“If I Didn’t Have a Dog”

I could walk around the yard barefoot

My house could be carpeted instead of tiled and laminated

… all flat surfaces, clothing, furniture, and cars

would be free of hair

When the doorbell rings, it wouldn’t sound like a kennel

When the doorbell rings, I could get to the door without

wading through fuzzy bodies who beat me there

I could sit on the couch and my bed the way I wanted, without

taking into consideration how much space several fur bodies

would need to get comfortable

I would have money, and no guilt to go on a real vacation

I would not be on a first-name basis with 6 veterinarians, as I put

their yet unborn grand-kids through Uni

The most used words in my vocabulary would not be:

Out, sit, down, come, no, stay, and leave it ALONE

My house would not be cordoned off into zones with

baby gates or barriers

I would not talk ‘baby talk’. ‘Eat your din din’

‘Yummy yummy for the tummy’…

My house would not look like a day care centre, toys everywhere

My pockets would not contain things like poop bags,

treats and an extra leash

I would no longer have to spell the words

B-A-L-L, WA-L-K, T-R-E-A-T, O-U-T, G-O, R-I-D-E, C-O-O-K-I-E

I would not have as many leaves INSIDE my house as outside

I would not look strangely at people who think having

ONE dog/cat ties them down too much

I’d look forward to spring and the rainy season instead

of dreading ‘mud’ season

I would not have to answer the question…

‘Why do you have so many animals?’ from people who will never

have the joy in their lives of knowing they are loved

unconditionally by someone as close to an ANGEL as

they will ever get

How EMPTY my life would be!!!