Still waiting for pitter-patter of puppy paws

I'm ready for a puppy.

But my wife is not — and she's not about to cave.

At least not yet.

For now, she likes the fact that ours is a one-dog household. Mia, our 7-year-old golden retriever, is low-maintenance and lovable.

The food goes in, the food goes out — and I'm the one who deals with both.

A puppy, however, requires real work: Training, frequent trips outdoors, the occasional mess that must be cleaned.

My wife says she just doesn't have the time for that and isn't ready for another big change in our household since our children moved out last year, one to get married and one to go to college.

But she must know the puppy is inevitable (not next week inevitable, but maybe this year inevitable).

So far, I've kept my search mostly on the down-low.

I played with a Siberian husky at the mall pet store, I was tempted by a friend's white German shepherd pups, and I recently took an instant liking to some 6-week-old chocolate labs.

There was something to like about each of them.

I figure I will get another golden, though. There's just something about the breed that suits my family.

Mia and the dog we had before her came to us from family friends in Ohio who once bred goldens.

They've since gotten out of the business, which is probably why this search is taking longer than the last two.

I will not do to my wife what my son and now daughter-in-law did to us five years ago. My son arrived on our doorstep with a puppy, a