Tearjerker

On learning to be a parent from a dog.

My dog was my baby; and now that I have an actual baby, I see that my dog prepared me for motherhood far better than any of those What to Expect books.When we adopted Lily the beagle from a rescue group, my husband and I were living the blissful life of DINKs – Double Income, No Kids. It was a sweet set-up: We travelled, went to fancy restaurants, slept late on weekends and kept fragile vases on low shelves.

Then along came Lily. Soon, everything we owned was coated in a fine layer of dog hair. Our schedules shifted to revolve around walks, off-leash parks and vet visits. When we moved to Toronto, we chose our house in the Beaches neighbourhood partly because we knew Lily would love Lake Ontario.