I learned that you get the dog you need, not the one you want

first person

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As many parents will attest, you can only put off your kids’ hounding for a dog so long until you finally give in and get one.

Last fall we perused dog-rescue websites and, before long, adopted Confetti (Etti for short), a beautifully spotted Dalmatian. She’s not at all the dog we expected, but she’s the one we got.

It was a bit rough at first (and still is) because although Etti is a sweet, loving dog with us, she’s highly reactive to anything else that moves (people, dogs, squirrels and, as we recently discovered, skunks).

Thankfully, we’ve found an excellent trainer – one of those dog whisperer types who makes us ordinary humans feel cl