When we first married it wasn't long before I fell pregnant with our eldest daughter. When she was one year old I got clucky but thinking that it was too soon to have another baby we bought a dog instead! I wish I could tell you that the dog was a good idea but I can't. She was a blue healer cross and she drove me crazy! She would jump up at the washing line and pull all my freshly laundered clothes down. She chewed everything! all of our shoes became victims of the Blue Healer bite. I read somewhere that having two dogs could settle a bad dog down (who wrote that.........let me at him) so believing everything that I am told we started hunting for another dog. This time we bought a small dog, a Dachshund cross! We called her Esther (after my favourite Bible Story) and she was the most placid dog we could have hoped for. Sadly she didn't have any impact on the Blue Healer! all it did was emphasize her bad behaviour. Eventually we gave the Blue Healer to someone who could provide her with a bit more land to run around on, which left us with one good dog. Esther was a real family pet. She thought she was human! we all loved her. It was a sad day when at 10 years old she became so sick that we were advised to have her put down. That was 10 years ago and we haven't owned a dog since..............
Suddenly, out of the blue, I am thinking about another dog. Steve thinks that I am being silly and it is just because I know that I can't have any more babies. I don't know, maybe that is true! But I have spent hours on the internet checking out Dog breeds. One minute I want a Golden Retriever but then I hear that they love to chew furniture............um, not a good idea. Then I want a Pug, just like the one that Don Burke had on his show, "Burkes Backyard". Then I read that they can have breathing problems. So I go through the list, poodles, Labradors, Beagles, West Highland Terriers, Old English Sheepdog.............and then I find the perfect dog for me....a Cavoodle! a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel cross Miniature Poodle. Apparently they have the beautiful nature of a King Charles without the health issues and the best bit of all.............they hardly molt because of the poodle cross. I want one, I want one, I want one. I even have a name picked out. But............and this is a big BUT...my husband says "NO". Under no circumstances is he going to buy a dog because he thinks that after five minutes my interest will wane and he will do all the walking, picking up dog muck, cleaning etc etc etc.
So what does a girl do in this situation? well, I will sulk of course................