Dog People Are Born Not Made

Last year I had a hair-brained idea that we’d get a dog. I had dogs growing up and I remember that I loved them. However, Jen and I had always agreed that we weren’t dog people. We never wanted to have to worry about them.

The first part of last year, I thought that a dog would be good for the family. I liked the idea of a dog that was smart that we could teach tricks to and would be a good watchdog for our home. After much research, we decided that a heeler was the way to go.

We found a heeler mix last summer and found a trainer to work with us. Paid for a lifetime of training. After about two months, he ate a sharp piece of bone and died in his sleep. You can imagine that the kids were very sad. They had grown to love Boone.

We decided to try again and, this time, we got a purebred heeler from our trainer (who bred them as well). We decided to give him the same name of Boone.

At first, we were great. We worked with him every day. But, because we aren’t really dog people, our enthusiasm faded. We were expecting that our children would play with him, take him for walks and want to play fetch with him. After all, I remembered growing up that I’d play with the dog in the yard a lot.

Well, it didn’t work out and now Boone has a new home with someone that can take him to work with him every day. He can spend the time training him that he needs.

Boone was a great dog for dog people. He learned fast and was obedient when we were consistent. In fact, when the kids would go outside, he wouldn’t greet them, he would go to a spot under the trampoline to stand guard, But, the kids avoided him. It was too bad.

I wasn’t surprised, however, that they cried when we said he was going to get a new home. It took us a few weeks to find him a good home. The day I took him to his new home, he left a few hours after we had, at first, expected.

To give you an idea of how even our children really aren’t dog people — when I hollered, “I’m taking Boone to his new owner, anyone want to say goodbye?” the response was, “We already said goodbye.” Then they continued what they were doing.

I realized that our children liked the idea of having a dog but never really liked having a dog.

The experience cost us a lot of money, time, headache and effort. But, it was worth it.

Now we know. Dog people are born. They are not made.