“Once you have had a wonderful dog, a life without one, is a life diminished.” -Dean Koontz
Chuck and I had owned dogs in the past, before we knew each other. So many of our good memories involved our former canines, and we always knew we would eventually get a dog, but we just couldn't figure out when, and we didn't exactly agree on what kind.
We finally realized there would never be a perfect time to have a dog. The logistics of caring for a dog comes with a host of problems. What if we wanted to go on vacation? What if we would be gone from home all day? What about medical care?
Dogs are messy and inconvenient; that's for sure. And as far as coming to consensus on whether we should adopt a puppy or an older dog, and what breed we wanted, we deliberated long and hard.
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| Aren't you glad I agreed to adopt a puppy, Hunny? |
Chuck wanted a puppy; I wanted to adopt a dog. I wanted a big dog; the bigger, the better, and if it was already housebroken and knew some basic commands? BONUS. Chuck only wanted a lab, a smallish one. Sigh. I had raised labs most of my adult life. They are such energetic puppies, and their puppy stage lasts for years. How would we ever agree?
Vincent van Gogh said, "If you don't have a dog, at least one, there is not necessarily anything wrong with you, but there may be something wrong with your life." That's how I felt. Something was wrong; something was definitely missing.
You may have thought we bit off more than we could chew when we decided to get a dog. You may have thought we were crazy to adopt two. You all know now that we went with Chuck's idea of getting a puppy, and you also know the only way we would be happy is if we each chose our own. We became A TWO PUPPY HOME.
My Bristol, my sweet velvet hippo, was a big, roly-poly puppy with lots of wrinkles and ginormous paws. I was counting on his growing into those feet, and he didn't let me down.
Chuck's labradorable Sami was the puppy Chuck has wanted forever. She is the first dog he chose for himself, and he loves that little girl so very much.
Were we crazy? Do we regret adopting two fur babies? All I know is this. Every single day with these beautiful creatures feels like a blessing.
Our human children are all grown up, and living lives of their own. Coming home to an empty house was kind of sad for me, and now, I have two happy dogs to love and nurture. Adding Bristol and Sami to our family made our house feel like a home.
There are moments when having two puppies at the same time was challenging. Remember when I thought I had to WAKE them up every couple of hours through the night so they could go potty? Yeah, that was a dumb idea. Remember when we had boxes and furniture blockading areas of our house trying to protect certain rooms from destruction? The house looked horrible, but hey, it worked while they were little. Now they have full run of the place, unless we have to go somewhere, and then they stay in their crates.
When I'm sweeping up all of the dust bunnies that are loaded with dog hair, or when I'm wiping up all of the mud tracked in on a rainy day, I may grumble a bit. I miss some of my favorite pairs of shoes that Bristol used as teething toys. The tan love seat is missing part of its upholstered skirt. A newel post and a table leg or two have been gnawed by the naughty gnashers.
But you know what? In the big scheme of things, none of that matters to me. I would adopt those two galoots all over again, even knowing what I know now.
Sami is our alpha dog, and she reminds Bristol of that constantly. Every toy in the house is hers, and Bristol has resigned himself to that fact. Sami feels like she has to display dominance with other dogs. She has been crazy-hard to walk. Everything distracts her, and she wants to chase everything that moves. Sami sheds like crazy; my vacuum cleaner can attest to that.
Bristol was a special needs puppy for a long time. He came to us with an ear infection, a bladder infection, and ringworm. He is an easy dog to handle because he has had lots of medicine and medical treatment. (Unless we're talking about having his nails done. He is still the biggest baby about that.) Bristol still chews things we wish he would not. The day he swallowed a sewing needle was my worst day as a puppy mama. That required an ER visit, anesthesia, and a very big vet bill. Everything came out all right in the end, though, thank goodness.
Bristol is a vocal dog too, but he is less of a barker, and more of a whiner. He even cries in his sleep sometimes. Bristol is saddest when Sami leaves the house without him. His mournful howl sounds like Chewbacca.
Bristol and Sami are siblings, and just like siblings, they fight over toys, and there is definitely some rivalry going on, but they also have great fun playing together, and they seem to like being with each other.
Is it even worth it to have a dog, non-dog owners may wonder? I have to agree with our friend Lynne who has a beautiful husky named Sierra. Lynne said, "I would rather have muddy paw prints on our carpet, than have a house without a dog."
Our house was pretty boring without the pups. What did I even do all day before they came into our lives? Now I never do anything alone; not even go to the bathroom. I have constant companionship, and the devotion of two caring canines.
Happy Gotcha Day, puppies! You changed our lives, for good.
Happy Valentine's Day from Bristol and Sami! If you enjoyed their GOTCHA story, you might want to check out some special Valentines from our fur babies HERE.
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