I’ve Been a Dog Mom for 6 Months, This is What I Learned

The sleepless nights.

The frustration every time she peed where she wasn’t supposed to.

The cleaning up every time she peed.

The whining.

The nasty puppy poops from hell.

But also….

The kisses in the morning.

The joy when she finally pees in the right spot.

The laughter when she slides across the floor and headbutts into the pantry door.

The tears when she went to get her spay surgery and I was worried out of my mind.

The unconditional love to protect, cherish and support this puppy that stares at me every day with her beautiful brown eyes…. Yea. That’s my girl. Zora.

I didn’t think I was ready for a dog. My mother got me a dog when I was just hitting puberty and I didn’t even know the meaning of responsibility. We always tell our parents we are going to look after them but never do. I guess parents do a lot for their children right? Thank you, mom.

Fast forward several years, I still didn’t think I was ready. I was even thinking of getting a cat because they were considered “low maintenance”. But wow, things changed. Circumstances came where it felt right and I just went for it. I wanted a little family, even if it’s just a little puppy family.

She was. PERFECT. Barely the size of my forearm. She fit curled up on my stomach. She was “different” like me. I was so in love. Even if she peed in the house I would only be angry for a second before seeing her trip on her own feet and burst out laughing. This joy and stress created this middle ground where I explored this meaning of “love”. Love for a living soul that looks to me to live and to be happy.

The most memorable part for me during this past 6 months was the training and still is. I remember saying how I wish I could fast forward time so she’s no longer a puppy but one of those extremely obedient dogs you see on Criminal Minds. But slowly I discovered the training was also training me.

SHE HAS TAUGHT ME MORE ABOUT PATIENCE.

A LOT of patience. It is easy to get upset when she does something wrong but I realized that things can go wrong on a daily. We allow ourselves to be bothered by the small things, and so we go through the day mad, frustrated because of this one thing that went wrong. Que the domino effect. More things seem to go wrong throughout the day. The person smiling at you during passing is weird and creepy. The traffic lights seem to always turn red when you’re approaching. Any sort of food suggestions sounds bland and boring. Only because of this one thing, and the funny thing is sometimes we don’t even know what it is at the end of the day. So why? Why don’t we practice more patience for when things go wrong. Instead of reacting (instinctual), we take a breath and respond (thoughtful). She has taught me to be more responsive instead of reactive because she’s a puppy. She is learning and I am learning too.

SHE HAS HELPED ME LEARN HOW TO BE MORE CONSISTENT.

Training a puppy heavily relies on being consistent. At least that’s what Bryce, the trainer from Zora’s Puppy Training classes tells me. That’s actually one of the very first things he talked about to a roomful of puppies and their hopeful parents who, like me, have never owned, owned a dog in their life. I knew they were first-time owners like me, their eyes said it all.

“You gotta walk them daily. You gotta do the commands at least once or twice a day. Don’t skip a day. BE CONSISTENT.” Bryce would repeat these phrases throughout the first class and it sounded easy until it wasn’t. A walk every day? It’s too hot. It’s too late. It’s too time-consuming. Those are the excuses I would tell myself and I’m not just talking about dog training. Those are excuses we tell ourselves every day regardless of what it is. So I challenged myself and I am proud to say that she has not missed a scheduled walk. This consistency has actually helped me in my daily life because it helped me plan my day out prior to her walk. Basically, the need to be consistent with her helped me develop other consistencies in my life.

SHE IS NOW MY RESPONSIBILITY.

Ahhh, responsibility. Did you notice that the older we get the more responsibilities we seem to have? The stages of life, we call it. There are responsibilities that we enjoy, like your first car, your first apartment, etc. Because heck yes, we’re adults now. But with those responsibilities, there are also stresses. More bills, deadlines, and budgets are now added to the mix. So for every new responsibility, there are also new stresses. Being a dog mom has helped me realize that responsibility isn’t a scary thing. Sure there are more things I need to take care of now but at the same time, she brings me so much joy and happiness. Coming home to a face full of sloppy kisses, having an afternoon reading buddy, being a motivation for me to exercise and get out, I can honestly say she has become one of my reasons to live and be happier. I can also proudly say I’m not the lonely person who goes home to a lonely house with no one else but myself. You know why? Cause I have this bundle of joy called responsibility waiting patiently for me to come home. She has become part of my thoughts, she has given me more reasons to care deeply for a soul, and she has given me a reason to cherish her life as well as my own. Because, who knows? If something happens to me, what will happen to her?

For all of you who are thinking of getting a dog. Consider these as lessons you will be learning regardless of when you decide to get a dog. You will need a lot of time, patience, and consistency to properly train a dog that will be loving, well-behaved, and loyal. It’s not overnight. I mean she’s 6 months…and for me, that’s still hopefully another 174 months to go and I look forward to all the lessons we will be learning together along the way. If you do not have the time, patience or consistency please consider whether you can dedicate time to learn how to be. This is important because, if you can say yes to “wanting to learn/grow” you may actually be a great candidate to owning a dog. But if your life has too many other factors in play, it is okay to say no until the right time comes. Remember, a dog is a man’s best friend. They will love you unconditionally and it is just right to love them back in the same way. Even if it means picking up their poop for the rest of their life.