The Best Boyfriend

Once upon a time, my family kept pressuring me to get a dog. I said, "No way! I can't even think about a dog until I don't have kids in diapers." One day, I no longer had kids in diapers and the next day (or so it seems), each member of the family inquired, "Now can we get a dog? Can we?" I didn't really want a dog. I had met a neighbor that had 2 very sweet dogs that were dachshunds and so I had at least decided that if we did get one, that's what it would be. To shorten the story, when we went to pick a dog, the puppy seller gave us a really great deal if we would get two dogs so that a brother and sister could stay together and we fell for it! We surprised our kids with Dazzle (the girl)

and Sly (the boy).

I had set out not really wanting a dog at all and getting two dogs but I also got a surprise. Out of nowhere, Sly just would wait for me all of the time with endless patience, show me so much joy when he saw me, and give me his undivided attention in every moment. Whatever decision I made, he not only supported me on but acted like I was fantastic for choosing that. Go for a walk? Brilliant!!! Do some yardwork? Perfect!!! Watch a show together? Genius!!! Somebody joked that he was a good little boyfriend and that phrase stuck. I started saying he was the best boyfriend I ever had and with those qualities, he really was. On top of that, he was so respectful. He never even pressured me for a kiss-ha ha. It was real unconditional love. As the dogs were puppies, things were fine but after having Dazzle & Sly for quite some time, the dogs' hair started changing and my youngest son was severely allergic. He kept breaking out in alarming hives all over his body. I took him to a doctor. I took him to an allergy specialist. We talked about the options. I was worried about how young he was as far as putting him on meds long-term. We couldn't really work out a good solution that seemed to provide relief right away at a price we could afford and in a manner we were comfortable with so we made the difficult decision to let the dogs go to another home. We still tried to keep them together but I was heartbroken about it. A little miracle happened. A couple came to look at the dogs with their kids and it turned out I had gone to high school with both of them and knew they were very good people. They had great kids and one of their kids had worked very hard to save up much of the money for buying the dogs. We even went to their house once just to see the dogs in their new environment and have the peace of mind to know they were in a very good home. It was hard to lose the dogs but the circumstances for it were the best possible ones. It's been many years since we've had them now and I was aching for a dog. My son had many various allergies over the years and we had found ways to deal with them so I thought that was under control. I knew that not just any dog would do. Dachshunds kind of steal my heart. I looked up puppies for several months, I think it was at least 4 months. There were many little cuties but nothing that I couldn't resist, until I saw Charlie. Isn't it weird how you just know? I just knew it had to be him and everything moved along smoothly and we brought him home. He attached to us quickly

His personality, for the most part, has been a great fit for our family. There have been a few really stressful days with him. At first, I felt really guilty about being stressed because I kept thinking, "Well, I'm the one who wanted a dog." I then realized that when we get stressed about children, we don't feel guilty about that and think, "Well, I'm the one that wanted a kid." Things that require a long-term commitment can stress us out at times and that's ok. The good days outnumber the bad ones. Now that it's almost been 2 months with him, I'm reflecting on how it's gone. He is very good and fun. He's different than Sly. Sly tried very hard to make me happy. Charlie just wants me to try very hard to make him happy. My happiness is not his concern. Maybe some of Charlie's disregard is just part of the puppy stage and he'll grow out of it but even if not, he's still a fantastic dog. He's really good and fun at fetch and tug-of-war, he's a great walking companion (terrible running companion because he outskills me and acts erratic trying to deal with that), he's really good at adjusting his sleep schedule to mine, and he's a great buddy to watch shows with. I guess just like kids, no two are much alike and it's an adjustment to learn the ins and outs of their personality. I'm happy to have a dog again.