This is Responsibility

Everyone says getting a dog will teach your kids responsibility.  And so you think the list looks something like this- 

Take the dog on walks. 

Feed her every day. 

Make sure she has fresh water.

Play with her.

Give her a bath.

Which everyone thinks is great entertainment. 

 Suunds easy enough, right?  

So you get a dog. 

But, digging a little deeper, you realize that the dog responsibility also includes 

hundreds of dollars of immunizations and spaying. 

A fence- electric or otherwise to keep her safe.

Housebreaking and crate training- relentlessly- until successful. 

Making arrangements for your dog whenever you want to leave the house for more than 3 hours at a time because her bladder is the size of a marble.

Keeping your LEGOS and stuffed animals and all the things off the floor because she will chew them up.  No, really.  She really will even chew your best Barbie's arms right off. 

 And she will look cute and remorseful and you will realize how effective puppy eyes really are.  

 But you love her and so you will forgive her with a good belly rub.  

Which she'll thank you for with a big kiss!  Ick!  Right in the nostril! 

And then, just when you think you're rounding the bend and your kids have sufficiently learned the responsible life lessons that come with having a dog.... 

She will prove her love to you by becoming ridiculously territorial and protective of her pack.  

She will start barking at All The THINGS- a tree blowing in the breeze!  A flag flying across the street!  A jogger jogging past your house!!!  

Don't even mention the doorbell. 

And she will pee in her crate for the first time ever.  

And poop in the basement because she is over the top strung out after you had a party of 75 people in your house. 

And very worst of all, she will terrorize the neighbor you asked to come let her out of her crate in the middle of a long day away from home by darting out of her crate, hiding under the couch, racing over to the mudroom shoe cubby and hiding in there, growling and nipping and BITING both her and her husband when she calls him to come home from work to help her get the darn dog back into her crate.  

And that!  That is when the true meaning of responsibility starts to weigh heavy on your heart.  Because chewing and peeing and barking are all manageable dog traits that you can train her to correct.  But biting brings tears to your eyes and to your kids eyes when they realize that the dog who bites is not a dog who lives in our family.  

So you pack everyone up and walk down the street to apologize face-to-face to the friends that you hope will still be friends after your dog has terrorized them and you listen to them recount the full story of just how rotten she was while under duress trying to defend her house and you realize that she was probably scared out of her little puppy mind and even though you don't like her ONE BIT, you know that you took on this responsibility and that responsibility means doing something that you don't want to do because you committed to do it.  

Homework.  A job.  A sport.  A relationship.  A puppy.  

 And so you keep trying.  And you spend the whole night as a family ringing the doorbell and teaching her that she will not bark at the visitor.  

And it's hard.  And it's fun.  And it's funny because the kids start dressing up as weirdo visitors.  

And then you realize, in the midst of all of the anger and sadness and frustration and laughter and consistency and persistence that they were right all along.

Having a dog really does teach you responsibility indeed.