Dog Days

So after talking about our beloved dog Murphy for the last six months, the girls have switched to obsessively talking about their NEW dog....the one that I'm not so sure we are getting. I definitely miss Murphy, and there are times I miss having a dog around the house. But I'm thinking I may not be a 'dog person.' Maybe I was just a 'Murphy person.' I'm not sure anymore. Regardless, NO ONE in this house is getting a dog of any kind until after holiday break because we will be traveling for several weeks. I keep telling the girls that we will discuss it then. One of the major issues in this process of deciding if we want to add another dog to the family is the type of dog each girl wants. Mari wants a Chocolate Lab, just like her teacher and favorite human on the planet owns. She talks about Chocolate Labs, uses Google images to find adorable photos of them, and thinks that Coco would be the perfect name, since, well, I'm sure you get it. Josie on the other hand wants the dog in the picture here. She's watched Beverly Hills Chihuahua (parts 1, 2, AND 3, of course) way too many times. She also wants to name her dog Coco, but this time it's short for Coconut, like the dog you can get from American Girl. My husband and I have explained that if and when we do choose another pet for our family, we will choose it from a shelter or from a rescue agency. I don't think the girls get that a pure bred Chocolate Labrador or a whatever-the-heck-breed princess dog is probably won't be available at such places. Although I could be wrong, and I will certainly do all the research when this process starts up again after the holidays. In a perfect world, I would choose a dog on the smallish size who will fit through the existing dog door on the back of the house. This dog will never shed or have any accidents in the house. It will not chew the fringe off the expensive rugs on their way down here from a house in Maryland. And when we decide on an impromptu weekend getaway, or want to add another week or two to our time up north in the summer, this dog will somehow take care of all arrangements to allow that to happen. So, yeah, I'm obviously not there yet. I am still enjoying the freedom of not having a dog after having one for 15 years. And as I look at the pictures that the girls are constantly showing me, a part of me looks away because I don't want to get too attached....probably the true reason I'm not dog ready. Yet.