Water and dog issues

I was at work and it was early in the morning. Generally, I can’t properly function without a morning cup of coffee. And there are occasions that I don’t even mind that horrible thing that comes out our coffee machine that it calls ‘cappuccino’. Yuck! Anyway, I walked in the kitchen and there was one of our senior accountants. She’s a lovely lady of mid-forties of Indian origin. She’s generally polite and even sent my manager a ‘thank you’ email for some help I had given her in the past, so she’s on my very good side.

However, that morning I saw her pouring water from our cooler in a plastic cup and from there to a bigger half empty bottle. I said my good mornings and looked at her puzzled. She turns around and tells me: ‘I want to see how many cups there are in a big water bottle’! I was speechless! You have a cup with a visible 200ml mark on it and a bottle with another very visible 2 litter mark on it! How many do you think it would take? And she’s supposed to be good with numbers! I didn’t want to make her feel embarrassed so I didn’t say anything and just left. Would you? I did run into her later that day and she happily announced to me that the bottle was able to hold 10 cups of water!!! Imagine that…

On another very different note, there’s been quite a lot of ‘puppy’ talk in my household. I have mentioned it before, but the plan (for now) is to get a dog next year. If you ask me why next year, because it’s someone’s (JJ) big birthday and we need to celebrate with a bang or a woof. He’ll probably kill me if I even mention how old he’s turning. So, since he’s not happy with that number, I know that a dog will definitely make him happy. I couldn’t keep something like that as a surprise, so we have discussed about it.

There are numerous websites on which breed is best for you. There are online quizzes with simple questions to match you with the dog of your dreams. You can select the size of your house / flat / garden, the size of the dog you prefer, how much time you’ll spend grooming it, how active you want it to be, how much time you’ll be spending playing with it, about other pets or children in the household etc etc. Generally, we’d like something small to medium size and not very demanding (we can be selfish like that). I have a day job that keeps me out of the house from around 8am till 6:30pm and JJ has a shift job. So, some weeks he’ll be home in the morning and me in the evening or sometimes we’ll be both gone for hours. Also, I never had a dog, so to be honest I’d like something easily trainable and somewhat independent.

There are times when I feel tired and I wouldn’t like a hyperactive dog in constant need of attention and play. For example they say that Jack Russell Terriers as a breed are supposed to be extremely clever but also very energetic and in constant demand of attention. I’m not entirely sure, but that might cause me a problem. Although to be honest, they are very cute and I wouldn’t mind having one. They look ridiculously adorable. As you can see I’m even beginning to learn breed names and general characteristics.

And of course, there is the matter of personal taste. There are some breeds more appealing to my eyes than others. For example I don’t really like Chihuahuas. Apart from the Jack Russell Terrier I like dogs like the beagles or a cocker spaniel. JJ really likes pugs. All this is theoretical of course. Most likely we’ll pay a shelter a visit and see what’s available. I don’t mind having or not a specific pure breed dog. Having a dog will definitely change our lives, but I believe for the better. Any advice you can give us?

PS. Some of you have amazing cute dogs and I could have stolen some of your pictures, but I decided against it not to do injustice by forgetting some others.