March 2015 – Page 2 – The (Mostly) True Adventures of Lupe

Wilcox Pass Trail, Jasper National Park, Canada (7-29-14)

An easy side hike SW from the high point on the Wilcox Pass Trail is the edge of a ridge featuring the most splendid panoramic snow-covered mountain and glacier view Lupe and SPHP have ever seen anywhere. Mt. Athabasca, Mt. Andromeda, the Athabasca Glacier, Snow Dome, and Mt. Kitchener are on display in all their frozen glory. Although basically the same scene can be seen from down along the Icefields Parkway Hwy 93, the view is even better from 1,400 feet above and well worth the effort.

The Wilcox Pass trailhead is located just E of Icefields Parkway Hwy 93 along the gravel road that leads to the Wilcox Creek campground. The turnoff is just a mile or two N of the Banff and Jasper National Parks boundary at Sunwapta Pass, and just a couple miles S of the Icefields Centre across from the Athabasca Glacier.

The spectacular view of Mt. Athabasca, Mt. Andromeda and the Athabasca Glacier from Wilcox Pass — The spectacular view of **Mt. Athabasca (11,453 ft.)**, **Mt. Andromeda** **(11,286 ft.)** and the Athabasca Glacier from Wilcox Pass.

Lupe arrived at the Wilcox Pass trailhead on 7-29-14 less than 10 minutes after having just completed a wonderful short day hike to Parker Ridge to see the Saskatchewan Glacier. It was 12:06 PM, 72 degrees F, with totally clear skies and a dead calm when Lupe set out up the Wilcox Pass trail.

The trail starts out climbing steadily at a pretty good clip through a conifer forest. This is deservedly a very popular hike and there were lots of people hiking the trail. For the first third or more of the roughly 4 km to the top of Wilcox Pass, the trail is climbing through the forest with only glimpses of the spectacular scenery nearby.

Lupe and the view toward Snow Dome & Mt. Kitchener. 7-29-14 — Lupe and the view toward **Snow Dome** **(11,483 ft.)** & **Mt. Kitchener** **(11,417 ft.)** (R). 7-29-14

The first really good look at the fantastic scene to the SW comes at a rock ledge just a few feet off the trail shortly before the trail emerges from the forest. From the ledge you get a clear view of Mt. Athabasca, Mt. Andromeda, the Athabasca Glacier, Snow Dome and Mt. Kitchener.

Lupe only stopped here for a few minutes before continuing on. From this 1st viewpoint, the trail climbs at a slower pace and soon emerges from the forest. Scattered clumps of trees are still around, but the area is mostly open so most of the time the view to the SW is unobstructed.

The Athabasca Glacier flows down from the 325 square kilometer Columbia Icefield, the largest icefield in the Rocky Mountains of North America.

After almost completely leveling out, the trail, which has been heading NW, takes a jog more to the N for a rather steep stretch of climbing until it gets completely above tree line. Gradually the rate of ascent decreases as the trail turns back more to the NW once again. Shortly before reaching the high point on Wilcox Pass, Lupe came to a nice creek where she cooled off and got a drink.

The Wilcox Pass area in Jasper National Park, Canada. Mt. Athabasca (L) and Mt. Andromeda (R).

From the high point on Wilcox Pass, the trail continues NW over a broad, open, gently sloping area between Mount Wilcox (9,462 ft.) to the SW and a large rocky ridge to the NE extending out from Nigel Peak (10,535 ft.). If followed beyond the pass, the trail eventually leads down to the Tangle Creek area.

This view of the Wilcox Pass area looks NW in the direction of Tangle Creek.

However, the spectacular panoramic view Lupe had come to see, was not in the direction of Tangle Creek. Instead, Lupe turned SW at Wilcox Pass and followed an unmaintained trail which climbed a little bit before reaching the edge of a ridge 1,400 feet above the Icefields Centre. Here Lupe stopped to rest and survey the breathtaking scene.

Lupe and SPHP spent a long time gazing out at Mt. Athabasca, Mt. Andromeda, the Athabasca Glacier, Snow Dome, and Mt. Kitchener. The Icefields Centre, the Icefields Parkway Hwy 93, and the parking lot for the hike to the toe of the Athabasca Glacier were all in view, too. Special buses designed for glacier tours were crawling slowly like little black caterpillars up towards and onto the Athabasca Glacier. A portion of the huge Columbia Icefield from which the Athabasca Glacier descends loomed above the glacier.

P1050381 — Mt. Athabasca, Mt. Andromeda & the Athabasca Glacier. 7-29-14

Lupe and SPHP spent quite a bit of time at this glorious viewpoint. Lupe had some water, some Taste of the Wild and posed for photos. She soon spotted a strange creature she had never seen before coming towards her from the southern end of the Wilcox Peak area to the NNW. It was a large mountain goat! Lupe watched intently, but silently, as the mountain goat strolled very calmly on by heading SE. The mountain goat seemed completely unfazed by Lupe’s presence and eventually disappeared over a little ridge.

This large mountain goat approached from Mt. Wilcox. Lupe watched in amazement, but did not even bark. 7-29-14 — The large mountain goat approaching from Mt. Wilcox. Lupe watched in amazement, but did not even bark. 7-29-14

When it was finally time to leave this most glorious viewpoint, Lupe headed a little way up towards Wilcox Peak to see if a view of the huge Sunwapta River valley heading NW and the mountains beyond it could be easily reached. Reaching the spine of the ridge coming down from Wilcox Peak, Lupe saw that only a partial view was possible in that direction without a considerable further climb. Instead of doing that, Lupe headed ESE back down towards the country to the NW of the Wilcox Pass high point.

Lupe near Wilcox Pass. Athabasca Glacier and Snow Dome beyond her.

A new goal was in SPHP’s mind, and that was to go see Wilcox Lake, which is tucked in a cirque to the NW of Nigel Peak. Lupe crossed over to the NE side of the Wilcox Pass area. To get to Wilcox Lake, it was necessary to climb over a large ridge extending NW from Nigel Peak.

SPHP studied the ridge as Lupe approached it, looking for the best route up and over, without having to do too much climbing. Selecting a likely route that appeared to have some sort of trail leading up it, Lupe and SPHP were soon climbing up the ridge, which seemed quite a bit higher than it had looked like from afar.

P1050368 — Lupe, Mt. Athabasca (L) and Mt. Andromeda (R) from near Wilcox Pass.

The main problem though, was that the ridge consisted of extremely sharp rocks. SPHP began to worry that Lupe would cut up the pads on her paws on the jumble of extremely sharp rocks. Lupe did get to the spine of the ridge, but the view on the other side to the SE in the direction of Nigel Peak was discouraging. Wilcox Lake was nowhere in sight. A beautiful, but very barren rocky terrain lay in the direction where Wilcox Lake had to be.

If the rocks hadn’t been so sharp, Lupe would have pressed on to Wilcox Lake. However SPHP didn’t want her paws to get cut up and gave up on the idea of reaching the lake. SPHP now made an error in judgment. (Not exactly the first time!) Instead of just going back down the steep scree slope Lupe had just climbed, SPHP led her NW down a more gradual slope that looked like it would be an easier route down. Unfortunately, the sharp rocks continued in that direction too, and it proved to be quite a long hike NW before an easy way down off the ridge presented itself.

P1050375 — Lupe, Snow Dome & Mt. Kitchener from near Wilcox Pass. 7-29-14

Once back down on the heather, it was an easy matter to hike back to Wilcox Pass. Lupe drank from streams, and cooled off in shallow ponds on the way. Amazingly, the pads on her paws looked just fine after all those sharp rocks, and she showed no signs of discomfort. Quite the contrary, Lupe was full of energy and rambunctious.

It was now getting later in the day and most people had already left the Wilcox Pass area, although the sun was still well up in the sky. A few puffy white clouds were drifting by in a sea of blue. On this beautiful and amazingly warm early evening, Lupe started heading back across the open heather. She passed well to the E of the high point on the Wilcox Pass trail, but eventually worked her way back to the trail for the hike back down.

It was 6:58 PM and still 75 degrees F when Lupe reached the trailhead again. Lupe had been gone almost 7 hours, but had spent several extra hours enjoying the most glorious viewpoint and on her unsuccessful exploration up to the ridge in the direction of Wilcox Lake.

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Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 122: Bear Den Mountain, Anchor Hill, Dome Mountain & Pillar Peak (3-14-15)

After a week of above average temperatures and with a near record high in the 70’s forecast for this Saturday, it was definitely time for Lupe to head out for another Black Hills expedition. SPHP decided Lupe would go back to the Pillar Peak area (see Expedition No. 120) where there were three more mountains listed on Peakbagger.com that Lupe could climb: Bear Den Mountain, Anchor Hill and Dome Mountain.

SPHP parked the G6 at the big Camp 5 Trailhead parking lot located just S of Hwy 14A between Sturgis and Deadwood, SD at 9:19 AM. It was already 47 degrees F out under sunny skies. Lupe started out heading S along USFS Road No. 306.1. Within a few minutes she reached the dry creek bed of Boulder Creek and just beyond it came to an intersection with USFS Road No. 172.1. Lupe took No. 172.1 which headed WSW for about half a mile before turning S.

No. 172.1 gained elevation steadily, but at an easy pace. The road was damp from recently melted snow. Only at a few shaded curves in the road was there any snow or ice still on it. The road wound along the lower E slopes of a high hill for over a mile before entering Lost Gulch. Lupe could have followed No. 172.1 up Lost Gulch, which would have brought her to the general vicinity of all three of her peakbagging goals.

However, up to this point, No. 172.1 had not been too interesting. It was not a major gravel road, but was in good enough shape so that SPHP could have driven the G6 up it without much of a problem. Lupe and SPHP both prefer a more remote and secluded feel than No. 172.1 was exuding. Stopping briefly to check the maps, SPHP found that an intersection with USFS Road No. 567.1F wasn’t too far ahead. It might be more of a challenge.

Lupe at the start of USFS Road No. 567.1. Before long this road faded away to the point where it was essentially non-existent.

Lupe passed an intersection with No. 172.1F, which did look interesting, but another look at the maps showed it ultimately curved around to the NE – the wrong direction. Lupe stayed on No. 172.1 and about 0.25 mile later reached No. 567.1F. No. 567.1F was covered with snow and long branches of bushes were reaching out over the road. There were no tracks in the snow. It looked like No. 567.1F was likely impassable to vehicles, which made it a great choice for Lupe and SPHP.

Lupe clearly enjoyed No. 567.1F. While on No. 172.1, she had just trotted along at SPHP’s heels most of the time. On No. 567.1F, however, she started branching out and exploring the forest in every direction, while SPHP struggled along through the increasingly numerous obstacles on the long abandoned road. No. 567.1 headed generally SW up a fairly big side gulch off to the S of Lost Gulch. The road gradually deteriorated as it went up the gulch. Parts of it were completely wiped out at the bottom of the gulch due to erosion.

Deadfall timber, growing trees and bushes, rocks and snow eventually made it impractical to try to stay on the faint remains of No. 567.1F any longer. So Lupe and SPHP started climbing up the steep slopes of the NW side of the gulch. After a while the terrain leveled out quite a bit and became more open. There was a high point visible off to the SE, but SPHP checked the maps and it looked like the summit of Bear Den Mountain (5,642 ft.), Lupe’s first peakbagging goal of the day, should be off to the SW.

Lupe resumed climbing and looking for the summit of Bear Den Mountain. From Pillar Peak on Expedition No. 120 on 2-20-14, SPHP had seen that there were a number of roads on the upper slopes of Bear Den Mountain. Lupe started running into and crossing them. SPHP’s old USFS map showed that the summit of Bear Den Mountain was surrounded by private property, but Lupe came to no development other than the roads, not even any fences or signs.

Past the first high point, Lupe is now on the ridge leading to the summit of Bear Den Mountain. Custer Peak is visible in the distance.

Lupe did come to a high spot, also reached by a jeep trail, which at first SPHP thought might be the summit of Bear Den Mountain. A look around soon convinced SPHP that there was likely still higher terrain some distance to the W. Exploring in that direction, Lupe did clearly gain some elevation and arrived at the summit of Bear Den Mountain.

Lupe nearing the summit of Bear Den Mountain from the E. A forest fire burned the area some years ago.

Lupe at or near the summit of Bear Den Mountain. Photo looks SE. — On top of Bear Den Mountain. Photo looks SE.

Lupe on Bear Den Mountain. Pillar Peak at far left is less than 2 miles to the N. — Lupe on Bear Den Mountain. **Pillar Peak** **(5,469 ft.)** at far left is less than 2 miles to the N.

Lupe on Bear Den Mountain. Photo looks W at hill SPHP mistook for Anchor Hill. Terry Peak visible as distant snowy highest point (left of center). It was this photo and topo maps available on Peakbagger.com that convinced SPHP two days later that the forested hill in the background, which Lupe did climb next, was actually about 0.5 mile NNE of and higher than Anchor Hill.

Having reached the summit of Bear Den Mountain, after a short Taste of the Wild and water break, it was time for Lupe to head for her next peakbagging goal – Anchor Hill (5,720 ft.). Lupe headed SSW down a long ridge extending out from Bear Den Mountain. She then turned WNW and followed a mile long saddle between Lost Gulch to the N and Butcher Gulch to the S.

Lupe heading down the SSW ridge from Bear Den Mountain. Photo looks W. Custer Peak and what SPHP believes to be the old Gilt Edge Gold Mine in view. — Lupe heading down the SSW ridge from Bear Den Mountain. Photo looks SW. **Custer Peak (6,804 ft.)** and what SPHP believes to be the old Gilt Edge Gold Mine are in view.

Bear Den Mountain from the WSW along the ridge between Lost & Butcher Gulches. Bear Butte visible out on the prairie. — Bear Den Mountain from the WSW along the ridge between Lost & Butcher Gulches. **Bear Butte (4,422 ft.)** visible out on the prairie.

Lupe cools off in the snow on the way to Anchor Hill.

Lupe did climb the high forested hill that SPHP had seen from Bear Den Mountain and had assumed was Anchor Hill. Only two days later did SPHP realize that the hill Lupe climbed was not really Anchor Hill, but a slightly higher hill about 0.5 mile to the NNE of the real Anchor Hill. On three expeditions, No. 119, No. 120 and now No. 122, silly little Anchor Hill has eluded Lupe and SPHP.

Lupe reached this pile of loose rocks at the summit of the fake Anchor Hill.

Break time for Lupe on the fake Anchor Hill. Notice the brown pipe sticking up near a tree toward the right side of the photo.

After a rest break on the fake Anchor Hill, Lupe headed NE for Dome Mountain. Coming down the NE slopes of the ridge connected to fake Anchor Hill, the snow was 2 to 3 feet deep. Lupe crossed the saddle ridge between fake Anchor Hill and the ridge Dome Mountain is on. It was a real mess for a long stretch due to deadfall timber as a result of a fire years ago.

Lupe looks NNE towards Dome Mountain. Pillar Peak pokes up above the trees in the distance.

P1060006 — Oh, delightful! The last stretch of the saddle ridge leading NE towards the E end of the Dome Mountain ridge. Actually the hike across it wasn’t too bad as the dead trees were fairly small.

Once Lupe was across the saddle ridge and into the living forest, it was much easier going as she headed W towards the rocky point that is the summit of Dome Mountain.

P1060007 — Looking W at Dome Mountain while still on the saddle ridge. This ridge separates Lost Gulch to the E from the big gulch that sweeps around the S and W sides of Dome Mountain.

P1060009 — Looking SW at the rocky summit of Dome Mountain. Fake Anchor Hill in the background.

Up on Dome Mountain (5,512 ft.), there was a fairly stiff breeze out of the NW. The blue skies of the early morning had long ago clouded up with an indefinite overcast haziness. The highest rock outcropping which is the summit of Dome Mountain was easily climbed. Lupe finished the rest of her Taste of the Wild up on the summit, although she didn’t care much for the wind.

P1060012 — Looking W towards **Terry Peak (7,064 ft.)** from Dome Mountain summit.

P1060014 — Looking NE towards Pillar Peak from summit of Dome Mountain. Lupe is ready to get off the windy summit and hoping SPHP hurries up with the photo session.

Having climbed Dome Mountain, SPHP was under the delusion that Lupe had achieved all three of her peakbagging goals for Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 122. (Not realizing that Lupe had climbed a false Anchor Hill.) It was time to start heading back to the G6, but SPHP also thought Lupe might have time to climb Pillar Peak (5,469 ft.) once again, which was not too out of the way. The key to being able to do so was to follow along the saddle ridge between Dome Mountain and Pillar Peak.

Lupe left the Dome Mountain summit area heading E through the living forest. When she got near the edge with Lost Gulch, she turned N trying to stay on the high ground. This was successful for a while, but the high ground she was following eventually dropped off. She had to go a considerable distance down into a ravine and climb back up to the N again to get back up on the saddle. SPHP was starting to get weary and almost decided against climbing up again in favor of just heading down into Lost Gulch. This would have meant giving up on Pillar Peak.

Fortunately, SPHP managed to summon the energy to climb back up on the ridge. Lupe continued on to Pillar Peak. The wind out of the NW was even stronger and gustier than it had been on Dome Mountain as Lupe climbed up the final stretch. The gusting wind and late hour made the stay up on Pillar Peak a short one. SPHP took a few photos and Lupe was on her way again.

P1060019 — Getting very close to Pillar Peak while approaching from the SW.

P1060020 — Lupe reaches the summit of Pillar Peak not long before sunset. The snowy ski runs on Terry Peak to the W visible in the distance (left).

Lupe left the summit of Pillar Peak and headed toward a slightly lower forested high point on Pillar Peak a short hike to the E. Just before reaching it, she headed SE down a steep slope. Like much of the day’s journey, it was slow going for SPHP picking a way down through all the deadfall timber, rocks and bushes. After losing 500 feet of elevation, Lupe found a road. It headed up in both directions. Lupe followed it S. It eventually went over a saddle. On the other side of the saddle was another road, which may have been No. 172.1H.

Lupe followed this road for a while hoping to lose elevation, but it stayed high up on the slopes of the mountain it was going around. It eventually just ended. About 150 feet lower another road could be seen. Lupe headed down to it. This road did the same thing, heading around the mountain while maintaining elevation. It also dead ended. Again another road could be seen farther below, this time near the valley floor. SPHP by now had to pick a way down the slope very carefully, for the sun had set a while ago and with the cloud cover, even twilight was fading fast.

The lowest road continued on down Lost Gulch. Even here it was a bit tricky going in the dark. The road was covered with snow and ice for a long way. Finally Lupe reached the intersection with USFS Road No. 567.1 again. SPHP recognized it and was now certain Lupe was on USFS Road No. 172.1, which she could follow essentially the rest of the way back to the G6.

It was quite dark by now. SPHP was feeling pretty played out. Even though it was downhill almost all the rest of the way, SPHP had to stop on one of the short uphill stretches for a rest. Lupe was still bright and alert. However, once back at the G6, she hopped right in as soon as SPHP was ready for her. It was 8:59 PM and still an amazing 61 degrees out. Lupe curled up and went to sleep almost instantly.

Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 122 was a success, but it wasn’t a complete success. SPHP didn’t realize it yet, but Anchor Hill had once again eluded Lupe.

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How to Choose the Perfect Puppy

The following techniques which I used to select and acquire Lupe, my perfect puppy, are admittedly unorthodox and may not be for everyone. Nevertheless, I find it difficult to argue with proven success. I wish only the best to anyone intent upon finding their own perfect puppy, and share my methods with the hope they may prove both enlightening and helpful. However, I leave it to you to judge the suitability of these methods in your own situation. – SPHP

Actually, it was remarkably easy for me to choose Lupe, my perfect puppy and best friend now for over 4 years. I used a simple 3-Step program:

(1) Get married.

(2) Subscribe to cable TV.

(3) Wait a very long time.* (*as in years)

All 3 steps were essential to my success. For, you see, I had no intention of ever getting a puppy. I had never had a dog in my whole life. I had always been a cat person. The thought of getting a dog never entered my mind.

Our family has always had cats. Cats are beautiful and generally undemanding creatures, if you regularly feed them the one and only food in the whole world they ultimately decide they are willing to accept. It’s soothing when they purr. Their fur is soft and fun to stroke, until they get tired of it and decide to slash you. Cats can be amusing and fun to play with, but seldom play for long, leaving you free to move on to other activities. Cats are not as needy as dogs. Their air of quiet superiority and independence is an admirable trait, if you want a companion who doesn’t demand too much of you. I still love cats.

My nephew Ryan cites a joke he once read demonstrating the differences between dogs and cats. It reads like maybe it’s from an old Far Side cartoon. The joke consists of samples from the diary of a dog and the diary of a cat:

Dog’s diary:

Day 1 – Today we went to the park. I barked at squirrels! My favorite thing!

Day 2 – Today we played ball. I ran away with the ball! My favorite thing!

Day 3 – Today we went for a ride in the car. I hung my head out the window in the wind! My favorite thing!

Day 4 – Today we went hunting. I chased pheasants! My favorite thing!

Cat’s diary:

Day 1437 of Captivity – Last night I hunted down a field mouse, ripped open its belly and ate its head. I left the bloody entrails in the hall to show them what I am capable of. Tomorrow I plan to weave between their legs at the top of the stairs…..

So anyway, after completing Steps 1 & 2 above, eventually (see Step 3) my spouse took to watching shows on cable TV that seldom interested me, but which we still sometimes watched together. On occasion these shows provided me with a certain degree of amusement, although of a form different from that intended by the producers. I found cable TV to be a source of insight into our constantly evolving culture. Cable TV was showing me how much the world is changing.

History used to be about the rise and fall of nations, wars and economics, great leaders and social movements, exploration and scientific discoveries. Or at least I thought it was. However, we had the History Channel, which made it clear that history now has virtually nothing to do with any of these things. Instead, history is about Ice Road Truckers – diehard rednecks who attempt to disprove global warming theories by driving heavily laden semi-trucks across (hopefully) still frozen remote rivers in the Yukon or Alaska, or better yet, some part of the Arctic Ocean.

On the History Channel, you could also learn about “Ancient Aliens” – highly advanced space travelers who have visited earth over thousands of years to help ancient peoples build all kinds of mysterious and once (perhaps still?) powerful structures, but nothing so practical as a McDonald’s hamburger stand. Presumably only a massive ongoing US government cover-up spanning decades has been able to conceal the astonishing truth about these visitors from space and the global extent of their activities.

Of course, the History Channel just scratched the surface of the possibilities for unusual and unique programming destined to dominate the cable waves. There were shows about “Bridezillas” (flee for your life young man!); shows where people weep and wail because they need to clean their house and might have to get rid of a fraction of the mountain of belongings they literally walked on every day because it was all “put away” in gigantic heaps strewn over all the furniture and floors throughout their entire home; still more shows featured night vision gear and all manner of scientific instruments you can use to detect ghosts which, as it turns out, are virtually everywhere. And so it goes, channel after channel, as though the National Enquirer has achieved full control of the entire cable TV industry.

One of the cable TV shows my spouse started watching was about dogs and “dog whisperers”. Typical of this channel were stories about rich neurotic women living in Manhattan skyscrapers, who had little to do in life other than spoil their cutesy little lap dogs. They did things like throw birthday parties in their luxury apartments for “Fifi” where they would invite 15 or 20 other women and their yapping little dogs over to wear costumes, eat cake and lap up champagne.

When the whole birthday party fiasco was over, the hostess would tearfully hire a highly paid “dog whisperer” to learn why Fifi snapped viciously at her doggie guests, went wee-wee on the cake, bit the high-powered attorney’s wife’s ankles causing her to curse and bleed profusely, and in general did not seem to enjoy herself as anticipated. Naturally the “dog whisperer” was always ready with all kinds of helpful advice on dog psychology, training and discipline certain to restore doggie control, happiness and tranquility until the next episode.

(I was always interested in seeing the sequel to these shows where the woman’s Wall Street investment banker husband arrived home from work only to be horrified to learn what had just happened. I wanted to see how he managed to get himself out of this fix regarding the high-powered attorney’s wife’s bloody ankles, but apparently the channel carrying the “Attorney Whisperer” is a premium channel I never subscribed to. It’s a pity, for you never know when, due to some sudden unexpected tragedy resulting in personal liability, you might really need an attorney whisperer.)

The upshot of all this was that one day in early January 2011, seemingly out of the blue (but not actually, as my 3-Step program had been long at work), my spouse asked me what I thought about getting a puppy.

My reaction was instant, and I quickly made the following extraordinarily valid objections:

We did not need, and I did not want a puppy.
A puppy would have to be house-broken, and would poop and pee on everything until it was.
A puppy would chew up everything not out of reach.
Our old cat would be scared to death. It would be cruel to subject a very old cat to such treatment.
We did not have a fenced yard to keep the puppy in where it could run and play.
Dogs are typically larger, eat a lot more than cats, and would cost more to sustain. There would be the usual vet bills. We didn’t need these unnecessary expenses.
Dogs are much more active and social animals than cats. They need attention and get bored easily. Someone would have to at least walk the dog every day. I certainly didn’t want to do it.
Once the cat was gone, which couldn’t be too far off in the future, we would have one less thing to worry about whenever we wanted to travel. We would be pet free.
The puppy would bark and annoy all our good neighbors.

After this fine, exceptionally persuasive speech, there was no more discussion. Not a peep. It was settled. No puppy for us. Until 6:30 AM on February 11, 2011 when heading out the door on the way to work, my spouse said, “I’m picking up the puppy tonight!”

Easy 3-Step plan complete!

This dingo tale continues with the post: My Perfect Puppy – The Arrival of Lupe

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