I have to be quite honest or this will not make any sense. I personally am not a dog lover. Never have been, of course I was always politically correct when I would see others with their dogs always gave the correct praises (great looking dog, it looks very smart, etc.) Anyhow, never in my wildest dreams did I think I would own a dog, and everyone who truly knew me can vouch for that.
Well, even after hearing three kids beg and whine that they wanted a puppy I stood my ground and was very firm about it NO! But, it took my fourth child to break me, maybe I was just too tired to care after the fourth. I’m not sure what did it. All I remember is that when we would take a walk and every person that she encountered with a dog the first words that came out of her mouth was “Can I have him?” I’m assuming that my temporary insanity was purely out of not wanting to hear her say those words anymore or maybe “just because.
So, here I go on a mission deciding that I am going to get a dog, finally convincing my husband as well, since he knew I must have been going through some change in life or “something.”
Well we narrowed it down and figured out we wanted a dog that was hairless, did not required to be walked, would be a great guard dog, but at the same time we really did not want him to bark a lot. Go figure. We also wanted a dog that would be great with kids.
As I went on my search I found out that there is no such thing as a hairless, barkless dog nor is there a guard dog that does not require any walks (most are large and need to be exercised.) My next big mistake was asking too many questions. I got every answer I did or did not want to hear.
So then we decide to go see a few different breeds, some terrified me just by there mere appearance others just seemed to have drool making a permanent home on their lips. I figured if I must have hair then I definitely do not want slob all over my kitchen floor. Thank you very much.
Finally, we see a great looking pup, a golden retriever, My children fell in love with it but it wasn’t right for me. He had way too much hair, and still required to be walked a lot and he wasn’t even a guard dog. So my answer was NO! Yet, for some unknown godly reason I kept thinking of this particular animal and then – yes I gave in and we brought him home.
Nothing of what I wanted, but he was in my home and had to be walked and groomed and played with all the time. I thought I was going to lose my mind yikes! hair all over the place and the darn thing followed me everywhere, oh I did forget to mention he was great with the kids (that was important).
Within one month I fell in love with this thing he was too cute to ignore and so soft not to touch. He became so loyal to me, listened better than the kids and suddenly I realized that the only right answers I did receive from all my questioning is that if you choose to be a pet owner you have to let some things go. I have. And as far as a great family pet the golden retriever has to rank #1 in my book. He will probably lick a burglar to death and show him the silverware with a scratch to his neck, but he is a wonderful companion and amazing with the kids. Very easily trainable, good listener and a magnificent vacuum cleaner for all the crumbs left by those not so well listening kids. However, he is not a great picker upper for the dust bunnies that he seems to leave behind with every wag of his tail. You’ll learn to live with it. I did.
So, if you’re thinking of a great family pet I believe that a golden will be your best bet.
