Despite mine and my husband’s human flaws, our dogs love us unconditionally. I certainly don’t feel like we deserve it all of the time and they act out sometimes too. But there is absolutely nothing that can compare to the companionship of a dog.
Over the years, family pets have taught me a lot but it wasn’t until my husband and I adopted our own that we truly were able to understand what it means to be a dog-parent. There is simply nothing like the lessons you learn from owning your own, such as:
They will always rely on us for everything. Always.
Unlike kids, our dogs won’t grow up to the point where they can take care of themselves. We will always have to bathe them, feed them, and clean up their poop. Dogs are an enormous responsibility. Sometimes I don’t want to deal with it all but at the end of the day, taking care of them actually keeps me sane. When I’m lazy, I have dogs to play with. When I’m tired, I have dogs to cuddle with. And when I’m sad? They’re great at knowing when I need some extra calm attention. They may rely on me for everything but I rely on them a lot too.
They make me think I can adopt all the dogs.
No, I cannot adopt all of the dogs of the world. But damn if my fur-babies don’t make me think I can. I’m purposefully avoiding adoption events at all costs because well, we simply have enough for now. It just isn’t the right time to bring another one home. My husband fell in love a little while back at an adoption event with a hyperactive three-legged boxer. We went back about a month later and thankfully he’d already been adopted. Don’t get me wrong, I would have loved that dog like any other and I knew my husband was a bit disappointed (and I may have hidden in a food aisle and cried). But it was also nice knowing that this amazing dog was finally adopted and that we didn’t have to step up to the plate. A little sad but still really great. I know we’ll always have dogs in the house so that just means that one day we’ll actually go to an adoption event to actually take one home. I can’t wait!
They taught me that it’s worth working through the hard stuff.
Dallas was our first adoption as a couple. Actually, we strolled into a pet store the day after we got married and there happened to be an adoption event going on. I took one look at Dallas and I knew I needed him and my new husband was quick to oblige. At the event, this lab and pit mix was playful and excited. But when we picked him up from his foster home? He was absolutely petrified! We worked through staying calm during loud noises, not being afraid of the covers, and actually enjoying play time. As for our second adoption, about a year later, Hardy was sad and sulking in his kennel among the other yappy dogs and my husband fell in love. With him we had to work through a serious fear of men, learning how to interact with other dogs, and not chewing because of separation anxiety. Overall, we’ve learned that even though they were hard to deal with sometimes, we can’t imagine life without them. And without their little quirks? Well frankly they’d be kind of boring.
They taught me about the beautifully painful part of life: death.
Death is never an easy thing to come to terms with. But when it’s a dog that’s passing away? Or worse, being put down? It shows you just how fragile life is. My husband and I had an incredibly bitter sweet day when we put down my husband’s beloved dog Tina, a family dog he couldn’t wait to take home after we moved back home two years ago. That morning, we also found out we were expecting our first child. A day when we should have been celebrating was spent at the vet’s office. We went in with a sweet old dog and left without her and even with the great news, it was still devastating. I’ll never forget how my husband, sobbing in the car with me in the parking lot, looked at me through tear-filled eyes, smiled, and said “Even though one life is gone, at least I know that another is being born”. Even though we didn’t fully enjoy the news of our new arrival immediately, I’m glad we had something positive to hold onto at such a hard time.
Let me know what lessons your pets have taught you!
