I’m not getting any younger, so why wait?
As Summer slips into Fall here in the Monterey Bay Area, the crowds have thinned on the beaches leaving only dog walkers and those still trying to jog their way to a slimmer waistline.
While I’m firmly in the latter category of beach visitors, I hope to soon be in the former as well.
Recently, my parents (who live in San Jose) were forced to euthanize their 13 year-old Toy Poodle, Gabby. She and my dad were special pals and their twice daily walks were famous for taking an hour or more.
My dad is a sociable guy and he made friends with innumerable people who lived along the course of his walks with Gabby.
Going for a walk with ‘Papa’, accompanied by Gabby, has been one of the common experiences for nearly all of their 10 grand-kids and 12 great-grands-kids. Losing her has been very tough on him and my mom.
They let it be known throughout the family that they were not interested in obtaining another dog. Both feel it’s not only too soon to think about following Gabby’s passing, but at 76 and 78, neither believes they’re up to another long-term pet commitment.
Adding another dimension to our lives
About the time that Gabby’s passing occurred, I awoke the next day with a strong desire to get a dog. I wasn’t that close to Gabby, so I can’t blame it on her absence. I grew up with dogs always being a part of my life but strangely never owned one in adulthood.
Maybe it’s because I don’t own a home that I’ve shied away from dog ownership. But, as I mentioned at the top of this post, I’m not getting any younger and neither is LE. In fact, LE is rapidly becoming MC (man-child). [Check out his latest moves in this YouTube video!]
So, given that we live a block fromm the beach (the biggest front yard ever) LE and I have decided it’s time to add another dimension to our lives by getting a dog.
Breeds, beds, and bones
We’ve been looking at dogs on the beach, dogs on the Internet, and dogs in rescues and pounds. We’ve visited PetSmart and CostCo. We’ve made the successful presentation to my landlord and the neighbors in our 4-plex here in Aptos.
We’ve gotten the green light from the property owner after jumping through several hoops including ramping up my renter’s insurance coverage, and detailing my dog care plans for when I’m away on business.
I honestly can’t wait to have a valid reason (other than it’s good for my waistline) for running and romping on the beach each morning and evening. Can you tell we’re excited about this? 
Potential outcomes
As I’ve stated earlier, I’m hoping this will add another dimension to our lives. I’d love to have LE feel there is someone else to love in the house. Not that his love is at all repelling, OMG, I don’t know where I’d be without it.
But it’s become evident that my life and his are intermingled without a lot of boundary. I’m hoping that a dog will not only allow him to experience unconditional love from an entity outside of me, but also open areas of himself that may be covered over by memories of past trauma and heartache thereby creating more individual identity and experience for him to build on.
We need Solo-Dog in our lives
No, we’re not going to name him or her Solo-Dog. But it seems a fitting moniker for our yet to be adopted canine companion.
Because we live in a small place without a yard to speak of (we do have a large covered 20′ x 10′ patio), I want to make the right choice in dogs. Plus, the dog would be alone for about 4-6 hours per day in side the house.
I’d love a black or chocolate Labrador, but am also thinking of a Labradoodle in light of LE’s allergies. Anyway, we’re still looking and exploring and having a lot of fun in the process.
Suggestions welcome
Readers of Solo-Dad are welcome to make suggestions as to breeds, tips, warnings, whatever. At this stage, I’m all ears.
We have a long haired German Shepard/collie mix and a black lab my son got as a puppy. We love them both. The Shepard was two when we got her and well trained. The only problem we have had with her is her fear of storms.
The lab, as a puppy was a real challenge. Lots of things lost to his chewing and climbing.
I would recommend an older dog, ( we chose our Shepard at a petsmart meet and greet in conjunction with the local humane society.
Puppys are hard! Petsmart offers training.
Labs are by nature pretty mellow and loving.In my experiences, golden labs are calmer than black or chocolate but all labs are smart and friendly.
Also one thing to keep in mind. leash train as soon as possible and get tehm around other dogs and cats some can be too aggressive.
Good luck and I think you will really enjoy a dog.
And loved your sons video!
Thanks for your comments and suggestions. The search continues. Hoping to have Solo-Dog my the end of October.
I have had dogs most of my life up until about 5 years ago when our last dog past away. Now I have cats. One of the best things I did for my dog was to kennel/crate train him. This gave him his own space and when I was away from the house I would put him in “the box” as it was called in our house. This way I knew he wouldn’t be getting into things around the house and it gave him a sense of a cave/den. Which I am told they love. My Heinz loved his “box” and would also sleep it in when I was home and the door was open. At times I would find Heinz and his kitty sleeping in there together. I live in a condo East of San Diego in the valley where it gets HOT so I didn’t want to leave him outside in the heat of the summer. I am a huge fan the crate training any dog. Good luck in your search of your new four legged friend. I can’t wait to see pictures.
Heather, thanks for your comments, too! I’ve been reading about crate training and I know a lot of dogs in rescues and shelters are crate trained.
Although some of my dog-friendly friends maintain it’s a cruel treatment. I do like what you said about the crate being a safe-haven, like a den.
I’ll keep you posted. Thanks again for reading and commenting!
And I don’t know why that footer bar is blocking your comments. Hopefully it will take care if itself.
The first I heard about crate training was when we had a dog that tore up everything in my fathers house. He hired a trainer to come and help us out and that was the first thing he told us to get. A crate. I told my dad I don’t want to cage her but her told me it was that or get rid of her so I crated her. It completely changed her. She went from being scared to be a much calmer dog. We would hide treats in the box at first and always used the same word for her box. When we would get ready to leave we would tell her in the box and after a while if we had our keys out she just got in. It was and still is the best thing I could have learned about the care for a dog. When I moved out and got my own dog I crated. I know some people will think what are you doing locking your dog up but those are the people that don’t understand. The crate, den, cave, box or what every you call it is something the dog needs. What people don’t understand is that you aren’t locking them in it for days on end only when you are gone and hopefully not for more than 6 to 8 hours at a time. Then if your dog turns out anything like ours have been in a few years you can not even lock them in, they will just go in it when you leave and don’t come out. That is what happened with my dog. He would go in it when I was gone and come out when I came home. My roommates would tell me you left he went in and didn’t come out until I got home. I was shocked but he left safer that way I guess.