Today: Trade a pitcher for a puppy

It’s no secret I want a puppy.  Badly.  It’s even less of a secret that I have no idea what having a puppy entails.  What do you feed them?  Where do you take them?  How do they communicate their needs and desires to us non-dogs?  I don’t even know.

I had a few hamsters (only one at a time, sort of one after another) when I was younger.  They each had Sesame Street names, including Ernie, who was biologically Ernestine… but that’s beside the point.  Which is this: dogs are not hamsters.   I have a lot to learn.

The first puppy Nick and I ever almost bought was a papillion.  That’s French for butterfly; their freakish, hairy ears sort of make these fur babies look like butterflies.

You might think he’s a bit silly looking and you might be right… but a papillion is the only dog you can reasonably name… da da daaaaa…. Jonathan Papillion! If that’s not a reason to buy a dog, I don’t know what is.

I thought about not revealing that bit of genius, but since the whole of Red Sox Nation is hoping our wild-eyed reliever gets traded, I doubt you’re going to run to Debbie’s Pet Land tonight,  just to steal my idea.  And if you are, wow.  That’s all.

So, until the furry companion of my imagination becomes reality, I will click over to www.dailypuppy.com.  Looking at other people’s dogs is clearly a better use of my time than learning about what taking care of my potential dog might actually involve.  Woof.

Also On Tap for Today:

• Have dinner with the family
• Convince myself that it’s okay to wait yet another day to do laundry

What’s your imaginary dog named?  And what are you doing now that the post-season barely existed?

[Photos: Jonathan Papillion via criteristic.com, Jonathan Papelbon via nydailynews.com]