My girls have been begging for a dog for years.

Pleeeeeeeeeease? they moan, their brow furrowed as if they were in physical pain without a dog in the house.

And it’s not that I don’t like dogs. I grew up with a poodle mutt named Niki and I adored her. But I have three kids, a husband who is not too interested in pets and a full-time job. (We also have a fish named Nemo and a guinea pig named Dolly.) Adding one more living creature to oversee (particularly one that has to go outside to pee on rainy and snowy days) is just more than I can bear.

The girls swear they’ll do everything to take care of the dog. They don’t know that I said the exact same thing to my parents. I got my dog, and soon dreaded getting up early to walk her and cleaning up after her. My mom had to nag me all the time to do what I swore — I begged — I would do on my own. I loved Niki but had no clue how much work taking care of another creature was.

Now I’ve gone and done something that could be incredibly smart or incredibly stupid. I’ve arranged to watch a co-worker’s dogs on Sunday at my house (that’s Rocky and Walter in the photo). I told the girls we would have them for a few hours so the girls could see what it’s like to walk and play and clean up after dogs.

Any words of advice?