My job as an instructional designer for Amtrak sometimes involves me teaching courses for our employees away from my home base in Washington, D.C. In late summer 2012, I was preparing for a series of electrical and HVAC classes I would be teaching at New York’s Penn Station.
My daughter Fiona, who had just graduated from high school and was in her first semester of college, was aware that I would be spending some time away from home teaching courses that fall. She approached me at the end of September and explained that she would feel safer when I was away if there was a dog in the house.
The area where we live in Montgomery County, Md., near the Frederick County line, is surrounded by farms, parkland and estate homes. Deer are abundant, wild turkeys are commonly seen, and the quiet nights are occasionally interrupted by the sounds of howling coyotes and screeching male foxes on the prowl for a mate. I understood her concern.
via Whisker Therapy