Why a puppy?

"He's your what?"
My puppy.
"I don't get it. What does a puppy do?"
What do four-legged puppies do?
"They sleep a lot. Play. Eat. Get into things. They're cute."
Exactly. That's what he does.

I've had that conversation more than once. Either it ends right there, or they really start to get curious. Eventually, the question is "Why a puppy?" and that answer is not so simple.

There are dog lovers, cat lovers, horse lovers, bird lovers, ferret lovers, and the list goes on and on.
I am a dog person. I enjoy the interactions, the companionship, the love, and the overall energy exchange between a loving and healthy canine/human relationship. I was blessed to share my home with my best friend who is also a dog person. Together, we shared the doggy-daddy duties for three wonderful four-legged children. Two of them have gone on ahead of us and the third now watches carefully over my god-daughter in another state. We laughed and cried and bonded with these companions, and they loved us. They left the pawprints on my heart that will never fade.

Things change. They always do. My best friend got married to a wonderful woman and they moved to another state. I found my wonderful partner and we are still growing and learning and loving life. And he is allergic to dogs.  Not just a little. Asthma and allergies conspire to make his life miserable with very little exposure to dogs (and it's worse with cats). I love him dearly. And I'm still a dog person. So I learned to get my puppy fix with other people's dogs - down on the floor, rolling around, making a general fool of myself - and I couldn't be happier. Then it's time to shower and change clothes and then I could be with my boyfriend again.

In 2008, we were travelling quite a bit in the Leather community, and I came in contact with some very sweet boys who identified as ...puppies. I asked questions. Lots of questions. I learned everything I could learn. I began to really want a puppy. So, I put it out to the universe. I bought food and water bowls that I could fit my face into, a few toys that didn't taste nasty and would fit into my mouth, and I put them in the corner of my dining room. Waiting....

In 2009, I met a young man online and we eventually met for dinner. (I'm in an open relationship, so this was not unusual behaviour.) We met again at my house and were hanging out, enjoying the time, when I excused myself to go downstairs to move the laundry from washer to dryer. When I returned upstairs, I rounded the corner into the kitchen and froze. He was on his hands and knees with his face in the dog bowl. Picked up a toy in his mouth, shook it, tossed it, went for another.  After all the toys were scattered, he turned to look for them, saw me, and froze. There was a little panic in his eyes. I extended a hand, spoke softly, and took a step forward. He didn't run or stand up. Eventually, the puppy and I made contact. I was sniffed. I gave ear scritchies. And we played.  When he was worn out, he curled up with his head in my lap. Eventually, we started talking about what just happened. He's never done that before. We'd never talked about puppy play. It just came together. 

Now it's 2012, and we are representing and educating and my boyfriend is still breathing.