Best friends

This morning our dog Inigo woke Jess and I up at 5:00. Yesterday, he woke up at 4:30AM, but we didn't have to pay attention to him until 5:00.

We got a dog about two months ago, because Brendan really wanted one. I did the same thing to my parents, so karma seems to be working properly. Inigo is about 35lbs and looks mostly like a black lab. He has white on his chest, and a few other spots, and his ears cock like the ears of the dog on the RCA record. He is about a year old.

Inigo is much like having a third baby. He is very loud if ignored for too long. You risk the carpet if you delay taking him outside. We find our conversations once again revolve around bodily functions. He has the single-minded insanity and self-absorption of your typical three-year old.

I don't have the intense affection for him that I had for my children when they were in the same stage of development. This is most likely healthy, but it does mean that attending to his needs is motivated by duty and the need to keep the house in decent shape.

I suspect that I will develop deep feelings for him. Certainly, I have for various cats. Emma has always been a paragon of catly virtue. She never gave a damn for any of us, and I believe she would cheerfully murder us in our sleep and eat us, if only she were bigger. Yet Emma will also climb into my lap and purr the loudest of any of our cats. When she is finished, she will bite me and hop off. Flit, on the other hand, is desperately affectionate. I protect her from the horrible things the world (mostly Emma) does to her.

Despite the work and annoyance of a dog, and they are a lot more work and annoyance than cats, I have already noticed some benefits. Inigo is the creature most obviously glad to see me in the evening. I haven't been greeted at the door like this, since my children were toddlers. My cardio health is also improving. We take Inigo on a lot of long walks. Our neighbors laugh at how much time we spend walking, but it keeps him from destroying things in the house, and I hope it exhausts him to the point where he will be content to sit on the couch for a while.

I have never been motivated to leave the house and walk through the neighborhood. Inigo provides the motivation. He also provides a good excuse. I feel goofy walking around by myself, but people see you with a dog, and they understand what you are up to. I would like to be able to walk him without a leash. He has amazing athletic ability, but my ambling pace restrains his attempts to catch butterflies and chase squirrels. We are taking him to obedience school, so maybe in the future.

According to Brendan, Labrador Retrievers have about four years of acting like a puppy. Inigo should be done when Brendan graduates. My cardio health will likely suffer as a result of Inigo's entry into middle age, but I am looking forward to sitting on the couch with him.