Dog is my co-pilot

I am between books right now. I finally finished Tidewater Tales. Man was that a long read. I am waiting for our next book club books to arrive from Amazon or become available at the library. Though I have a stack of books to read, I didn't want to start one only to have to put it back down when the required reading showed up. So I picked up Dog is my Co-Pilot from our bookshelf last night. It is a collection of short stories from a variety of authors about their experiences with dogs.

Dog writing has become pretty popular lately. 10 Secrets my Dog Taught Me, The Other End of the Leash, The Hidden Life of Dogs, Marley & Me. The short stories in Co-Pilot have been enjoyable and I look forward to reading them all eventually.

We've had our wonderful dog for almost five years now. I grew up with dogs and had been waiting to have one back in my life again. Once we were out of apartments and had a yard, the wife and I adopted our pooch from the Humane Society. She was a five year old lab mix, ending up at the Humane Society as a product of a divorce (along with her mother). She had actually been adopted out once already. The first adopters only had her for 24 hours. They put her in a crate at night (she'd never been in one) and locked her in a room while they were away. She apparently ruined the carpet trying to get out. Their enormous loss for their impatience.

When we brought her home we spent the weekend getting her adjusted to her new home. One of us left for a half hour, then the other, then both. She had some anxiety issues initially, but by the end of the weekend she seemed at home.

She is very patient with kids and plays well with others. Perpetually happy, well behaved with enough small quirks to make her unique. I have a hard time imagining our lives with out her. Reading some of the stories in Dog is my Co-Pilot, and seeing this post earlier today, it is clear that dogs have a very special part in our hearts and our lives.