I'm Not Always Right (And That's A Good Thing)

Meet Lucky Girl, the world’s most adventurous dachshund.

I’m not always right. And that’s a good thing. Because if I was always right, Lucky Girl would never have come into my life. 

When our son, Jonathan declared his intentions to get a dachshund a few days before Christmas 2017, I quickly came up with all the reasons why he shouldn't.

You travel too much to care for a dog. It's just before Christmas -- a terrible time to get a puppy. We don't know anything about Dachshunds. I've read they take special care and can be hard to train. We already have two dogs. When we're watching your dog, we'll have three in the house. Too many! 

And so on.

Thank goodness, he didn't listen to me. Jonathan's persistence in knowing and following through on what he wanted led to Lucky Girl coming into our lives.

And despite all my resistance and logical arguments, the moment that little nine-week-old ball of fur and energy entered our home I was love struck. The laughs, love and stories she's given us in just over a year outshine any objections and apprehensions I may have had.

Lucky Girl on squirrel watch.

What I've enjoyed most is watching our son and this dog bond. Lucky likes Susan and me well enough. But to say the sun rises and sets for her in Jonathan would be an understatement. There's something about seeing someone, or in this case some critter, love Jonathan unconditionally that makes my heart soar. It's so cool to see how he's made her a part of his life and adventures.

I should have seen this coming. When Jonathan was a young angler, we encountered a fisherman and his loyal dachshund on the banks of Buffalo Creek. The dog was fully engaged in helping his owner land the big catfish on his line. This left an impression on Jonathan. 

Later, while in high school, Jonathan worked as a kennel assistant for a local veterinarian where he bonded with Roxie the Doxie. She’d leap into his arms when he opened her crate to feed her and he’d have to carry her (happily, I might add) during the rest of his rounds. You might say he was doxie-smitten long before I knew it.

Now he has his constant companion and we get to enjoy Lucky when he’s in town. We even granddog sit on occasion. 

The joy of having Lucky in our lives, the joy of seeing our son and his pup living out their happy adventures make me realize that I hope I'm wrong like this more often.

(This post was originally published on July 17, 2019, on my Blogger site.)