Do you currently have a pet? Do you consider it to be a part of your family?

I know some people think you are crazy when you consider a four-legged, furry friend to be like a child to you, but I’ve been there, done that.

When I was having trouble getting my little family started, the mommy bug had bitten me hard and I just needed a little someone to take care of. So I did the most logical thing and got a little puppy. I named her Fufu and treated her better than I now treat my children on most days.

I broke all of the rules of our family which had been passed down for generations in order to accommodate this new baby of mine. We had never had an indoor pet. In fact, no one in my family did. Animals were created to be outside, roaming the wide open spaces. It was always considered cruel and unusual punishment to the pet and the people to keep a dog in the house. So when I broke the rules to have this little fella in the house, on the couch, snuggled in the bed, I was doing it all wrong.

I became pregnant and Fufu refused to become potty trained, so the honeymoon phase eventually ended. No seven-month pregnant lady wants to clean dog pee out of her carpet every morning when she isn’t even capable of tying her own shoes.

So yes, I gave her away to a better, more prepared family. I’m not going to lie, I almost cried the day I gave her to my brother to take her to her new owner. She was spoiled and I was going to miss spoiling her. I carried her in a little purse carrier, painted her nails, got her groomed … if it was a ridiculous dog-owner trait, I did it with her.

I’ve never really missed having an animal in the house, probably because I’ve never experienced a potty-trained animal in the house. But no part of me wants another animal in my house. I now have four kids and a husband living with me; I don’t need the added stress.

But it doesn’t matter what you want in your life, if your Daddy asks you to help out, then you will break all of your personal rules to do so, and that is the case with Tide. Tide is my Dad’s 7-month old rat terrier puppy. Dad had him all of three or four months before it was time for my parents to leave for India, and someone got the newfound pleasure of an indoor dog.

I don’t really know why I got handed this little job while they are away in India as missionaries, but I think it has something to do with me being a complete softy when it comes to anything my Dad asks me to do.

Now my Dad is a dog lover, but for the entirety of my life, it has been a love for outdoor creatures. His dog is his best friend usually, but they were always outside until Tide came along.

All of the rules were once again out the window as this puppy began to rule and reign at my parents’ house. He wasn’t quite as spoiled as Fufu, but it was getting pretty close.

As I dropped my parents off at the airport in early January, I waved goodbye to them and hello to our newest addition to the family. The first few days we expected some accidents, so we lined his cage with puppy pads, got all of his toys and towels and blankets and snacks and tried our best to make his new home for the next four months a happy place.

We gave him lots of room for error the first week. The second week he wasn’t doing any better, and here we are, three months down the line and he is still having accidents continually.

My husband and I were discussing the challenges of having the family pet at a birthday party Monday night while our whole family was gathered around our kitchen table. We were speaking of the constant cleaning, washing, wiping and stinkiness of having this pup in our home. We were informing them that even if we have to cast lots to see who gets him, we would not be the ones caring for this sweet little angel dog when my parent’s leave for India next year.

We had no more than finished our sentences when that dog walked right to the top of the stairs in my living room and began to relieve himself. My brother caught him and helped him walk his way out the door to the front porch to keep the mess from being an even bigger disaster. It was actually kind of comical to see him prove our point so quickly. And yet again in about an hour we were all gathered in the living room, and as if to prove our comments even truer, he walked onto the rug in the living room and in front of God and family began to pee like it wasn’t anyone’s business but his own.

After that, everyone reassured us that they, too, would be denying his stay at their house and I’m pretty sure we got a few pity laughs when everyone left.

I never realized just how stressful it was to have a whole family and a dog to take care of. It’s worse than having a newborn baby, because at least the babies are completely adorable and will one day take care of you when you’re old. This dog offers nothing but shedding hair and companionship.

It really is a strain… to the extent that my husband and I were discussing stress points in our marriage the other night and all he kept saying was “Tide!” So I’d say it does start to take a toll on a household when a puppy comes in and tears up shoes, shirts and towels along with relieving himself wherever the urge hits him.

But I’m still a softy. I’ve taken on this responsibility and I’ll see it to the end. (Thank God the end for this one is only 28 days away!) And he really is a cute dog. And… well, this is the part where I talk myself into loving the puppy again so that I can deal with the grief that he deals out to me every day.