Uschi

It’s been a minute since I was last able to sit down and write a blog post. Okay its been a few months. However, I was reading an article the other day and the author wrote something that just happen to spark something inside me. She was making light of a situation she went through but there was a much deep meaning behind it.

The author was talking about adopting her first puppy and how hard the experience was for her. She stated she was going through “post-canine adoption depression.” Before I go any further, I want it to be known I am not trying to make light of anything that mothers go through after they give birth. I am also not trying to take away from any of the difficulties new mothers of tiny humans go through. But this woman had a point.

Every one wants a puppy. They think it will be so much fun and they are so cute and cuddly. All your friends encourage you to go for it and you jump at the chance to bring your new furry best friend home. That first day is great. Everyone you know comes over to meet the new bundle of joy. What they don’t tell you is about that first night. After everyone has gone home and you are trying to settle into your new normal. Then it happens. The puppy whines and cries as you try to get some rest and the next thing you know you are sleeping on the floor because it’s the only way to get the puppy to be quiet. Before you know it the next week has been spent sleeping on the floor.

I love dogs (shocker). But I also really love being lazy. After we brought CJ it was a tough adjustment but we got really lucky with him. He cried the first night or two but quickly settled into sleeping in his kennel. So about two years after bringing CJ home I saw a puppy online and just knew she had to be mine. She was a little husky that was born with only one eye and was already eight weeks old and ready to go to her forever home that day! I convinced Neil some how and then we started the three-hour drive to pick her up. That was the amount of thought I put into this new family member. We picked her up and I fell in love. CJ didn’t feel the same way about her. That night I didn’t feel the same about her. I was in a panic. Neil told me to give it time. I convinced myself it wasn’t going to work. I liked our life the way it was. We got to sleep in and leave the house whenever we wanted. I brought her back the next day.

I know a lot of people who go through this and deeply regret either getting their dog or giving their dog back. There are a lot of people that bring their dog home and then realize that they don’t really like their dog at first. What these people should know is that six years in with CJ and there are still some days I don’t like him. I love him everyday but somedays he is just always in the way or barking at the mailman or just has to get up at 5am on a Saturday. He is my best friend and it is okay to not always like your best friends. Do you always like your human best friend?

I miss that dog everyday and what could have been. But the feeling is real. Change is hard for me. Now I know someone reading this is going to say this is such a millennial thing to say which maybe it is, but the author of the original piece was in her 60s.

The dog world is a tough place. There is a lot of judgment and people telling you what is best for your dog because they did it with their dog. Bringing a new dog home is hard and it does change your life completely. It is okay to struggle with it. It happened to me and my whole life is spent with dogs. Just know that that little furry creature will be the best and worst thing you ever did. You will eventually get to sleep in again. You will probably always have to clean up a pee accident every once and while. You will get past the hard part. Post-canine adoption depression is a real thing in my book.