Dog Days

I have been considering for a while now whether I will get another dog after Sunny and Dozer pass away. They are getting up there and you know I like to think about things for years before making a decision (and then rush into it after all, but I digress). I love my dogs but aside from chase the cats and keep me company on late night car rides, they don't really do anything. On the other hand, I can't really envision life without one. I guess they are useful as an icebreaker in public settings and a cheap alarm system. I realized this morning that while I often think of getting a new dog when these two are gone, I have never considered what I would do if one died and one was still going strong. That knocked me for a loop. Since I adopted Sunny to be Sophie's companion (1998), I have always had at least two dogs. These two don't really interact with each other, but they aren't antagonistic. Will Dozer be lonely if Sunny dies? Will he notice? There are still cats to chase and frankly, I think he considers himself one of the clowder.

There are several breeds of dog I would like to try - flat coated retreiver, borzoi, dachshund, husky et al, and several I would like to avoid, but if they live as long as Sunny has, I won't have enough years to try them all. And I am deifinitely done puppy-raising. One was enough to put me off that task forever!

We may find out the answer to these questions sooner rather than later because if Dozer doesn't stop humping the cat while I am trying to type I may have to kill him. Argh.