Episode 3, 40 before 40
Luna is turning one soon.
It started off with my daughter begging for a dog. We got one, and then he got hit by a car a few months later (which was a horrible moment that I don’t want to talk about).
A few days later, we adopted a puppy. This was an impulsive decision, to be honest. We just went to the rescue place to look at this other dog. She got adopted while we were sitting there waiting. But that dog had a very sweet little puppy. And so Luna came home with us.
After owning Luna for ten months, I’m glad we got her. For quite a few months, I very much regretted it. I was the person who potty trained her and it was absolutely rough. I’ve potty trained four kids and a puppy now, and I would rank potty training a dog at about the same level as potty training a toddler. It takes way longer than you want it to and you have to clean up a lot.
She learned other things fairly quickly. She knows how to come and sit and leave it and stay. And I taught her how to do all of that, which brings me some pride. She’s adorable when she wants treats. She appears out of nowhere whenever you have cheese. And she loves her rope balls.
I like taking her on hikes–she’s climbed up an entire mountain and gone all over. One time, we were done with a six-mile hike (where she also got to play with some other dogs) and she did not want to get back into the car at all. I had to pretend we were going hiking again before she would come close to me.
But sometimes I don’t like owning a dog. I don’t like it when we want to travel and I have to figure out what to do with her. I don’t like it when she pees or poos on the carpet, particularly in other people’s houses. I don’t really like the dog hair all over. She often jumps up on people when they come to visit. Sometimes I’m not great at exercising her (though she has outdoor space and she plays a lot of fetch in our home, which is quite wide open and gives her space to run).
The good thing about puppies is they become really loyal to you. Luna is my dog, and she knows it, and so she’ll listen to me. And she’s been good for my kids too, as they get to play with her and enjoy their time together.
Luna will probably be my last dog. I don’t ever want to do this again. But I’m glad I did it once.
Leave a Reply