If I didn't have a dog . . .

I could walk around the yard barefoot in safety.

All flat surfaces, clothing, furniture, and cars would be free of hair.

When the doorbell rings, it wouldn't sound like a kennel and I could get to the door without wading through a fuzzy body who beat me there.

I could sit on the couch and my bed the way I wanted, without taking into consideration how much space a big fur body would need to get comfortable.

I would not be on a first-name basis with the veterinarians, as I put their yet unborn grand kids through college.

The most used words in my vocabulary would not be: out, sit, down, come, no, stay, and leave him/her/it ALONE.

My house would not be cordoned off into zones with baby gates or barriers.

I would not talk 'baby talk'. 'Eat your din din'. 'Yummy yummy for the tummy'...

My house would not look like a day care center, toys everywhere.

My pockets would not contain things like treats.

I would no longer have to spell the words B-A-L-L, W-A-L-K, T-R-E-A-T, G-O...

I would not have as many leaves INSIDE my house as outside.

I would not look strangely at people who think having ONE dog ties them down too much.

I would not have to answer the question 'Why do you have an animal?' from people who will never have the joy in their lives of knowing they are loved unconditionally by someone as close to an angel as they will ever get.

How EMPTY my life would be!!!

original poem at:
http://www.boxerworld.com/forums/poetry/138308-if-i-didnt-have-dog.html