Heartwarming article about dogs, love and family

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Life, in Dog Years

Short snippet.

Mom got on the internet and tirelessly searched for the ideal dog breed for a couple in their late sixties, one that also complemented their personality types and who could meet the pet rules of the condo association, which decreed a strict weight limit of thirty pounds. As part of her research, Mom even took an online quiz. Its sensible questions included, Do you live in an apartment? What is your activity level? What’s your tolerance for pet hair? Barking? “I’ll be happy with whatever you choose” was my father’s response to her Herculean labors.

I recently tried to reverse engineer my mother’s ultimate choice from all the What Kind of Dog Is Best for You? tests. I kept coming up with dachshunds (too nippy) and beagles (no one is that bark tolerant) and something called a Finnish Spitz, which looks like a mini chow chow with a pointy nose. None of these dogs would have worked because, in truth, my parents were a little snobby. I suspect they wanted a nice-looking, smart, somewhat eccentric dog whose sociability ebbed and flowed depending on the circumstances—kind of like them.

Which is probably why they ended up with the dog that consistently took second place in my tests: a Welsh corgi, described on the American Kennel Club’s website as “affectionate, smart, alert”; “among the most agreeable of all small housedogs”; and a “lively little herder who is . . . companionable without being needy.” I’m not sure that my mother ever realized that she had found what might be, for Dad, the perfect second wife.

[Beckdawrek]

Aww, that’s so sweet.
I’m always amazed at people who don’t keep dogs. They just don’t understand the love you get from them, I guess.
I used to say I didn’t trust people my dogs didn’t like. I’ve softened on that because of my Mid-daughters 2 Chihuahuas. More unlovable 2 dogs never existed.
When she and the dogs and kids refugee-d here I hated those dogs and they returned the favor.
I started walking them and by osmosis trained them.
They are still not exactly pleasant to be around now but at least I don’t wanna drowned them
any more.
What’s weird is now I’m their person. They mind me better than my own 2 dogs.

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