I am sure that everyone has that uncle or relative who either chose his career or his career chose him. I have friends and relatives who are either accountants or engineers who make every decision according to a logic that I just don’t understand. My uncle is an accountant; thus, he bought his house because it was the perfect size, it had the perfect number of rooms, and it was for less than market value. His car fits four to accommodate his family, but no one else can fit in it. So, to summarize, my uncle’s life and finances can be put into a spreadsheet and perfectly reconciled every month. The world according to David.
His two twin daughters were the cinnamon and spice to his vanilla. They tested the limits and like any freshmen in college would do, they bought a dog because they could. They snuck the puppy out the back door of the dorm like every other freshman, without a hitch. The resident advisor also had a dog and didn’t care as long as the puppy didn’t bark and get her in trouble.
The girls sent me a picture of the puppy. They were told that the puppy was a mixed breed, but based on what I saw from his head and paws, Milo the puppy had some Great Dane in him. Over the next month, Milo gained 12 pounds, and it was becoming harder and harder to hide him. In month 3 of puppy hiding, Milo was so tall that he could look out the window; the RA got nervous, and Milo was expelled from college. Luckily the girls only had one month left in school and were allowed to stay.
Uncle David didn’t like dogs. They were an unexpected cost that he could not justify. He never had a dog or any pet. David is the definition of consistency, so any change from the norm was unacceptable. He also had no idea about Milo. The girls and my aunt never discussed it with him, but now Milo was going to live in his house until the girls moved into their apartment in August. The girls came home and set up the cage and spent the weekend teaching my uncle and aunt about living with a six-month-old puppy who was now over 60 pounds. A lot of words were exchanged, and there was some crying, but by the end of the weekend, it was agreed on by everyone that my aunt would be the caregiver.
Fast forward three months. I was driving from Florida to Colorado and decided to stop off in the Midwest to visit my relatives. It was a surprise visit, and my aunt greeted me at the door. I just wanted to see how my uncle was doing with Milo. I was told that David was out walking Milo. I asked where the girls were, and my aunt told me that they had gone back to school. Without the dog. David didn’t want Milo to be in a small apartment without a fenced backyard.
My aunt was smiling and brought me into David’s office, and there was a giant bed next to his desk. There was a picture of Milo on the computer as a screen saver along with a giant tub of dog treats on the desk. She took me to her bedroom and showed me a second giant dog bed. I was shocked. She said the best is yet to come. She brought me to the garage where a Honda Odyssey minivan was parked. David had bought it because in his sedan, Milo couldn’t sit without bumping his head. I couldn’t believe it. Then the garage door opened and there was Milo pulling my uncle into the garage.
The first thing my uncle said was, “Have you ever seen such a great-looking dog?” I told him that in all my years as a veterinarian, he had the perfect dog.