The view from the other side of the house....

I’ve never owned a dog. I’ll admit it. I’ve actually never even owned a pet, unless you count the rabbit I got one year for Easter. Poor Trixie – she died an unfortunate death about three months later after my mom put her outside. Heatstroke at its finest. We occasionally had a goldfish. My brother had his fair share of box turtles. But, we’ve definitely never had a dog.

I guess I’ve been scared of dogs, too. The big ones make me nervous. I’m pretty convinced they’re going to eat me. I don’t even know why. I’ve never had a bad experience with a dog. My cousin, Carrie, was bitten on the face as a kid, but I either wasn’t born yet or was too young to remember. I even avoided meeting Clause’s dog, Eiger, until this past spring…….Clause and Eiger live just up the street from the house we’ve lived in for a year. I worked with Clause for three years. I couldn’t go to her house because I was scared her Greater Swiss Mountain Dog would eat me.

Am I just as scared of the little ones? No, not really. They just annoy me with their barking and jumping ALL. THE. TIME. They remind me of unruly children – the ones whose parents don’t discipline them. For example, the dearly departed Chihuahua that used to live across the street in Little Italy – Lily. She looked like that Taco Bell dog. But, my gosh, did that dog bark ALL THE TIME. She growled and barked at you even after she knew you for years. Not even fun to be around.

By the way, Little Italy is the town I grew up in. Surrounded by family – literally. Seven houses in a row in a little coal miner’s patch town. Nearly 100 years of history. My parents still live there in the house my great-grandfather built.

But, then you do get the occasional cool dog. Buck the Dog and Zoey – also Little Italy dogs – are so well-behaved. Let’s put it this way: when it comes to dog training, my cousins (the owners of Buck and Zoey) could beat Cesar Milan at his own game. Buck the Dog (not to be confused with my cousin, Buck the Human) is part Jack Russell Terrier and part Chihuahua. Zoey is a pit bull. They are both inside dogs who shun the leash outside. They obey their masters like nobody’s business. The remind me more so of people than dogs, which is good.

So, who knows where this quest for the perfect Dachshund will lead me and DocsDox. Hopefully, I won’t be scared of my own dog or hate it because it’s yappy. I hope it likes to wear ugly sweaters and hang out with my family. More importantly, I hope the dog likes me.