There Will Be No Dog

I do believe that it is official - we are not a dog family.

I have long disliked dogs. They drool, they jump on you, they bark, they lick you, they can knock you over, etc. Sometimes I can be a little scared of dogs if they are over friendly and especially if they are strays or unfamiliar to me. The kids have also never been real big fans of dogs. I think that Micah may have gotten knocked down by one along the way and now he is scared of them and that fear has been passed on to Becca.

This afternoon we were outside raking leaves before it rains this weekend. The kids were having a grand time jumping in the leaves when this very small and unfamiliar dog jumps our of our neighbor's fenced in yard and into the pile of leaves with the kids.

(Now this dog is small (like smaller than a cat), has a collar and appears to be well taken care of so I wasn't to worried.)

Needless to say, the kids fly out of the pile of leaves and superglue themselves to my legs. The little furry dog thinks this is great fun and runs circles around me and the kids. I finally get the kids positioned on top of our air conditioner and they spend the next 10 minutes laughing at this cute little dog play in the leaves.

I convince them that all is well and that they can sit on some chairs on our patio. Not a good idea. The dog, seeing that the kids are down, thinks that it is play time and starts running around the kids. Micah thinks that the dog is running after him and so he starts running and the now the dog thinks that it would be great fun to play chase!

Micah is terrified and is screaming for all he is worth and literally trying to climb up me. I try to calm him down, but to no avail. I leave Becca who seems to be okay with the dog and drag Micah in the house. I come back outside and now Becca is screaming and running away from the dog as well. I drag her inside, tell them both that this is ridiculous, take off their coats and shoes and that I will be inside when I am finished.

I finish my yard work with my new best friend following me everywhere. (I must say if we had to get a dog this one seemed like a good candidate.)

When I am finished I go to the neighbor's house and see if the dog belongs to them. It is actually a dog that they a watching while the owner is away and they had no idea that he could jump their fence. Good thing he stuck close to me!

I come inside and the kids still have red eyes and are still talking about the dog that chased them.... After that "terrifying" experience I think that it will be a long time before the kids want to get close to another dog, especially one that is bigger than a cat!