My dog is picky, impatient, and anxious… just like me.

I’ve always worried that my children will inherit my difficult personality traits. I never imagined that my pet would take after me.

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In early 2018, my boyfriend and I decided we were ready to get a dog. We’d been talking about it for nearly three years, almost as long as we’d been dating. He grew up with a beloved golden retriever and spent a lot of time around family friends’ dogs. I was from a cat family, and feared strange licks and barks until college. Even after getting over my fear, I felt like I knew nothing about doggy care, but I was excited to learn.

My boyfriend (now husband) used to joke that people who own little dogs really want cats, and that the best dogs are the ones big enough for kids to ride. So, I assumed that he wanted a large, athletic dog that we could take on long hikes — a dog who was adventurous, goofy, and carefree like him.

One day, our friend emailed us to say that she’d rescued two street dogs and needed to find a home for one of them. She was moving soon, so couldn’t keep them both. One dog was a big, male puppy who was always happy and full of energy. The other was a smaller, 3-or-4-year-old female terrier-mix — a needy, prissy lapdog her Cuban maid called “la princesa.” Our friend…