After years of begging, pleading, whining, and torture…we finally got a puppy. With a house full of boys, you can probably guess who the holdout was. And, if my cats had a voice, I’m pretty sure they would have been on my side of the fence as well.

There are many reasons I didn’t want to get “man’s best friend.” First, I’m a woman and have plenty of friends, thank you very much. Second, from what I’ve heard from other dog owners, having a puppy is like having a newborn. And quite frankly, whether this newborn comes out of my body or not, being a mommy again at the age of 44 was not really on my radar screen. Third, I’m not a big fan of dog smell, dog fur, or wet, stringy dog slobber. In fact, I’ve been greeted and slobbered on by enough dogs in my day to know that none of these things make my heart go pitter-patter. And lastly, despite my children’s pleas and declarations of, “We promise to take care of her,” let’s be real…it’s going to be mommy doing the daily poop scooping.

So, what’s a mother to do? On one hand I feel strongly about the subject, but on the other hand, I don’t want to deprive the men in my life of getting a new best friend. So I was willing to cave…on one condition. OK, maybe it was several conditions. We had to get a dog that was small, non-shedding, and non-smelly. Believe it or not, there are a few of those out there that meet those criteria. After some research and a visit with a friend’s pup, we decided to get a cockapoo. As the name suggests, she is a cocker spaniel/poodle mix and takes on characteristics of both dogs. However, as we’re trying to house train our little ball of fur, I’m quickly learning why they call it a pup-pee and a cocka-poo!! Thank goodness I had enough sense to pull up all of my rugs in her designated “area.”

And, just when I thought the days of living in a “gated community” were over, up they went again, draped across my front hall and my kitchen in an effort to keep our beloved hound in one place to minimize doom, doo-doo, and destruction. I can’t tell you how many times each one of us has fallen flat on our faces as we try and straddle these barriers between the sane and the insanity.

But fear not…dog lovers. Slowly, but surely I am getting closer to coming around to your side of the fence. When I see my boys laughing with glee as they play ball with her in the front yard, when her tail wags like a crazed metronome when I enter the room, when she relentlessly teases our cats (which we now refer to as Shadow TV, the best program out there.), or when she cuddles up on my feet to take her morning nap, I can clearly say why dogs are man’s and women’s best friend. Woof!