The new dog in town…

     I am a dog. In a past life I was a dog. In the next life I will probably be a dog. It is another Saturday. I wake up to no Browndog. It is still difficult. They say time heals all wounds and I know it does, but...I still hear his Browndog rapping when I pull in the driveway. I open the door to let him out and then I remember the old boy is gone. He has only been gone for a few weeks, but I have been without a dog for too long.
     When you get home the dog is always so excited to see you. People should all greet each other like dogs. Okay, maybe not the ass-sniffing, but the excitement level. “Oh! Man! you are HOME!!! Love me up!”
     Life goes on. The company I work for is moving into a new office, and I have to go do some things at the new space, but I am feeling like I was over served last night. That last one always seems like a good idea at the time. It was probably not, but oh well. My wife calls me on my cell phone. She says that there is a dog expo at the Delta Plex. She asks me if I want to go. Of course I want to go to the used dog show. I WANT another dog. I am dog and I am a dog person.
     We get to the show and walk in. There are so many dogs to see and so much dog shwag. We find a bunch of dogs. I could take all of them home. It is sad that people can abandon their dogs or their cats. I am not much of a cat person, but animals are part of the family. However, the human animal can be really cruel, and unkind. Just ask those kids at Columbine and all those poor dogs that didn’t come home with us this time.
     I can watch a movie of humans killing each other. I can watch a war movie, or a horror movie. Granted it is just a movie, but still…I feel very little emotion. I cannot watch that commercial about pets that are abandoned. It kills me.
     We check out all the dogs. There are so many sad eyed take ME home looks, it is difficult. We spend time with a couple of puppies. We see one that looked just like ‘Cino, but we cannot get an identical dog to one we just lost a few months ago. We move on. We find a setter mix that is sooo cute, but it is very shy. Too shy. The next dog we get needs to have some PERSONALITY!!
     I find a dog named Jimmy. He is a Sheppard mix. I ask to take him out. He has some weight issues, he is skinny, and needs a bath. I walk him around out back of the show. We bond. He has some personality. He has some love to give. If it were just me, I would take Jimmy home. After all, a dog named for the WINGS starting goalie is not  a bad thing. Unfortunately, he also has some aggression issues. Jimmy is a one person, one dog, dog. We need a dog friendly dog. It is a shame. It looks like we will be dog free for another week, or longer.
     We are about to go home. We have seen all the dogs. We cannot make up our mind. Then my wife finds a black lab puppy. He apparently was almost adopted. A family spent about an hour and a half with him. But then decided they didn’t want him. He was worn out, and sleeping so he was kind of lost in the shuffle. Libby says, “OOOHHHH! He is soooo CUTE!” We spent about 10 minutes with him and knew it was THE DOG.
     He is a lab, so I am in for the LOOOONG puppiness that comes with labs. He looks enough like ‘Cino and ‘Spresso, but he is black. He is smart and already knows how to sit. He will not fill the hole in my heart that was left by ‘Cino and Browndog, but he will be a great addition to the family.
     His name is Tucker. With my proclivity to drop the f-bomb, we may have to change that name.

Just another day in paradise