This is the question you need to ask yourself if you want a dog

I want a dog. For sure for ten years. The years before that, I could hardly take care of myself, so not then. And before that, I lived at home with a dog; the pleasures without the burdens. Yet I still don't have such a cheerful four-legged friend trotting around my house. Even the corona lockdown didn't get me that far. Is this finally the moment?

Under my crib lay a huge German shepherd named Noushka. Our Scottish collie Lassie (no joke) took me out at the age of three instead of the other way around. Then came my great dog love Iris (also German and a shepherd) into my life, followed by another shepherd and so on. Yes, I even start to speak a bit of German indeed. In 2015, I made the deal of my life by being able to dog-sit Saar often and a lot. The cutest brown labrador of them all. Mays Monti came to stay during the holidays. In short, I was a happy long-distance dog mom. But now it's starting to itch again. Such a cheerful four-legged friend to walk with on the beach, who keeps you company on work-from-home days and to cuddle with, because don't underestimate my affection. But still, I am dogless.

At first, I was often at the office until I started working from home. Then I didn't know how much and how often I would go abroad. Something keeps holding me back. Do I have enough time? Am I often enough around? What if we ever emigrate? These are not small questions that occupy my mind. Sometimes I think you should do things when in doubt, in the spirit of you scary chicken, but in the case of a dog, that seems particularly unwise to me. Everything in you should shout ‘YES’ at the thought of having a dog at home, a dog in your free time, or a dog during your working hours. It is not an option to just turn it off occasionally.

What question should you ask yourself before getting a dog? Is my future dog as important to me as I am to the dog? Because if that is the case, then you are ready for that change in your life. You are the world to a dog, and a dog also becomes a very big part of your world. Therefore, you must answer honestly. If you are (still) not ready to make that change, then wait. The shelter is far too full of corona pups that were dumped when the office called again.

Are you sure that a dog is your next step? Then first take a look at DOA or Animales Del Alma. It is full of little dogs that need a loving home. And as far as I'm concerned? I give myself a little more time to think about it, although everything in me is now saying YES.