important. I do not want to inflict a disaster such as Brisco on the world. I firmly believe that a trained and obedient dog that knows his/her place is a much happier dog as well.

So December creeps up on us and sometime during that month I will become the owner of a dog. I wonder if I'm prepared?