Play Date Weekend Photo Roll

Photo: S

This weekend, Bailey and I had a long, overdue brunch and play date with my friend Jene and her dog Ozzie.

The play date was primarily an excuse for me to catch up with Jene. But it was also Ozzie’s one-year adoption anniversary, so Sarah and I made birthday cupcakes for Ozzie and Bailey, and Jene brought mini cupcakes for us from Baked by Melissa’s. Because I was still behind on sleep from daylights savings, I ordered brunch from Good Enough to Eat, another UWS favorite. I had no idea they delivered. No more long lines for their Peter Paul pancakes!

We had a great time catching up, and I learned a thing or two about dogs (more to come in future posts). Click through to see more pictures from the play date.

Can We Handle a Puppy?

Photo: M

Dogsitting provides a great trial run before actually adopting a puppy of your own. You get a sense of how hard being a pet parent is, especially in the city. Ideally, you should dogsit at least once each season of the year. Then you can experience having to wait for your dog to do her thing each morning and evening in the freezing New York winters. In the hot and sticky summers, you know you will have a sweaty and smelly dog each time you return from the dog park. M and I have dogsat Bailey countless times already, which makes us comfortable about being a pet parent someday. But this last weekend made me pause just for a tiny second.

You see, M and I sleep in on the weekends. And by sleeping in, I mean we roll out of bed around noon. M used to call it “sleeping like a mofo,” until I objected to the language. Now he calls it “sleeping like a Mofo associate.” Yes, there is a law firm called Mofo. But I digress.

When we have Bailey over, we usually have to negotiate who gets the morning walk duty. We had the Biggest Fight of Our Marriage when I tried to renegotiate the deal in the morning, ex post facto. That was 2 years ago, and I have not done that again since. This past weekend, both M and I overslept on our respective morning walk duty days, making Bailey wait until noon. Yikes.

Getting a puppy of our own will be a life-changer. For the most part, it will be for the better. The daily walks will be good for our health, and research shows that pet parents live longer and happier. We’ll have to give up sleeping in on the weekends, but maybe that’s a good thing, too.

The Puppy Search

Have you ever wanted to give your dog a brother or sister? We had the chance to adopt Bailey’s sister when we picked up Bailey from her breeder. We didn’t because Erin didn’t think she could raise two dogs while in school, and I didn’t think I could raise a dog in the city as a single, working professional. But I think that Bailey would have loved growing up with a sister, like Erin and me!

Photo: cutearoo.com

Photo: my dad

Now that I’m in a more stable work situation, M and I are looking to adopt a dog of our own who could also be Bailey’s playmate. I often think about Bailey’s sister, the one we left behind. So a few weeks ago, I wrote a letter to Bailey’s mom to ask if they have more litter (we didn’t have an email address or phone number, so I had to communicate the old-fashioned way by snail mail). My mom and I giggled at the possibility that Bailey might recognize her parents or half-siblings. But sadly, I haven’t yet received a reply.

So now M and I are looking at other options. I like the idea of adopting a puppy. M is allergic to fur, and I heard that it’s difficult to find a hypoallergenic dog at a shelter. Also, we’re partial to getting a miniature schnauzer like Bailey and our old dog Philo (may he rest in peace). Stay tuned for updates on our puppy search!