developed arthritis and had difficulty walking.  We made many a trip to the vet.  The Vet loaded her up with steroids, pain pills, and antibiotics.  Animals just don't last as long as people and finally all her medication took it's toll. Marta's kidneys gave out.  She could no longer fetch, she could no longer move.  We no longer had a loved member of our family.

The family mourned the loss of our friend.  I felt that I never wanted another dog again.  I loved Marta, and the pain of her loss was intense.

"Dad, can we get a dog?" begged my daughter.

"No" says I.  "Pets are a pain in the butt".

"Please."

"NO!"

So went our daily litany,

As a family we would often go to the local feed store and look at the pets that they had on display.  They would have kittens, puppies, mice, rats, baby chicks and rabbits.  We would pet the animals and admire them, and always exercise self restraint. 

"Oooh dad, look at this bunny.  Isn't he cute?" chirped my daughter.

"Yeh he is cute" says I

"Wouldn't it be fun to have a bunny?" smiled my little girl

"No it wouldn't" scowled yours truly.  "Bunnies are not pets.  People eat and skin rabbits.  Rabbits poop everywhere, they can't control either their bowls or bladder, and they chew on everything. 

My wife then says: "I heard that you can house break a rabbit"

"Thanks for your support", thinks I. 

I decide that it would be best for me to exercise logic "We don't have any place to put a rabbit".

"We could use the big cage that we used for the bird"; Says my wife.

If I was expecting support from her I was sorely mistaken.

Then daughter looks up at me with the start of tears in her big eyes and says: " I will feed him, and care for him, and love him.  I will clean his cage every day.  I will really really take good care of him.  I always wanted a bunny and I will be really really good to him."

(I know if you are a parent, you have probably heard something very similar from your own children)

Sheesh.  What could I do.  I bought her the stupid rabbit. 

We did not have the animal for more than a month when my daughter decided that she was growing tired of taking care of it.    My son had no interest in it, and so its care fell upon my saintly wife.  She would feed it, and clean it and care for it and pet it.  It loved her, and she loved it back. The rabbit grew from a cute tiny bunny to a large fat buck.  I never liked bunny, and the feeling was mutual.  It would always try to bite me, and every so often it was successful. My wife fixed up a little harness so that she could take the evil animal for a walk in our back yard.  I thought that this was ridiculous.   Rabbits don't heel like a dog and this rabbit was awful.  It was mean, aggressive, and plain nasty.

My wife was actually proud of it.  No kidding, she would brag about it's aggressive nature, and tell everyone that it thought it was a "watch dog".  She called it a watch rabbit.

My feelings was that it was just a nasty animal and it wasn't capable of watching anything.

"If you want an animal for protection, you need a dog". 

Oops! What did I just say?

The family jumped on it.  They all wanted a dog.  My wife, my son, my daughter all thought the idea was just great.   My wife told me the sort of dog that she wanted.  She said that it would be nice if we got some sort of Spitz,.  Spitz are not supposed to have a doggie odor, they are clean dogs and can be kept in the house.  Pekinese, Pomeranians,  and a number of other dogs with curly tails are considered Spitz.  She also said it would be OK to get a terrier, any thing but another big German Shepherd.

I had my orders, I was thinking spitz and that was exactly what I brought home.

"Look what I got" calls I to everyone.

I set down a small bundle and let it loose.