My Girl

Jane: Until we brought Daisy home, we'd always owned male dogs. Somehow, it just made sense. In a household of one male and three female humans (our two daughters and me), Rich was clearly outnumbered. So whenever he needed to escape a brewing estrogen storm, he'd take Bo, or Buddy, on long walks around the neighborhood. Two guys on a mission--to escape the high drama of life with three women.

When we lost our black Lab Buddy at age 12 to cancer, it took us two years to be able to hang our hopes and our hearts on another dog. Enter Boomer, our black Lab male pup, who came home at 10 weeks of age 26 months ago.

I loved Bo, I adored Buddy, and I've spoiled Boomer. But despite my involvement and investment in "my boys," for some mysterious reason every one of them has been "Rich's dog." Oh, not that they didn't respond to my affectionate overtures. In fact Buddy would often plant himself in a sit, turn back, and watch and wait for me to join in on a walk. I felt like a queen!

But at night it has always the same: Each boy ended up on the floor by Rich's side of the bed. Our first dog, Bo, would go thump, thump, thump every morning by Rich's side as his mighty tail excitedly greeted the day. Then Buddy, who would stand on hind legs to gave Rich a daily tongue bath in bed (an effort, I suspect, to move along our waking-up process). And now Boomer, who usually ends up lying on Rich in the morning, or hovering around him in the bathroom (male bonding indeed!) to make sure he doesn't miss any moves toward the food bowl or dog park.

Enter Daisy, our first girl, now 5 months old. Last night we freed Daisy from her kennel for the night, and she slept on the floor by my side of the bed. Imagine my surprise! What's more, every morning after she's fed, if I'm still in bed, she trots upstairs, pads across the hardwood floor to the bed, and jumps on hind legs to greet me with wags and snuffles and her sweet little "smile."

At first I thought her behavior was a fluke. Surely she'll end up on Rich's side, I thought. They all eventually do.

Yet days have turned into weeks, and still Daisy begins our mornings by my side of the bed--and now her evenings end that way, too.

It may sound silly, but this has actually made me shed some happy tears. In a way I'd never experienced with Bo and Buddy and Boomer, Daisy and I have bonded. In a real sense, she's "my dog." My girl. And she sleeps by my side of the bed. And I simply can't explain how wonderful that makes me feel.