Yesterday we acquired a puppy, a 12 week or so old standard poodle. I’m allergic to dogs and cats, and after losing one of our dogs and one of our cats, it’s been easier on me to not have as much fur around. So I decreed that our next dog had to be hypoallergenic. Emily pointed out that meant ‘expensive’ and not rescue.

Since we’ve rescued four animals from the pound, I decided that maybe I’d acquired enough animal karma that it would be nice to try a dog of known breeding (particularly since...