Just wait!

We have a dog.  We’ve had her for three days now.  I’ve wanted a dog for years, but whenever I have brought it up to Chris the conversation goes like this:

Me:  “Can we get a dog?”

Chris “No.”

Me:  “But I love dogs!”

Chris: “You are allergic to dogs.  When you get around them your eyes and throat swell shut and you get hives.  What on earth are you thinking?”

What I am thinking is this:  I am not allergic to all dogs, just almost all dogs, and the reaction is binary — either my throat and eyes swell shut and my skin welts up, or I’m fine. Last week, a friend of mine suggested that I look at a dog her she was fostering.  The dog was perfect.  She is a quiet two-year-old German Shepherd mix.  She is big and white and fluffy and smart and she smells good-doggy, not stinky-doggy, and I just love her.  And I’m keeping her for a while to make sure I am not allergic to her.

My dog-rescuing friend is on pins and needles.  “When will you know that you are not allergic to her?  How long until it’s definite?  When can I feel secure that you will be able to keep the dog?”  Because my friend looooooves the dog and it is breaking her heart to give her to me, but she already has two dogs and just can’t take on another one.  I can understand why she is looking for some definite closure.

The thing is, I can’t give my friend the definite answer she so desperately wants to her.  So far, I have not been allergic to the dog, but tomorrow, or two years hence, I might have an allergic reaction to the dog.  If that happens, I will take five Benedryl, put the dog outside, take a shower, and call my friend to come get her.  I can’t promise that won’t happen.  It probably won’t, but it might.

In the meantime, I’ll just wait, and teach the dog to sit, and stay, and fetch, I’ll take her for long walks and be happy with her, and not worry too much about what might happen.

I can do that.