A Farewell to Sally
After about 5 months of being a quasi-owner to Sally, the little rascal is soon to be moving on to a new home with her mommy in Minnesota. Even though from the beginning we always considered her to be my sister's dog, nobody spent more time with Sally than I did, or put more work into taking care of her during these few months. Through it all, I couldn't help but to grow attached, and of course I'll miss them both when they move away. So of course, I had to write an official farewell blog about Sallzz.
First off, it's probably hard for people who have never owned a pet to fully understand the relationship between an owner and dog. It's a very unique situation that I never experienced myself until we got Sally. I've had pet fish, hamsters, and a rabbit before - but this was (both literally and figuratively) a whole different animal. Not only were those other pets smaller and much less active than a puppy, but I was never really the "owner" of them, not in a true sense. I mean, occasionally I'd get to feed them or clean their cage/tank, but mostly it was my mom and dad who took care of them. To me and my sis, owning a pet was basically like having another toy to play with.
In the case of Sally, however, we basically took on full responsibility of her entire life from the moment we brought her home. And as we quickly found out, she wasn't just a cute little furball that we could just play with for a while, and then put away once we were tired or bored. This was a living, breathing puppy that needed constant attention, careful supervision, and yes, lots of parental love.
When I think back to the first week or so that Sally was here - all I can say is that it was one of the most hectic and stressful times of my life. Every waking moment at home was consumed by the need to keep a watchful eye on her, making sure she wasn't pooping or peeing in the house, chewing what she wasn't supposed to be chewing, or wandering too far off somewhere. During nighttime hours, it was impossible to get continuous sleep because she would whine and fuss for attention (even by puppy standards, Sally is definitely the needy type). I probably averaged 3 hours of rest a night that week, and even those hours were not very restful.
In the times that I did have to leave the house, my mind was always pre-occupied on what she was doing with no one around to supervise. Not out of curiosity, but more of hoping that she wasn't pooping in her cage or freaking out that nobody was there. I never left her alone for more than a few hours at a time, and constantly worried if we were being bad parents for letting her cry so much (especially as the tear stains where becoming noticeable). I worried whether we were traumatizing a baby for life by ignoring her whining, wondered whether she would ever learn to hold her bowels for more than a couple hours, and questioned whether I was training her the wrong way whenever things weren't going right (which was quite often).
Comparing then and now, it's so amazing to see how much Sally has grown in the time since. She's still clingy, and she still whines if you leave her alone in a room for too long, but it's not nearly as bad as before. Also, after a lot of early frustration, she eventually did become housebroken and we can actually leave her alone for up to 9-10 hours at a time now. We were even able to teach her a couple tricks, which would have been inconceivable if you asked me in the early days. And instead of biting and teething on everything and everyone, she's moved onto licking everything instead (not very healthy, but much less destructive, so I'll take what I can get).
As much as Sally has grown, though, it's kind of surprising for me to also think about all the ways I've grown and learned from taking care of her in only these short few months. Not just in the sense that I know a lot more about dogs and how to take care of them than I did before. But from a broader point of view, I think this whole experience also forced me to become a much more patient person, and taught me to be more willing to sacrifice myself for someone else. I'd even go as far as to say it taught me a little more about love, especially from the perspective of a parent. In some ways, I feel like I got a little glimpse of not just what my own mom and dad went through to raise me, but also some more understanding how God views us, as our creator and "heavenly father".
Like I described before, there were so many frustrating moments especially in the beginning, and it took quite a while for me to get used to giving up my own freedom for the sake of responsibility. Even today, there's some times when Sally's shenanigans can get so aggravating and I feel like dropping her off in a box on someone's doorstep. But at the same time, I've been realizing that all of that stuff in itself is the most rewarding and meaningful part of raising a puppy.
Everyone loves to see a cute and playful puppy, and we all love to play with and pet the furry little thing - but only the owner can truly appreciate everything about their dog in entirety. Being responsible for her daily necessities, saving her from the entanglements she gets into, and simply watching out for her well being at all times - all of this I learned on the fly in the past few months, and am a better person for it. Especially as I'm assuming that I'll go through a lot of the same experiences the day I have a real child of my own. It's most gratifying to see her grow up so much, but that much more meaningful to know that I was there and played a big part in helping her get there, every step of the way.
One thing I will never forget is the feeling I got the first time I held Sally in my hands; when she was still so tiny (barely weighing 2 lbs), and she was just trembling and looking up at me with eyes of wonder. It was an emotion I'd never experienced before - an indescribable combination of amazement, fear, love, and a million other feelings. To realize that the little thing I held in my hands was such a precious life, one that needed my care and attention more than anything else, it's hard to describe just how deeply that impacted me. I imagine that I'll experience an feeling similar to that (but many times more intense) when the day comes for me to hold my own baby.
Pardon the tangent here, but I think that throughout the course of our lives, there come certain moments when you experience a feeling that just captivates you, one that will stand out in your mind for as long as you live. I can certainly think of a select few that I could point to in my own life: the first time I learned how to ride a bike on my own, the day I dedicated my life to God, the first time I held hands with my girlfriend, the first time I heard the words "I love you" said to me, the feeling I get from staring up at the stars and the moon on a clear night, the way my heart skips a beat when the phone rings from that special someone, the thrill of watching a big home run live at a game, or the first time I discovered White Castle burgers with Jalapeno cheese. You can't ever predict these things, and you can't recreate them no matter how hard you might try - but after it happens, you know how lucky you were to be a part of it and your life is never quite the same.
Obviously, some of these moments are more significant than others, and I don't mean to trivialize any single one in particular by lumping them all into a single category. All I'm trying to express here is, there's much more to adopting a puppy than counting the amount of joy or the amount of extra work it brings into your life. I know a lot of people will read this and say "it's just a dog", and a few friends have already suggested that I simply replace Sally by getting another puppy. While I might do that eventually, I have to say it's not nearly as easy as that. Relationships, whether with people or pets, don't just come and go like interchangeable Brita filters. It will definitely take time and thought before I would consider "moving on".
Yes, I admit that I'm way more sappy than your typical person (and if you're a regular reader of this blog, you already knew that). But I do think that those who have owned a pet and invested as much of themselves into taking care of it as I have, would be able to relate much more with everything I've been saying, even if it's not quite exactly the same for everybody. In my mind, Sally is much more than "just a dog" and she always will be. And even though she's leaving here soon, I'll always save a cherished home for her, at least in memory.
For now, I thought I'd make a little video dedicated to the little troublemaker, bringing back one of my favorite songs from back in the day:
