We’re now in what I hope is the middle of staying at home due to COVID-19. It’s been a long 7 weeks or so of teleworking, keeping kids motivated to do work, and uncovering new and old problems here at the house. We’re busy, that’s for sure, as neither my nor my husband’s job has lightened up. One of the best parts of being home is our pets. We have lots of pets. That’s not subjective, it’s a fact. There are 4 dogs living here most days of the week. Three are ours–a lab, a golden doodle, a cavalier king charles spaniel. The 4th belongs to my oldest daughter’s boyfriend. Both he and his dog share an apartment that’s above our garage. So, yes, 4 dogs technically live here and 3 are for certain the number that I provide direct care, feeding, love, shelter for all the time. The bonus dog is, thankfully, a little guy. He’s all of about 20 pounds during his fat days and even dogs have fat days. Winston’s weight roller coasters up and down. It depends how much time he spends running around chasing his owner while he works around the farm and how much time he spends stealing food from wherever he can find it. Recently, my daughter and her boyfriend found Winston with a lunch bag stuck around his neck. Silly guy went through my daughter’s backpack, drug out the lunch bag, managed to open it, eat all the contents, and somehow fenagle his neck through one of the handles. I have a picture of him caught red-handed and will have to post that. Even though Winston and my Cavalier are both small, we still have 4 dogs which by any standard is plenty. But in this family we like to exceed the standards when it comes to pets. In our efforts to be all we can be as a dog family, we’re starting the journey for what is, arguably, our 5th dog. Crazy enough, i’d always thought 5 was the right number of dogs that i’d like to have. Pretty sure i even wrote that exact number in a 7th grade essay about what my life would be like when i was all grown up. In that same essay i brought my 7th grade teacher to tears. My essay described how my future husband and i didn’t have children because he was a pediatrician, i was a veterinarian and we were both committed to our careers. Well, that is not the way to please a religion teacher or earn an A in a Catholic school. Somehow i’d spent from kindergarten to grade 7 being educated by nuns, weekly masses, regular confessions, and daily religion class and completely missed the point of marriage–it was to procreate. Oops. But my younger self knew that my life would not be complete without dogs. The four that we have really do bring so much joy to our lives and especially so in this time of COVID. They’re here for the hugs, the snuggles, the look of understanding when we feel so bored we want to chew the woodwork or just want to eat the entire pantry because there’s just not much else to do. They provide entertainment by chasing each other around and trying to out-chew each other on their nylabone toys. Sometimes they have to endure what some would consider ridiculous human behavior such as what occurred here tonight. My middle daughter and i used dog hair coloring and turned the Cavalier pink. The Cavalier was not pleased. Our hands, towels, and many other objects in our home are also now pink and given the rain outside, it’s sure to be an interesting few days as the coloring washes out of her fur. Four should seem like enough dogs and by many standards it sure is. But love is not finite and with all the dog-living people in our home, there is so much love to give. Our decision’s been made, the journey for a new pup has started. In the face of so much uncertainty in the world, dogs ground me and remind me that joy is there for the taking. They also remind me that sometimes that leftover food in a forgotten lunch bag is also right there for the taking, too.