The Obama family is in the midst of choosing the first dog, and to me, it's an event as exciting as the election. Will they choose an elitist pure breed or a precious shelter dog? Will the lucky dog be large or small, smooth or shaggy? Male or female? What color or combination of colors? I would guess that, probably, it will be the dog who the girls fall in love with.

I am far from a doggie expert, considering our many misadventures with our dog, golden retriever Mr. Casey of Santee. We got Casey eight years ago as a small pup in response to a Times and Democrat ad, and our love for him grows with each year. Picking the perfect dog is like picking the perfect spouse or child, impossible. Each dog has his or her own characteristics, and we get to love them for their individuality.

My tips for the Obamas may help them to narrow down their search. Our house has golden oak hardwood floors, which are, coincidentally, the exact color of Casey's coat. This was entirely an accident, but honestly, it does help to hide the presence of dog hair, which has a tendency to float in the air and land on the floor as soon as you clean it up.

We purchased a beautiful sage green area rug for our great room before we acquired Casey. I loved this rug to the point of trying to walk around it when possible. Guess what it has endured in the eight years since the dog's arrival? Discretion prevents me from mentioning some of the "accidents" that have befallen this beautiful sage green rug. All I can say to Michelle is, stock up on bottles of Resolve. The rug is also Casey's scratching place of choice, and no other spot will do.

When the weather is wet, Casey and I have developed a routine to dry him off. He runs into our guest room spraying water as he goes, jumps on the sofa and rubs himself dry while I towel-dry his feet, tail and any part left over. While this is a great solution for our modest Santee home with its Broyhill pull-out sofa, I don't know how it would go over in the White House with its priceless antique furniture. Well, we are ready for change, aren't we?

Unfortunately, when Casey was nine months old and fully grown, I fell in the street trying to hold onto his leash and broke my shoulder. The orthopedist said that breaking bones is a common occurrence with dog owners: People trip over their small dogs and get pulled down by their large ones.

Of course, there's the problem of a dog's appetite, which is really for anything edible, and Michelle will have to warn her daughters about sneaking treats to the First Pup. We once left an entire sliced pot roast on a cutting board on the kitchen counter, only to have it "disappear."

Then there was the incident of the missing 16 Christmas cookies left in the middle of the kitchen table to cool, supposedly out of reach of Casey. When we returned from a five-minute trip to buy sugar, there was a noticeable space in the neat lineup of cookies. Yes, they went the way of the pot roast, and from that time on, we've been more careful.

My best tip of all for Michelle Obama is just to enjoy life with the dog and to luxuriate in the unconditional love, affection, loyalty and fun a doggie addition to the family brings.

T&D Correspondent Shirley Upton can be reached by e-mail at writer@ntinet.com. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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