If you are thinking about getting a puppy (*cough always rescue*), I urge you to read my story of adopting a brand-spanking new puppy and almost cracking under the pressure.
I was on my way to Target to pick up some socks with my mom when we passed an animal shelter with a sign that read “Adoption Event.” I looked at my mom with my own puppy dog eyes and begged her to pull over. We had been talking a bit about getting another dog as the love of my life, Colby, was already 15. It was something no one in the family ever spoke about, but somehow we all knew that if I didn’t have a dog in the house, I would have a nervous breakdown. A new dog would never ever replace Colby, but another addition to the family would be nice. Anyway, enough about my own sad life. My mom agreed to pull over and look, but warned me that there was no way that we were adopting a dog right now. Before the car was even in park, I was running towards a sea of dogs.
Without even fully understanding why, I started sobbing uncontrollably being surrounded by so many dogs up for adoption and to console me, someone handed me a puppy. Twenty minutes later, we were signing up to be considered for adopting a beautiful little blonde puppy named Maybelline. She had the longest most beautiful eyelashes I have ever seen on a dog so her name made sense, but we changed it to Lila because she just looked like a Lila and also I don’t do drug store makeup brands. Within two days, she was ours. We’ve had Lila for over a year now and I can honestly say it has been a roller coaster. There were times when I would found myself crying on the floor in a pile of chewed up shoes wondering if I should give Lila to another family, one that didn’t have such expensive taste in shoes or had more time to spend watching her every move. But I survived and you can too as long as you are prepared for the following:
You Will Lose Sleep
Puppies do not have fully developed bladders. This means they have to go out about every four hours. If you have a puppy and a job at the same time (like so many of us do), you have to make sure someone will be home to take him or her out. You can also kiss sleeping through the night goodbye.
You Will Lose Money
Crates. Collars. Pet Insurance. Food. Medicine. Leashes. More collars because they ate the first one. A bigger crate. You might have to cut a sushi date or five out of your monthly budget to cater to your new pal.
You Will Lose Personal Items/Furniture
Do you have nice shoes? How about a favorite pair of underwear? Hope that couch is still under warranty. Do not think I am being sarcastic when I say you need to make sure you know what your puppy is doing at all times. Leave them alone for a second to go get that spinach out of your teeth and you will find the cord to your $500 Dyson vacuum chewed in half.
You Will Lose Time and Energy
Taking care of another living thing is hard. If you get a puppy, you owe it to them and yourself to train them properly. Whether this means bringing them to a class or doing some research and taking a stab at it yourself, it’s harder than you think.
You Will Gain a Best Friend
If you have the time and the patience for taking care of a puppy, all of that stress and frustration is worth it. The nights that you cry yourself to sleep wondering if you have made the wrong decision blur away and you can’t imagine your life without them! Nurturing and watching a puppy grow helps you grow too. As long as you are willing to accept the things you will inevitably lose, the end result far outweighs the costs!