The Secret Weapon

The wee one always gets excited when around cats or dogs, in fact any animal that will stay long enough to be petted by her.
The family dog is now in his twilight years at the grand old age of sixteen or in his birth years the fine age of one hundred and twelve. If a human reached that they would be revered however when a dog gets there they get a pat on the head with the occasional good for his age comment.
Like anyone that gets to that age there is a tendency to want to sleep and do as little as possible saving their energy for the important things in life... like eating and breathing!
Now of course the wee one looks to the dog to play and fetch like all the other dogs she meets at the park or in other houses. Sadly for the wee one our old dog is just not interested in chasing a ball or a stick in fact if his bowl is put further from his bed than usual he looks grumpy!
So sadly for the wee one her saying will have to be- let sleeping dogs lie!
The eighteen year old son has had ambitions for some time to have a second dog in the household as has the wife. This is a position I have fiercely resisted as there is a lot of work and responsibility that goes with the territory of keeping any animal. Further you need to plan everything you do with their welfare in mind, for example a simple day out with the family at the zoo becomes a planning mission to make sure the dogs are looked after and the time of returning home is stuck to rigidly, and as for going away for the weekend or on a family holiday..... well at that I rest my case!
So thinking the position had been put over clearly, precisely and had left know one in the house in any doubt that we would not be getting a buddy for our old fellow and a playmate for the wee one, I returned to watching the blurb that was passing as telly entertainment.
Like all telly nowadays there are AD breaks that last as long as the programme, the ads are my cue to stop watching and make a cup of tea grabbing a sneaky wee biscuit or two if nobody is paying too much attention. During this particular ad break a certain well known toilet papers ad featuring the puppies came on which had the wee one and the rest of the household ooing and aahing at these lovely wee dogs.
The son has lived with me long enough now to know a simple yes/no argument will not win the day and over the years has refined some of his tactics to win the occasional wee battle of wits, however as he refines his tactics I adjust my own to keep his victory days at a nice low level!
Settling down to watch the rest of my programme I became aware that all eyes were on me and in fact I was the only one watching the telly!! The wee one had come to my side clutching her uncles ipad desperate for me to take a look.
The ipad had the images of many different dogs and as she handed it over she said 'me please' giving me that look- you know the one that can melt an iceberg from a mile away!
The family have unleashed their secret weapon and my powers of resistance are growing weaker with each wee look the wee one puts in my direction.
As if by magic the ASBO gardener  aka papa appeared on the scene and turned up the pressure by saying to the wee one is granddad being mean and not giving another doggy a new home- another frown from the wee one placed in my direction with the sad eyes following instantly leaving all sane points of argument dead in the water, leaving me to look forward to the joys of puppy training in the near future- because while giving in to the possibility I have not yet given into the time scale, how long that resistance lasts I will let you know!!