I will never forget this day.
8th August 2016 was the happiest day of my life, right after our wedding day.
There she was. The last puppy. With a pink ribbon around her neck. Without a name – just miss Pink. Fluffy little bear, clumsy as hell and smelled of puppy wee. There and then I learnt the meaning of love at first sight. I glanced over at my husband. He sighed and asked how much was the deposit, then handed over the money.
A week later we brought her home.
Lily. The most incredible soul.
Our lives have never been the same.
From the moment her paws touched the living room carpet she gave our lives a meaning.
She brought so much joy and happiness, taught us patience and compassion and filled our days with endless LOL moments.
Lily showed us the meaning of unconditional love. And we became better humans.
Whoever said “it’s just a dog” has never loved one.
Our cat Ace was nowhere near as thrilled.
We picked Lily up in a car.
We did not bring a dog bed with us so she sat on my lap the whole time and weed on me.
· We did not bring any water (it was only 20 minutes from home) but I spent the whole 20 minutes worrying about her dying from heat exhaustion.
·When we got home she went to sleep straight away and I sat next to her for the whole time, WITHOUT BLINKING, worrying that something has gone terribly wrong.
Puppies sleep a lot. A lot. Like all the time. There, I said it.
As a first-time dog owner (and I was told that a lot) I was worried about absolutely everything:
- when she did not eat
- when she threw up her food
- when she threw up her food and then ate it afterwards
- when she had diarrhoea **
- when she was constipated
- when she was sleeping too much or too little
- when she was breathing too loud or when I could not hear her etc. etc. etc. You get the picture.
** like the time when Lily was vomiting and had diarrhoea and I had to go to work. 2 hours into working day I went to my manager balling my eyes out convinced my dog was dying and I had to go home right now to take the dog to emergency vet appointment ( husband was home at the time, but who would trust a man when it comes to pet emergencies?).
I was allowed to go home immediately; rang vets on the way home and got appointment sorted just to arrive home to a perfectly healthy and sleepy dog who greeted me with a look “Hey Mom, you’re home early! Take me for a walk! Take me for a walk! Take me for a walk!”
I did not have the courage to admit to my manager my first-time dog owner behaviour. So I just lied and followed through with a story that we went to the vet, but THANK GOD, Lily was all right.
A little white lie never killed anyone.
I slept downstairs on the floor for the first few nights, you know, Lily has been separated from her mummy and needed a new one, right?
And what if something happened to her whilst I was sleeping upstairs?
Like if she had a bad dream and woke up and there was no one to cuddle her and rock her back to sleep?
What if she gets scared?
What if she gets cold?
What if she is hungry or wants a treat?
What if she needs a poop or a wee?
The answers:
Dogs do not have nightmares. Lily was living in a warm, loving home with humans who absolutely adored her - what is there to have nightmares about?
What if something happened whilst I was sleeping upstairs? Well, not much can happen in an enclosed, soft and poofy environment with fresh water, toys and dog bed available. I do however believe that we created a better bond by me sleeping near her for the first few nights.
She did not get scared once. Not even from the mean cat – she was like –“whatever bro, let me sleep.”
She did not get cold. As a long-haired German shepherd with the amount of puppy fluff on her - she could have easily survived Siberia.
What if she is hungry or wants a treat? Oh well. She is asleep. Like sleeping. Knocked out for the count. Snoring her little socks off. Not hungry at all. Maybe dreaming about treats a little, good job I have them ready as soon as she wakes up.
What if she needs a poop? Then she will poop. And no devil is going to stop her. Period.
And if she needs a wee? She will wee. Anywhere. Without any warning or a little sniffing and turning on the spot, you will never catch it in time, I promise.
A piece of advice – invest in a cheap carpet to top your existing carpet. We had scraps left over from when we re-carpeted the living room, so just double layered it. Patchy artwork, but I am so grateful this idea popped in my head before the beige carpet was completely ruined.
Invest in puppy pads, like millions of them, blue tack the whole house with them – everywhere! (You will thank me later).
And for the white wood floorboards in the dining room, oh well, puppy wee will cut straight trough 2 layers of yacht varnish and 3 layers of Ronseal Diamond Hard paint.
Fast forward time and Lily is now in her teenage years. Some things haven’t changed – whenever she is feeling poorly I always sleep downstairs on the floor with her. To keep an eye on her and to give her comfort. We snuggle under the big duvet with lots of cushions and treats and she absolutely loves it. And I love it too.
There is something heart-achingly magical about a 35 kg (77 lbs) German shepherd gently snoring in your armpit.
God, I love her. ♥
