She Didn’t Need A New Puppy, Just A Fix

The puppy was adorable. Yes, all puppies are adorable, but this one was especially over the top, cute-as-a-button, lick-your-nose, itsy-bitsy, take-me-home-and-I’ll-remain-this-tiny-forever adorable. It was not on my agenda for that day to fall for the cutest puppy ever!

The better half and I stopped at a friend’s house for a quick visit. As soon as we entered the home, my puppy-radar went into code alert. I don’t remember any one thing setting it off. Mid-greeting there came a scritching sound of tiny claws on linoleum. I noticed the myriad of puppy-safe chew toys strewn across the living room floor. My nose went up, sniffing for the all-telling fragrance of puppy wafting through the air. By the time I heard the soft canine whimper, I skipped code orange high-alert and went straight to CODE RED. ”Danger! Danger!” my brain screamed at me. Yep, I was jonesing for a puppy.

Her teacup size butt fit in the palm of my hand. She wrapped her minuscule front paws around my thumbs, holding on for dear life, although she didn’t appear afraid. I raised her black muzzle to my face for the inevitable deep inhalation of puppy, and her teensy pink tongue licked the tip of my nose. I was a goner.

She was fawn-colored with a black face, and a little bit on the chunky side. Her sisters, running around the indoor pen, had the same coloring, but my little Jezebel or Isabel (yes, I was already choosing a name for her) exuded an attitude lacking in her siblings. I like attitude; I have one myself, you know.

“Please?” I looked innocent and wide-eyed at Mr. Right, turning Delilah or Daisy (still deciding) to face him. She and I pouted together.

Mr. Right’s head moved in exaggerated, slowmotion animation, like in the cartoons when something is about to happen that cannot be stopped. He could have been yelling, “Nooo!” directly into my ear, but I heard nothing.

In the end, I finally did hear him and knew it was not the right time to get a puppy. We are far too busy right now to house train, crate train, and give a puppy the amount of attention it truly needs and deserves. Besides, we already have Noodles the Wonder Dog and her sidekick Teddy, and they are both wonderful companions.

I didn’t take the puppy, but when we got home, my dogs buried their noses into my hands and then looked up at me with two sets of accusing brown eyes. “There is no puppy,” I reassured them, sitting on the floor to give them all my attention. They licked my face. I was a goner.

I got my temporary puppy fix, but I already have my best dogs. Mavis or Myra (keeping the names on the back burner) can wait for a time in the future when I am searching for another loving canine fur-baby to fit into the family. I’m a true believer that it’s always good to be on the lookout for a good doggie nose-licking.