Parenthood

Hello and welcome home.

I hope you will be happy here. I've had your toys prepared and pillow fluffed for over a week now. I hope you like the food and can sleep well at night.

Please note that there are large panes of glass between us and the outdoors where you will see small creatures which you will be inclined to chase. It can be painful if you choose to ignore this information.

Try not to chew on things which have not been allocated as yours and 'marking' is strictly forbidden indoors. as well as anything else that leaves marks or smells.

Abiding by these simple rules will allow your stay to be a pleasant one.

sincerely,
Your New Owner.

My mom tells me I've wanted and asked to have a dog since I was young. Though I must admit to you I went through a long phase of being quite fearful of them. So much so, that when selling candybars door-to-door as a fund raiser for my little Christian school, I would skip the houses that had signs of dog-life: nose smears on the front window, bent out screen doors, barking...

However, through the years and having had dog-loving friends, I've come full circle back to wishing to have an animal bigger than a guinea pig in my home. That wish coupled with the fact that I'm helping to rescue at least one dog from being destroyed after being deemed useless, I've now become the adoptive parent of a small(ish) male black greyhound. His race name is Lonesome Hawk and he comes with all kinds of papers and his races and records. His 'foster home' called him "Hawk". I'm not too keen on this name, so today was a 'name that dog' day with family and friends, so far nothing has stuck. Maybe tomorrow.

But for now, he's sleeping (hopefully peacefully) in his cage and will be ready for a full day with his new friend (me!) and in his new home (mine!) tomorrow. Sweet doggie dreams!