Walked Maya in the rain. It wasn’t a downpour, but a light steady rain with the temperature about 40 F., more Irish weather for this four-legged descendant of that misty green isle. We did the lake loop, which is only a mile and a half, and today it was brisk. We ran in spurts totaling about a third of the distance and took only 32 minutes to do the whole walk. When the kids were little we’d take two hours to do that walk, giving plenty of time for rock scrambling, exploring old stone walls and foundations and, of course, rests. Now, I can’t get them to even walk the dog with me.
Getting this dog wasn’t my idea, but the breed was. When Meche and the kids started abogando for a dog, I was pretty resistant. We had two cats that were pretty old, one about 20 years old that I inherited and the other that was 16 years old that we got as soon as we had our first apartment. I’d promised the girls we’d get a dog when our old cats died, but when both passed away last year the reality of a dog seemed like just too much commitment. Then four mouths after the last cat died, Fionna brought home a box of four kittens. We ended up keeping two, although I’d have kept them all if pushed. My sister-in-law took the other two. It was amazing how quickly we became attached to those kittens.
I tried using the argument that we now had two more cats to counter the pro-dog faction—which was everyone else in the house. I sort of won, but I could tell that Molly, our youngest at 11, was extremely disappointed. I think she chalked it up to “parents don’t keep promises.” So I started researching dog breeds and we visited the SPCA shelter. A rescue didn’t seem like the best idea because of Meche’s day care, which is housed in our walkout basement. Even the guy in charge of rescues at the shelter confirmed that, saying, “I can test them for food aggression; I can test them for how they get along with other dogs; I can test them for how they get along with cats. But I don’t have test kids.” Once it was decided to get a puppy, I felt we should choose a breed with known characteristics. Look, some breeds are just not the best with little children.
At first I wanted something that didn’t shed, but nothing that came up in the web sites that help you pick a dog breed went over with anyone else in the family. I’d seen cockapoos and labradoodles and both seemed like lovely dogs, though I’d heard they were being bred indiscriminately and often from poor stock. With no one else concerned about shedding, I dropped that criteria and focused on how well they got along with children and other pets and how affectionate they were. Setters, spaniels and retrievers generally came out on top. Their drawback was … especially setters and spaniels … they’re high-energy dogs! I’d always thought I’d like an Irish setter because of their beautiful color and healthy lean look. So I checked out a breeder I found online. But when I raised the idea to Molly, she noted it was a pretty big dog, with females weighing in at about 60 pounds and 25 inches at the shoulder, and she wasn’t sure she could control it. Anyway the breeder didn’t have any females anyway. But then the breeder emailed me to say she had a couple of red and white Irish setter females and that they where field bred and smaller than the reds. She said the females only get to 40 pounds and are about 22 inches at the shoulders. After looking up “field bred” and researching red and whites, which I’d never heard of before, I tossed out the idea. More resistance! Fionna wanted a Siberian husky and Molly a border collie! More research. Neither scored as well as setters, particularly the collies, which are off the charts on energy and exercise needs and really low on getting along with children. Huskies fared better but clearly could be problematic, and didn’t rate well with other animals.
In the end Meche said I needed to decide. To test things out, I lied and told the kids I’d already ordered the dog. Fionna flipped and felt I had no right to do that without consulting the family (read, without her permission!), but Molly reminded her big sister that dad would end up being the one to take care of the dog the most. Meche reminded Fionna about bringing home a box of kittens without consulting anyone. After I showed them a picture the breeder had sent me of the pups at four weeks old everyone was sold! Then I had to check back and make sure the breeder still had the red and white females. (I forgot all about my aversion to white dogs that shed.) The rest is history. Except the name and that they tricked me on!
Now, on that “field bred” point, this is from dogbreedinfo.com about red and white Irish setters: “There are two types, field lines and show lines (bench). Field types are bred for hunting and field trial work and are generally somewhat smaller with shorter coats. The bench type are bred for conformation shows. Both types are energetic and need daily exercise, but field lines have a higher energy level and need even more exercise.”
Thus the name of this blog: Walkin’ Maya.
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