MY MOTHER-IN-LAW GOT A PUPPY AT 79 — AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO THINKS THIS IS A TERRIBLE IDEA?

I tried to gently suggest a lower-maintenance pet. Maybe a senior cat. Even a bird. But no—she insisted it had to be a puppy. “He’ll give me something to care for,” she said. And I get it. I really do. Loneliness is hard, and after losing her husband a few years ago, she’s been searching for purpose.

But here’s the problem: Puppies are not therapy. Puppies are work. Constant work. And while she’s falling head over heels for the little guy (his name is Max, by the way), I’m already seeing how this is going to end. She’ll get attached. She’ll try her best. But eventually, the reality of puppy ownership is going to catch up with her—and then who’s going to take over?

I feel like I’m watching a slow-moving disaster, and no one else seems to see it. Her friends think it’s “adorable.” My partner says, “Let’s just see how it goes.” But I know exactly how it’ll go. It’ll go exactly how these things always go.

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