We’re knee-deep in puppy shark teeth and doggy poop right now but we asked for it. Well, I know I did—my whole life.

My paternal grandparents who lived in Colorado had dogs and it was one of my favorite things about visiting them. One was an old German Shepherd named Silvie, whom I steered clear of. She was blind, deaf, and snapped at anything that scared her. Including a dumb little kid who didn’t know all dogs didn’t want all the love I had to give.

But they also cared for my aunt’s dog, Charlie. Charlie was my best friend. While I’d like to think it was because we were soul mates, but it may have to do with the constant supply of bologna I fed him. Guess I wasn’t so dumb after all.

He was the kind of dog that followed you at your heels, jumped on the bed with all the puppy kisses to wake you up, and found your lap whenever you sat down. As I said, he was my best friend but the tragic part of this story was that I only saw him every other year if I was lucky.

I begged my parents for a dog when I was a kid. The answer was always no because we were always so busy and would never be home to take care of it. I now know that that is the biggest bullshit answer ever invented because it’s the same reason I hear today when people say why they don’t have a dog. I call bullshit because we’ve been those busy parents for a long time now and we’ve had dogs since when we moved into our first apartment post-marriage.

We moved to Kansas City four months after we got married and our only criteria was that we had to live close to work and it had to allow dogs.

We both worked full-time but were able to come home for lunch and let our puppy out. Then we had our first baby and the dog was a breeze compared to having a child. Then we had another child and again, the dog was still easier. Her only flaw was that she was an escape artist. She was an explorer at heart (can’t blame the girl) and she gave us a heart attack at least once a week when we realized she snuck out AGAIN.

Then we added another child and activities like dance lessons and sports. I’m sorry but you can’t get any busier than that. Oh wait, you can. We added travel to those sports but we still managed to love and care for our pets. Did I mention we got a second dog when our last baby was four? No? Well, we did because why not?!

This is all about perspective. If you see a dog as nothing but work then that’s all it will ever be. But for me, a dog meant so much more.

When I was a kid, I begged for a dog because I wanted the kind of love I got from my Colorado Charlie. I didn’t want to wait every 730 days to get it—I wanted it every single day. But the answer was always the same. No.

I even tried to steal someone’s dog once because I was so desperate. I didn’t set out that day to steal a dog but the opportunity presented itself so I guess I jumped on it.

You see, I was walking home from a friend’s house when there was this elderly cocker spaniel just hanging out by the sidewalk. Because of his proximity to the sidewalk and his curiosity of me, I told myself that this meant he was lost and probably even abandoned so he should come home with me. Remember that dumb little kid I mentioned before? Well, she either did not understand what a dog tag was or chose to pretend he didn’t have one on.

I coerced this poor dog to follow me for two blocks (maybe he was dumb, too, because he had zero reason to trust my dumb ass or incentive as I had zero bologna on my person). I cajoled him all the way up my driveway and down the walkway toward my back patio. Little did I know, my dad was back laying some bricks for our new patio and heard me harass this poor dog “all the way home.”

When I saw my dad at work, I said, “DAD! Look at what followed me home! Can we keep him?!”

Much to my dismay, we did not keep the sweet, geriatric, blind, dumb little cocker spaniel and the closest I got to a pet were two cats: one who hated everyone and one who was as dumb as a box of kitty litter. So dumb it only put its front paws in the litter box and proceeded to pee and poop on the floor. They lived a lonely, isolated life in the unfinished part of our basement because of shitty behavior. And all the shedding hair. Guess we didn’t think that part through when picked the “prettiest” cats, Himalayans. <face palm">

My second child is set to graduate in the spring and then off to college. He was seven the last time we had a puppy so when baseball stopped short last spring and school went online, we jumped on the quarantine puppy bandwagon because we knew we’d have lots of time and help to train/care for him. Before you get upset that we didn’t adopt, we have two reasons.

1. We need a dog that doesn’t shed. My husband has dealt with pet allergies for years and besides the hair all over the house issue, he’d like to keep his nasal passages and eyes operating at normal levels.

2. The pet shelters (most of them) were mainly empty! Quarantine was the best thing that ever happened to the pet shelter business. Plus, unless they have papers or we tested the dog before we adopted, we couldn’t risk the allergy thing.

We found a breed that fit our family’s lifestyle and personality then found a quality breeder. And now, here we are, in our baby-gated kitchen with our toes as chew toys and taking the puppy to go out every 15 minutes so he doesn’t piddle on every floor board of the kitchen. And we love it.

Why not throw a puppy into the crazy mix of what’s happening right now? Life isn’t a perfectly planned set of events. Some of the best things in life have come unexpectedly. Except COVID. It can go straight back to the virus hell it came from.

We are smitten with him. A little tired and limited in our activities right now but we knew what we were getting into. It’s been 10 years since we had a puppy so, of course, our memories were a bit faded on all the work. But why not? Puppies are awesome except when they’re not. Having a dog as a pet has to been one of the biggest joys of our lives after having our kids. Having our doggos is most definitely a big part of our mental wellness. Sure, at times they can be stressful when they aren’t feeling well or when they destroy the new rug, but we would never in a million years regret having a dog. Or getting a puppy. Even when we outlive them and our hearts feel like they’ve been steamrolled.

When my kids have kids someday, I hope they follow in our footsteps and say “Why not?” to the question they are 100% going to get, “Can we get…?”