For those of you that know me, I am not a dog person...especially big dogs. I am not afraid, per se, but have my reasons on why having a big dog in our lives is not an idea I have embraced. I will spare you all the list of reasons but you can ask some time...and then try to sell me on all the rationale for why those reasons don't matter.
My fiance wants a dog...he wants two dogs...big dogs... this came up in conversation early in our relationship. But if you have been following along, you might note why those negotiations are on hold...if not, see: change of job, moved to the country, etc. etc. We have had enough change in our lives right now and enough compromise, that the dog converstaion, while not abandoned, has been put on the back burner. I am fine with that. One thing at a time. It's still his dream though.
Also early on in our relationship I learned that this type of dog (much to my ignorance) is an "outside dog". Meaning, this dog does not live with us in the house. Me, being the non-dog lover, was stunned by this and all of a sudden became concerned about this dog -- "how can it survive outside?", "what if it rains?", "what happens when it gets cold?", and so forth, which made Josh laugh -- why would I care if I don't care about the dog, right? But in the city -- our dogs do not remain outside. They are pets. In the country, they are farm dogs and live outside, for the most part, in accommodations sometimes created. Read: sometimes. Otherwise, they just survive, including Josh telling me they never really get a bath. My response (as you can imagine) was "um, no, should we have a dog, we would be bathing our dog"
Now don't get me wrong -- this sweetened the deal a bit -- not having two large dogs in my house brightened the negotiations but alas, I was still not convinced.
Everyone in the country who has a dog, has it roaming around outside. I am not sure how these dogs stay on the property -- but Josh says you train them, or they eventually come home. However, I literally had a mini heart attack the other day when we were driving home. Josh and his dad were in the truck in front of me, in the dark, and I was following in my car. We drive past a neighbor's house and I am looking at it casually, when all of a sudden, their dog barks and is running alongside my car on the driver's side while I drive. OMG! I about died...another "life is different around here" moment.
Bailey...this friendly little dog (it's a big dog, for the record)...just didn't know my car yet, Josh said. Ummm...okay. She didn't follow me far, but I think it's crazy that your "family" pet is running alongside the road -- what a way to get hurt. It seems really hard for me to grasp. Especially when I do not like arriving at someone's house to find a large dog greeting me. It reminds me of "Overboard" -- anyone remember that movie? Yeah, barking dogs greeting you at the car...awesome...
More than being an annoyance, it scares me. I don't want to be responsible for hitting someone's dog on the road. Because, friends, Bailey has not been the only dog I have seen running around. Josh's friend, Sean, has it figured out -- the electric fence...the dog comes running but then stops at the edge of the yard. Genius. Let's all get that figured out so I don't have another mini heart attack... or maybe we should just let the dog inside?! I am not sure -- it's all perplexing to me, which is one of many reasons we are not embarcing the idea of a dog yet. I need to figure this out!
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