The Survey - Should I Get a Dog?

Warning! This is an interactive article that will need input from you. It’s a survey about a pressing subject that has been keeping me up nights. Should I get a dog? My most recent story, Dogs are People Too, describes in detail my 50-year love affair with dogs. A shortlist of why I adore dogs:

They provide:

Unconditional love

Companionship

Exercise

Loyalty

Endless amusement watching their antics

Uncritical listening skills and emotional support

Cuteness overload

Reading my effusive extolling of dog virtues, you would think that I wouldn’t give a second thought to rescuing a homeless shelter dog on which I could shower my love.

But there are extenuating circumstances. I temporarily moved from sunny Florida to my sister’s home in the North Pole (aka Chicago) last July for medical and emotional health reasons. The household consists of my sister, brother-in-law, their dog, Winnie, and me. If I do decide to get a dog, it would not be until I move back to a place of my own in Florida next June.

I have been dog-less since 2006. 9 years of caregiving responsibilities for my Alzheimer’s Diseased husband, 6 years of emotional distress over his death, and my own recent health crises, made it impossible for me to care for a dog.

Now let me tell you about the joy of living with Winnie and why she is making it difficult for me to return to living in a dog-less home.

Three dog traits that fascinate me, and which I love, are their intelligence, ability to understand language, and their unselfish love. Our Winnie possesses all three in abundance.

Intelligence and understanding of language

She has trained herself to respond to Alexa and the Ring Doorbell. As soon as Alexa says, “Motion detected at the front door”, Winnie runs to the front window to see who is coming.

Her best friend (Yes, dogs have BFFs) is Allie, my nephew’s dog, who looks so much like Winnie, I sometimes must look at their collars to tell them apart. When my nephew and family, including Allie, are coming to visit, my bother-in-law, Mike, starts telling Winnie about it in the morning. “Allie’s coming to visit, Winnie. Allie’s coming.” Winnie jumps up and down and runs to the front window. Mike does this on and off all day until poor Winnie’s excitement is at a fever pitch. She can sense when the car is near and sits by the window until the doorbell rings. When Allie whirls into the house like a tornado, the two of them jump all over each other and play together the whole day until one of them, usually Winnie, poops out on the couch.

My favorite is her comprehension of the Final Jeopardy music. Dinnertime for Winnie is 4 PM. Jeopardy is on at 3:30. She lies on the couch contentedly until she hears the Final Jeopardy music, at which time she insists upon her dinner. She gets off the couch, stands, and stares at my sister. If she gets no response, she paws at Arlene’s leg. Still no response? She turns to Mike and barks, often climbing up into his lap. It takes more time for them to prepare her food with all the vitamins and allergy medication that must be added to it than it does for her to wolf it down. I get such joy watching her antics.

Unconditional Love

This is what I miss the most about living with a dog. Winnie is openly generous with her company, kisses, and cuddles. Sure, I know she sometimes comes into my room looking for the treats I used to store in my nightstand drawer until I got caught and reprimanded by my sister. I still like to think that it’s love that finds her on my bed keeping me company while I write or read. The title picture at the top of this story, of Winnie greeting me after my return from my recent trip home to Florida, tells you all you need to know about her loving nature.

Given all these examples, you must be asking, from where is my hesitancy coming? Why don’t I just plan a shelter visit as soon as I unpack when I return to Florida next summer?

The answer is – I am realistic. In July, I will be 74 years old. I am moving into an Independent Living Villa where my cleaning, maintenance, transportation, dinner meal, and well-being oversight will be taken care of. I am moving there because I need those services. I have spent almost 3 years recovering from a multitude of life-threatening illnesses. One of them resulted in me collapsing at home and drifting in and out of consciousness on the floor, unable to call for help for 5 hours.

The questions are – Will I be physically up to walking a dog 3 times a day in any weather? Rain, blistering heat, stifling humidity. What happens to the dog if I end up in the hospital? What happens to the dog if I am physically unable to care for it? What happens to the dog if I die? These are not questions a healthy 40-year-old needs to ask. These are questions a 74-year-old who lives alone and is of questionable health needs to ask.

There is no question that I need the love and companionship of a dog. There is no question that I have an abundance of love to give a shelter dog who needs it.

There is, however, a question of what wins - my love or my practicality? What do you say? What is your vote? What wins here? Love or practicality? Please post your vote in the comments. Thank you.

***NOTE*** No offense to cat lovers, but please DO NOT suggest a cat. I am not a cat person. I don’t like cats. Cats don’t like me. I know cat people will say that cats can be affectionate, but I’ve never met one that was. At least not to me. The one time I looked into adopting a cat for my wheelchair-bound husband, the cat bit me so hard with razor-sharp teeth that blood flowed onto the floor, and I still have the scar. No cats.