Two nights ago, my wife Eri and I had dinner with a close friend of mine and his wife who own a golden retriever. It's a dinner that we'd discussed on and off for the last several months but for whatever reason, just hadn't been able to make happen. Eri had been insistent on setting the dinner up as my friend had mentioned that he'd be willing to take our dog in when we were out of town, but we needed to make sure that the dogs got along before takin them up on this offer. One of my new years resolutions was also to reconnect with new friends and this felt like a great opportunity to do so. Before the end of the year, we had a date set for dinner.

At around 6pm we land at my friend's house, greeted kindly by their golden retriever. We'd only seen the dog a few times since it was a puppy, and though we saw the dog often on Instagram, we didn't know what to expect when we met the dog in person. The dog was as kind as ever, coming over to the dining room table periodically for pats and food and returning to the living room to play with its toys, all at a leisurely pace. Our dog, Dub, who is just under two years younger than the golden retriever, desperately and energetically tried to get her senpai to play, but the dog very kindly refused the offer.

Dub, on the hand, looked like someone had put two Energizer batteries inside of her. Between her periodic attempts to play with the golden, she was walking all over the room, coming to say hi to us, going back to the living room to play with toys, while smiling the whole time. At one point, she started to run back and forth between the living room and the dining room, so fast that the carpet in the living room started to fold up from her launching herself back towards up. We had to fix the carpet about 4 or 5 times throughout the night.

She looked exponentially happier and more confident at our house. At home, she typically likes to sit all day in her small, cave-like area made especially for dogs, underneath the closet in our dog-friendly Tokyo apartment. Even when she comes out for food, when we take a step towards her, or make a sound, she will retreat back into her cave area. Dub was a stray and though she has warmed up much more than when we initially got her, she still is easily scared. We take Dub to the dog run often where she loves playing with other dogs, but this level of friendliness was another gear. It was like we were looking at a new dog.

At the end of the night, as we started to walk home, the inevitable conversation started. It was a conversation that started some time late November of last year. We know how much Dub loves the company of other dogs, but seeing her so happy made it all the more real. Do we get another dog?

We weighed out the pros and cons.

Pros

• Dub will love it.

• It will bring lots of joy and excitement into our household.

• Walking two dogs might be even more fun.

Cons

• We travel from time to time and finding someone to take care of two dogs may be difficult.

• Traveling domestically or even within Tokyo with two dogs may be difficult.

• Taking core of two dogs costs more.

• We still need to help Dub get over her own fears. Should we really be getting a second dog now?

Then a strange one hit both of us: are we ready to spread our love across two dogs? We love Dub so much, and spreading that same amount of love to another dog somehow feels strange. We know we'll be able to give that dog lots of love too, but in our minds we want to get another dog because we are looking to get another dog, not only because our dog wants another friend. At the same time, we love our dog Dub more than anything in the world and just want to do whatever we can to make her happy.

I don't have any kids today, but it made me think: maybe this is a feeling that parents have when they have their second child. As an only child, I know that suffered with bouts of loneliness at times throughout my childhood and dreamed about having a younger brother or sister. That being said, I wouldn't give up the relationship that I have with my parents for anything and I'm sure the dynamic would have been different had they decided to have another child.

At the moment, no final decision has been made but my wife and I did go to an event yesterday, 1/13 to meet some rescued dogs at a dog adoption event.

No official verdict yet but stay tuned!