Visiting my parents’ house always makes me miss having a dog. Even though I’m generally way more about the cats than anything else, the current parental pup is this big friendly border collie who’s awfully good at making me wonder if I’d ever be willing to scoop poop in the city. (I wouldn’t.) Even if the poop issue weren’t an issue, though, I don’t think NYC is really a good place for dogs - those tiny depressing dog runs in the various parks are more like little doggy prisons than anything else, and aparments aren’t much better.

If I ever move somewhere where I could have outdoor pets, though, I’d definitely get another dog. The parents’ dog is this huge adorable black furball named Ruby, and she has taken to following me around the house whenever I’m there for a couple of days. She’ll climb up next to me if I sit on the couch, or on top of me if I sit in a chair - and she’s really not anywhere near small enough to be a lap dog. Despite her habit of running through the pond and salt marsh a couple of times every morning and then coming back inside and climbing up on my bed (while I’m still asleep in it), she’s generally just the sweetest thing you can imagine. Here’s a shot of her from last Thanksgiving:

And yes, this is the same dog that used to hop up on the roof of my car every time I got inside. That was back when she was a puppy (that car is long since gone), when another of her habits was to herd people she didn’t know because she thought they might be sheep. She no longer nips heels or jumps on cars, but her basic personality remains the same. It’s just that now she’s learned to sit down and cock her ears ever so adorably when she wants whatever you’re eating, and then climb into your lap to get it.