My family is what I like to call "dog hoarders." Basically we're like a crazy cat lady, but with dogs. My parents and I own collectively four dogs, while my brother owns two, for a grand total of six dogs in the family. So far in my life I've had the pleasure of owning five dogs, and I've recently realized that there are stages to owning a new puppy.
Here are the four stages:
1. Puppy fever.
Most people have probably gone through this once in their life. Basically, for me, it happened when we got my brother a new puppy for Christmas this year and I had to watch him for two weeks. My parents also caught "puppy fever" and ended up buying another puppy back in March, and now we have another little monster in the family.
2. Denial.
Basically this is when you're thinking "this isn't a bad idea, having four dogs will be great," but as soon as you walk all four dogs at once you realize how wrong you are. Each dog wants to walk in a different direction, sometimes behind you, resulting in getting tangled up in four leashes, but unlike in the movies, there's no cute guy to come help you get untangled.
3. Stress.
The thing about puppies is that they'll eat everything and anything they find on the ground. Each day you're running around chasing the puppy saying, "What is in your mouth, put that down! Don't eat that!" You also have to constantly watch them because puppies are clumsy and think they're bigger than they are, so they'll try things like jumping off the arm of your couch.
4. Unending love.
Puppies are a pain if we're all being honest. Potty training and making sure they don't eat wood chips they find outside is actually incredibly stressful, but at the end of the day it's worth it. Dogs look at their owners with nothing but pure love and if that's not something to smile about then I don't know what is. Waking up and finding your dog curled up next to you makes all the bad things in the world disappear. Kisses from dogs are so pure, dogs are basically angels on four legs. I wouldn't trade my dogs for anything in the world, not even Harry Styles. Long live dogs everywhere!