Inquiring minds ask: How fast is it to get a new dog after losing your four-legged best friend?

For those of you who don’t know some of the personal aspects of my life, I lost my dog ​​Rooney about three and a half months ago.

He was an 11–12 year old lab mix that my wife and I got rid of in the last part of his life, and even though we only had him for about six years, we made lifelong memories with him.

Even after four months, I still find myself thinking about the hole he left in our lives and there are times when even doing simple household chores reminds me of him.

WOMAN’S CELEBRATION GETS UNBELIEVABLE WHEN HER DOG GETS THE SAME TREATMENT

I say all of this to emphasize that I’m probably not completely done with putting him down in March, so when conversations started a few weeks ago about looking for a new dog, I met those conversations with mixed feelings.

The first time my wife mentioned thinking about “the next dog,” my face was full of disgust.

How could he think of replacing Rooney so soon?

Then I thought about it more and considered my two-year-old son, who had just started to bond with Rooney shortly before we lost him.

It made me even sadder to think of my son falling in love with a new dog, as the memory of Rooney slowly faded from his mind as he got older.

WOMAN MATCHED BY BEAR IN MORNING WALKING DOG ENDS SCARY ENCOUNTER ON CAMERA

Don’t want this (slightly dirty) baby jumping on your duvet? (Photo courtesy of reader Jeff M.)

Not to mention we still have another dog, Elle, who will probably have a stroke if/when we bring a young, energetic puppy into our ever-crowded house.

Obviously I didn’t take this suggestion very well, but I slept through it, and I don’t know if it’s because my wife pissed me off, but I’m starting to see another side to this whole thing.

Getting another dog doesn’t mean you’ve forgotten Rooney completely, and while there are still some scars from losing him, the pain has eased a lot over the past few months.

And does it really make a difference if we wait another three months, six months, a year, before we get another dog?

Part of me says yes, but part of me says no.

My wife and I disagree when it comes to change and sensitivity.

You’re very Type-A, and you’re probably willing to embrace change. Although I tend to think hard and resist change unless it hits me right in the face.

Maybe that’s the crux of it all. I don’t think my wife loved Rooney any less than I did, I think it’s in her nature to move on faster than me.

I think having a young child changes the way you count too.

If we didn’t have kids, I would think the timeline for getting a new dog would be extended, but I know my wife is serious about the idea of ​​getting our son a dog of his own so he can “grow up together.”

All of this still confirms a simple question: When is it “appropriate” to get a new dog after losing your four-legged best friend?

Furthermore, is there a right time? Or should you just “feel it?”

Ring’s new Search Party feature uses artificial intelligence and nearby cameras to help find lost dogs, even for users without Ring devices. (Photo by Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

It’s a complicated situation that I’m not sure we have the right answer for, and yet here we sit at the crossroads of it all.

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These are things they don’t teach you about parenting, but we have to learn from the lessons anyway.

I’est la vie.