The dog

For the better part of a year now my kids have wanted a dog. Badly. As much as I would love to comply with their request, we just aren't in the market for a dog right now. I have 4 kids, why do I need a dog? Besides, the road in front of our house can be a little treacherous on animals with all of the traffic.

Several months ago we received a pleasant surprise. A neighbor from down the road has a beautiful chocolate Labrador Retriever (the world's greatest dogs) that began to show up at our house with regularity. She is friendly, well-trained, and best of all she goes home at night so I don't have to worry about her. My kids called her Chocolate but her real name is Hershey. The owners go to our church and they have no problem with their dog being a neighborhood roamer.


As the weeks have passed Hershey has become more comfortable with us. I came home one day to find her in the house. Kellie said she couldn't just stand to see the dog looking in the door at her with those sad eyes. Now, even though she is not our dog, she has become a small part of our family. I believe she thinks that she owns us. She still goes home at night but is always back in the morning and she loves playing with the kids, even the little ones.

So for now, we "have" a dog. While I don't like all of the hair she sheds, I do live in a house with 4 other women so I'm used to it by now. What's one more mouth to feed, right?