Lily the Lab
Lily seems to bring out my daughter’s maternal instincts. “Mom,” she remarked last Saturday, “Lily needs to get out more.” I reminded her that Lily goes walking or running with us at least once each day and that I’d already taken her swimming up at the dam twice this week. “No,” Hannah explained, “she needs to hang out with other dogs more. She needs to socialize.”
Hannah joked about making a “play date” for Lily but was sincere in her concern. And so, we ended up at Alum Creek Dog Park later that afternoon…
Lily is our first family dog and my own “first dog” as well. In my youth, I certainly begged for my share of puppies and kittens but always ended up with turtles and baby sisters.
My youngest sister was the one who finally wore mom down to dog ownership (the month I left home for college!), and Bijou, a scruffy shi-poo, became her devoted follower. I tried to “bond” during infrequent weekends home, but she was decidedly Kathleen’s dog. For Kathleen alone, Bijou would roll over and endure dress-up sessions in baby clothes (albeit with reluctance and a pronounced aversion to lace-trimmed bonnets). Bijou and I just didn’t have that sort of relationship. It felt more like a “friend of a friend” thing between us.
My daughter Hannah did the whole “we need a dog” campaign in a more focused and timely fashion.
When she “identified the need” a few years ago she started forwarding me informative articles on the psychological benefits
of dog ownership. I received e-mails on the advantages and disadvantages of specific breeds and links to amazing stories of doggy heroics. All accompanied by air-brushed photos of winsome canines, of course…
It still took meeting a particular dog, Lily, to take the plunge however. Lily’s owner had succumbed to cancer and his widow hoped to place the two-year old puppy in an active home. With three kids and an outdoor-oriented lifestyle, our family qualified in an almost excessive way.
And in the end, we didn’t so much “get a dog” as bring Lily home.
