“No matter how little money and how few possessions you own, having a dog makes you feel rich.” Louis Sabin
On this day two years ago (March 13, 2019) I became a pet parent, to be more specific – a dog mom. Yeah, you read that right, a dog mom, because no matter what people around me think or say would change the fact that a dog needs attention and care as much as a child would require. And here comes the question – how did it happen, what’s the story with the “foreigner” in our family?
I’ve always dreamed of a dog of my own. Although I grew up with lots of pets and animals around the house, I was dreaming about a specific breed, a German shepherd, which is still a dream I am not giving up on just yet. But as they say, “Man proposes, God disposes” – it might not always turn out exactly the way you’ve imagined. Sometimes you just receive as a gift you never expected.
I remember that day as if it was yesterday. Sometimes, now and then, I can’t believe I have a dog. So here is the reason we sometimes call him the “foreigner” – we did found him during our year in Montenegro. He has traveled about 1240 miles from the city Bar to Kyiv, Ukraine, when we decided to move back home in January 2020. Now we joke that we might have had a feeling because we have returned right before everything turned upside down.
"Opening up your life to a dog who needs a home is one of the most fulfilling things you can do." Emma Kenney
It was a Wednesday sunny day. I and my husband have been in the country for only a week this time, and have already met with the guy who was helping us with the papers for the temporary residence permit called “boravak”. We have applied for it and now we had to wait for 4 weeks until the decision will be made – whether we are allowed to stay for a year or not. So, as I mentioned earlier, it was a sunny day warm day in Bar (the city where we were staying) and we decided to go for a walk. We also had to pick up a gift for our rent house owner’s birthday – one more reason to go out.
So we were walking along the seaside, talking about and discussing things related to what would our life be like here. I remember how we talked the evenings before about getting a dog this year. I would watch all the dog people walking their pets and have been imagining myself doing just the same – swimming together, go hiking, watching sunsets, exploring the suburbs and the rest of the country.
So, we weren’t planning to get a puppy right away. To be honest, I was thinking that we won’t get back to this topic for a few months, at least until we get the permit and we stay for a year. That was the plan. But life made its plan. As we walked to the city port area, we’ve noticed this small brown fluffy creature running around a bench where a local was selling books. Usually, I am the one who gets super excited every time I see a dog I can pet - whether it’s a stray or a home one. But with this one was different. This time, somehow, I was afraid to touch him (he was a boy, as we found out a bit later) – not because there was something wrong, I was afraid I’ll get attached to it immediately and will want to take it with me (spoiler alert – my heart melted the moment I saw his eyes).
Imagine a chocolate brown fluffy chubby pup with blue eyes who’s super energetic and playful, doesn’t stop jumping and running around you. Would you resist it? Could you just play with it for a while, then just leave, and forget as if it never happened? Well, I couldn’t, and didn’t.
My husband got to be the first to make acquaintance with the puppy and we asked the bookseller if this is his puppy or maybe he knows where he came from. The answer to both of the questions was “no’’. He added that ‘’the puppy won’t survive on the streets unless he’s taken home by someone’’. It took us a few seconds to think about it and the decision was made – the puppy was coming with us. I have this first picture of myself holding him and with that expression on my face that says ‘’is this happening for real’’, ‘’is this a joke or something’’.
I went from excitement and happiness to realizing that my dream was coming true in a matter of seconds. I’m repeating myself – it happened on the 9th day upon our arrival. We didn’t plan it, and we didn’t see it coming. But I have learned that if life gives you gifts when you least expect them – you should accept them and be thankful. Everything happens for a reason.
When you plan on bringing a puppy home, you are getting ready in advance – you buy food, leash, collar, toys, etc. I wasn’t ready. I didn’t even have a name in mind. I was thinking that I’ll come home and it will take me days before I’ll find and choose that perfect name that will suit him. On the way back home I was playing with names in my head – I wanted something that will show and represent his personality and looks and that would stick to him. So there I was with Brownie, Bruno, Choco, Chestnut. It felt like none of it suited him. So we're walking and I remember mentioning he’s looking just like a cute teddy bear and my husband says “Teddy’’. And that’s it – before we even got him home he’s already had a name. And I never thought about it ever again. He is 100% a teddy bear, even now when he’s all grown up and 5 times bigger than on the day we found him.
"Before you get a dog, you can't quite imagine what living with one might be like; afterward, you can't imagine living any other way." Caroline Knapp
So, by the time we got home, our new pup already had a name. He looked about 6-8 weeks old, healthy, and happy. We played outside with him for another hour and then we brought him upstairs to our room. We had to figure something out about where would he sleep and I made a quick list of what to buy for him and went to the pet shop. I bought his first collar and leash, a toy, and food. I knew he was too young for hard food so for the first few weeks we only fed him canned wet food that he liked.
The visit to the vet was only a week later. We brought him in for a quick checkup and we’ve been told that he is about 2 months old and we scheduled our next appointment for his first vaccination. The first few weeks I would read everything about food, training, behavior and have gone by quite quickly.
Looking back and remembering that first day, there is one more fun thing to mention. After we got back to Ukraine, one evening during the walk (when the whole pandemic times started), I began talking about how lucky I feel to have Teddy in my life and how many things have changed, and I’ve changed during that first year as a dog owner now and how sometimes I can’t believe it is real. My husband confessed that this whole puppy thing didn’t go as he initially thought. The thing is that when we decided to bring Teddy with us after we found him, he thought the puppy will stay with us until we’ll find him a family. But my first thought was that this is my, well our, puppy now. And now we’re laughing that his joke turned out quite expensive after all. LOL.
Well, this is the story of how a ‘’foreigner’’ changed our lives and of our loved ones for good. It has been 2 years of ups and downs, laughs and tears, moments when I was happy and when I was worried, and I wouldn’t trade this for anything. I hope there will be more many years ahead of happiness and joy. Next time will tell you the story of our cat Lizzy.
Do you have pets? What is your story? How did he/she/they end up in your life? Share your fun story in the comments.
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