Don´t get me wrong, I love playing with cute and adorable little puppies but, very much like my mother, I am not keen on allowing pets in the house. My sister, on the other hand, can´t fathom living without a puppy in her life. She has had an array of dog breeds among which my favorite, but also least favorite, has been Wonka. A gorgeous, friendly, lovable Maltese who also had severe separation anxiety and territory marking issues. Anyway, after my sister moved out I got used to a dog pee-free existence, so let´s just say I am in no hurry to let a dog back into my clean house. The only problem is that Hannah is on a completely different page. She LOVES dogs, and when I say LOVES I really think I am coming up short. She is fascinated, enthralled, and so tickled with utter delight that her shrieks and squeals and, yes, even screams of pure joy mixed with nervous excitement often drown out the dog barking that always accompanies her exuberant displays of affection.
Why am I writing about this? ... because I think I am seriously considering getting her a puppy. No, I don´t "think"... I AM actually debating adding a new member of the four legged kind to our family. I can´t help it! Dogs just make her so incredibly happy and manage to keep her engaged for hours. Yesterday, we accompanied my BF´s mom to a birthday dinner (my BF is up north, so they kindly invited me so I wouldn't be so lonely without my weekly dose of quality BF time). I think I have mentioned how my baby loves my BF´s dog named Bailey. The only downside is that Bailey is a serious Yorkie with an "I am a human, not a dog" complex so he keeps his relationship with Hannah at a purely acquaintance level. I really think he is more bothered by her PDAs than interested in playing with her. This means that Hannah is always left excitedly nervous because she doesn´t know how to approach and play with him, which is what she is ultimately dying to do. Well yesterday was Hannah´s dream come true.
At the dinner there was another adorable dog named Muñeca (Spanish for "doll"). She is a french poodle puppy who, unlike Bailey, was equally excited at the prospect of playing with Hannah. From the time we arrived she was banging down the door of the room they were keeping her in as if saying "I want to play with all of the guests too, so please let me out". Finally, my BF´s mom convinced the hostess to let the puppy roam free. As soon as she was able to, that puppy started jumping up and down and twirling around, almost like a doggy version of Hannah´s displays of excitement, but as soon as she saw Hannah, she was instantly drawn to her. Muñeca sat down in front of Hannah, cocked her head to the side and regarded her with curiosity and interest. After her assessment (I believe Muñeca realized this was a baby, not a big human like the rest of us) she settled down completely and was more docile, if still excited, in her interaction with Hannah. At first, Hannah was uber-stimulated like she is with Bailey but when she saw that Muñeca was almost inviting her to touch and interact with her, it´s amazing how my little girl soon settled down into a more normal display of excitement and for the first time actually reached out and touched Muñeca.
I was surprised at how gentle Hannah was because I have always feared that when she did finally touch a doggy she would be much too rough and could potentially anger said dog, so I´ve never let her actively pet a dog on her own. I really think it had everything to do with the puppy´s calm demeanor making her feel secure enough to help her relax. Suffices to say that Hannah was over the moon with happiness and proceeded to spend the rest of the nearly 4 hours we were there playing with Muñeca with very little intervention on my part. At one point Muñeca even went to fetch one of her stuffed animals and proceeded to show Hannah how she likes to play with it by playing with the hostess´s brother while Hannah watched. Hannah, of course, got the gist of what she had to do and quickly picked up the stuffed bear that was dropped in front of her by Muñeca and started to play tug-of-war with her (this is where I had to intervene because even though Muñeca is only about 8 months old, she is much stronger and sturdier than Hannah). It was such an incredibly lovely sight to see Hannah interact and communicate so perfectly, with no need for words, with Muñeca that I couldn´t help but have my heartstrings pulled in such a way that, after being completely opposed, I am now considering the prospect of giving Hannah a puppy.
So yeah, don´t be surprised if in the following entries you come across a post named "Our new puppy!" hahahahaha. But really, how can I deprive my adorable little girl of something that brings her such joy! ;)
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