What can you expect from a $50 dog?

You see, I have this dog, by accident I remind you. Ten years ago I stopped and bought a dog from someone selling pups from the trunk of their car. The plan was for the pup to go to my great granddaughter, Kaylee.

That lasted about two or three days and to my dismay the pup landed at my house. Well, I should have known better because Kaylee was only 6 at the time.

It was a she dog, and I made my second mistake; I had the dog spayed. I should have planned a batch of pups so I could get my money back.

I can’t see me selling pups out of my trunk, but I would have thought of something.

Now don’t get me wrong, this pup, now 10, over time has become family.

And it isn’t as if I don’t have some history with dogs.

When growing up I had a dog “Scottie” and he used to sit in the front lawn and watch for me when I came home from school. He could see me coming down the hill and he would run down and greet me.

Then when I got married 68 years ago, I inherited my wife’s dog “Pee Wee.”

Later we got a large white dog named “Snow.” He was a good faithful dog, without issues.

After he was gone, we got a small grey-black dog that we named “Pup Pup.”

That dog lasted 14-15 years, and we were without a dog until we got this one.

I have some issues with our present one.

For one thing, it is about seven or eight pounds overweight. Not the dog’s fault you might say, and you are probably right. I have tried about every dry or canned dog food made, and no luck. She won’t touch it. She likes to eat what we eat. I have been told that I need to train the dog. I watch people walking by with their dog, on a training mission I suppose. But it looks to me that the dog is training its master.

The dog doesn’t come when I call it by name. Her name is Abby.

She has three types of barks, one for when her water dish is dry, another when she is hungry, and a third when she wants to go out back to potty. I have just recently learned this.

Another issue for me: The dog sleeps with us. And Abby puts up a fuss every time during the night when she has to go outside, which is often; seven times one night, and never less than three times.

I am slow getting to sleep at night, so I read a lot, and it doesn’t help a lot when the dog makes a fuss about the time I get sleepy.

I want to emphasize that we like the dog, but please recognize the fact if you are looking for a dog, it might be a good idea not to buy one from a person selling pups from the trunk of her car.

One thing the dog likes to do is ride in the car. All we need to do is say “let’s go” and she will beat us to the car.

I also take issue with Abby on going for a walk. As soon as we get out of sight of the front door she won’t go any more, so we have to carry her home.

I know I will take a beating for this from true dog lovers who will want to talk about training your pets. It will go like this, the problem is “you.”

We also have a cat, whose name is “Kitty.” The two are like oil and water, only a moment away from a spat.

So it isn’t pet heaven at our house, but almost a battle zone. The dog and cat have been together here for eight or nine years. The only positive part of this is that as they age, they want to just lie around most of the time.

These are the last pets.