I heart dogs

If I had to fill out a survey today categorizing myself as a dog person or a cat person, I’d check “dog person” with gusto. Five years ago, I would have checked the opposite box. How could this happen? What occurred in my life to spur such a serious and momentous change? My conversion to the “dog side” started with a scruffy little dog affectionately known as The Snooch.

I tolerated Jesse when I first met Nate; I told him that I was a cat person and I never really liked dogs. But Jesse was pretty cute and wasn’t annoying, so when I first started dating Nate, Jesse and I had a tolerant relationship. However, about three months after I started dating Nate, he was off to a soccer game and I had decided to stay at his house and read. I sat in a lounge chair outside and settled in with my book. After awhile, Jesse came up to me, laid her head on my feet, and I absentmindedly began petting her before I realized what I was doing. Sneaky dog! From then on, Jesse continued to slowly and surely gain my affection. Sometimes she’d do in a cat-like fashion, perching perch herself on the top of Nate’s sofa while resting her head on my head while I was reading. For our first Christmas together, Nate gave me a dog keychain because he figured after being around Jesse for a year, I’d succumbed; I was a dog person. I wasn’t quite ready to admit this to my friends or family, but I carried the keychain around as a silent admission that I was now a dog person.

When Jesse died two years later, both Nate’s and my hearts were broken. Nate raised Jesse from puppy-stage, so he was obviously crushed at her sudden death. I’d spent a lot of time with this dog, and she melted my cold cat heart and turned me into a no-holds barred, complete and utter dog fanatic. We had our period of mourning for Jesse. But, it was too quiet in Nate’s house. Deep down, Nate and I knew that something was missing.

So, in the summer of 2005, we began our search for our new dog. As you can imagine, it was a big step for us; I’d never raised a puppy before and certainly never shared the responsibility with someone. Who knew if Nate and I would be together for the length of this new dog’s lifespan? The new dog would have to live at Nate’s house because I couldn’t have one at my apartment. There were so many other questions, but I had already picked out names: Toby (for a boy) and Riley or Bailey (for a girl). I was so excited to search the Albuquerque animal shelters for our new puppy, and Nate helped reign me in a little; he knew how much work it was to raise a puppy, so he wanted to make sure we got the perfect dog. I would have left with the first cute dog I saw had Nate allowed me! However, he helped me be patient, thank goodness!

Three weekends into our search, we decided to go to the West Side animal shelter on a whim. Nate found our puppy first. She was a little older than we’d planned, five months, but in the end it turned out great because she was housebroken! I took one look at her and I was a goner. A shelter employee asked if we wanted to play with her, and led us and the skinny pup to the enclosed play area. She bounded over to me in that bumbling, all-legs puppy-way, and Nate knew then he would not be able to live with me if we didn’t adopt her right then and there. We immediately agreed on the name I’d picked; she looked totally like a “Riley,” and we went to fill out the adoption paperwork. Five minutes later I was so disappointed because we wouldn’t get to take her home that day. She had to be spayed and we could pick her up the next weekend. So, we made the long trek back to our side of town and picked up some new puppy products from PetsMart. As soon as we had pulled into Nate’s driveway, we got a call from the shelter. They didn’t want to operate on Riley because she had a little cold and if we wanted, we could come back and take her home that day!!

We turned the car around, picked Riley up, and immediately took her over to meet her human grandparents. She was so good in their backyard, a little shy, sweet, and so cute! When we got home, I noticed she had some bumps on her ears, neck, and underside – ticks. So, on the very first day we got her, we ended up spending a good amount of money on this little animal – adoption fees, food, toys, bones, shampoo, brush, tick removal products, etc. A few years prior, I never would have imagined sitting on Nate’s kitchen floor, picking dead ticks off my new puppy. But something (a motherly instinct, love, insanity?) kicked in and I knew it was all over for me. I was a dog person, through and through.

We’ve had Riley for two years and 21 days, and I probably have a million stories in my arsenal to regale you with or to completely bore you. Nate and I have come up with just as many nicknames for her: 1) Darth Chompy – as a puppy, she’d playfully “chomp” at our fingers or toes; 2) Bear – my personal favorite, because she’s like a teddy bear; 3) Budlet – she’s our buddy; 4) Rarfs/Rarfy – Nate’s favorite, a cutesy variation on her name. We’ve spent a lot of money on this dog: she loves toys and bones, eats premium organic dog food, needs special heartworm/flea/tick protection here in Texas, spends vacations at a pet hotel complete with her own television, and basically gets anything else she wants. I’d do just about anything for this dog, and I know I sound crazy. She’s a bone-fide member of my family. I even brush her teeth daily!

Riley’s done many things for us, too. She’s provided hours of entertainment by playing with us, making us laugh, or cuddling with us on the couch. She gets us outside every night on a walk to enjoy the neighborhood, the lovely Texas weather, and each other’s companionship. We even met our good friends at the Fort Worth dog park because their dog started playing with Riley! When Nate gets home from work, Riley is always eager to race outside and greet him as he opens his car door. When we got back from our honeymoon, she literally followed Nate and me around the house, step for step, for about two days.

I still like cats and I gush over cute little kittens. But I like to think that I’ll always have a dog around the house, waiting for me to come home, wagging her tail at the sight of me, and following me everywhere I go.