Life with Dogs

Growing up I always wanted a dog. I mean what kid didn’t? Unfortunately, my mom wasn’t too big of a fan. So she compromised and let us have a bird. I cannot for the life of me remember much about the bird other than it was small and named Tweety. Oh and I remember that I was the one who found her (or him) dead on the bottom of its cage. I honestly can’t even remember if I was sad over its death.

A few years later my mom decided that we could have a dog. My sister picked him out (only because he was the only dog from our options that liked her). We named him Rocky. At first, he wanted nothing to do with me. But that all changed once my sister left home. He soon became my best friend. We had him for a few years and I was so happy! Seriously he was the best dog ever. We got lucky when we got him. He was already trained so we barely had to put in any work with him. One day when I came home from school I went to the backyard to bring him in. But he was nowhere to be found. I realized that the pool guy had left the back gate open! I was devastated! I went around the neighborhood asking if anyone had seen him. No one had. So I made some fliers and put them in the area. Unfortunately, someone went around the same night and took down all my fliers. I was devastated! But my mom told me to leave it be, that if someone went thru all that hassle of taking them down that Rocky was most likely with someone who loved him and would take care of him. I cried for days.

About a year or so later my parents decided that I could have another dog. I was excited! Until I realized that Dee-Oh-Gee was nothing like Rocky. Unfortunately, because of this, I didn’t bother to train to him or really take care of him the way he should of. My parents ended up re-homing him. He ended up with an amazing family thanks to a friend of ours. After that, I swore no more dogs! As much as I loved them, they just weren’t meant for me.

That lasted until I was about 22 years old. My then boyfriend decided he wanted he wanted a dog–a German Shepherd to be exact. One day while I was out at work he went and picked up his new pup, Buddy. He was this black and tan long-haired ball of fluff with the biggest dark brown eyes.  I instantly fell in love. He was only a few a months old. Because I didn’t see them every day I never really saw how much time and effort went into training him. I just got to reap the benefits of a fully trained dog. I used to spend hours with this dog. Taking him out for walks, to the dog park, roughhousing at home. He was my best friend.

That is until disaster struck. I was out at a family dinner when my ex texted me, saying there had been an accident. Buddy had been hit by a car and didn’t make. They were out on their walk when Buddy saw a dog and freaked out (he was a little pansy when it came to other dogs). He managed to wiggle out of his collar and took off across the street. One car had stopped in time but the kid driving behind him swerved around him and hit Buddy. I was a wreck for days. Losing him was so hard. It still hurts.

Again, I told myself “No more dogs!”

Did I listen? Of course not.

A year later I decided it was time to get my own dog. I was working full-time, a house with a pool and a backyard, and worked within 3 miles of where I lived. So I found myself my very own German Shepherd. She was about 4 months when I got her. I named her Shae. So far I’ve had her for just over 2 years. She is nothing like Buddy. She is stubborn and hard-headed. I blame myself for that. But she’s mine 🙂 and I wouldn’t trade her for anything. She’s fairly trained, knows how to sit, stay (not for long tho) and lay down. She understands no and wait. She’s also picked up a few tricks. She does have separation anxiety though. I blame that on me being her 3rd owner. She has been my rock the past couple of years.

The only bad thing about having a dog is life does get a little harder. You can’t just up and leave whenever you want. It has to be planned out. Where you can live is severely limited especially when you have a big dog because no one wants to deal with the damages. There’s definitely a few more disadvantages but regardless of what they are, Shae is my best friend and I look forward to the many years we’ll (hopefully) have together.