How a pet can bring your family closer together

This story was originally titled "Doggone Happy" in the October 2008 issue. Subscribe to Canadian Living today and never miss an issue!

A cautionary tail
"Don't do it," other mothers anxiously advised me before our family of four made the leap to become a family of five. They, like me, had husbands and children begging for a four-legged pet. "If you get a dog," moaned my friends, "then we'll have to get one, too."

Everyone knows that typically – no matter what your children or husband tell you – tending to a family pet becomes yet one more job for an already overextended mom. There may be exceptions to this rule, but I bet they are rare. The truth is, I knew all this. Nonetheless, my husband and I agreed that growing up with a family dog was an experience we wanted for our children. So Thumper came home with us just under a year ago. A seven-week-old chocolate-brown-and-white springer spaniel puppy with the saddest, happiest blue eyes I've ever seen.

What I wasn't able to predict, however, was just how much this freckled furball – with whiskers so perfectly curled they look as if they've been ironed – would influence the landscape of my home life. With my son in Grade 1 and my daughter in Grade 4, we had finally left the intensity of the toddler years behind. The main floor of our home had been reclaimed. No more primary-colour kids' toys scattered everywhere. No more Jolly Jumpers or giant Lego pieces or bouncy seats over which to trip.

But as it turned out, the arrival of Thumper spelled the end of my pristine living space.

Our family was promptly showered with every accoutrement a modern pup could ever want, including a wide array of – yes, primary-colour – stuffies, bouncy balls and chew toys. Then came the large crate (a.k.a. "Thumper's den"). He's safe when he's in his large black cage. Thankfully, so too is our carpet, which inspires head-tossing, fur-flying wolf attacks from our new pup.

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