I’m working from home today with my pups and I got to thinking about how I got to this point. Before them, I never had a pet. My mother didn’t want another someone to take care of and by the time I was old enough to have my own, I was entirely too fastidious and uptight to bring an animal indoors. So imagine my surprise when we became dog owners.
February of 2012, I took up running. I had a lot going on in my life and I needed to relieve stress and really get serious about my health. I am an outside runner and have no desire to run on a treadmill or with a partner. If you are a Law and Order SVU watcher, you know this is the perfect recipe for me to end up in a gutter in Tennessee with all of my clothes ripped off and a star of some kind drawn on my forehead. So I decided I wanted a dog especially since my husband started working these crazy twelve hour shifts.
I spent MONTHS researching the breed of dog that I wanted. I found myself automatically drawn to the male giant schnauzer. I wanted a big black dog so I could name him Sirius Black and this breed is essentially my fiance as a dog. The only thing really stopping me from getting one was that I was intimidated by the idea of having my first dog being a giant schnauzer because they are notoriously stubborn if you don’t know what you are doing. They are also incredibly expensive. I also didn’t mind the idea of a standard poodle because of their temperament and how well one would go with all of my outfits. (Again, don’t judge) So I spent again MONTHS looking for a dog and what to my wondering eyes should appear while I am browsing the pets section of Craigslist but in March of 2013 but a male Giant Schnoodle. His name was Mateo and he was exactly a year old and he was previously training as a service dog for a girl who needed a fully trained service dog. Big Black Dog? Check. Hypoallergenic? Check. Male? Check. Puppy but potty trained? Check. Local? Check. Rescue dog not buy? Check. We had to go see him.
He. Was. Perfect.
Marcus was hesitant but when we met him, it was love at first sight on my end, even though looking back he was a strange looking fellow. We bought our baby boy home a week later and haven’t looked back. He was such a personality. Because I have never had a pet, I didn’t know that dogs had a personality. I mean I knew it conceptually, but I have never seen it for myself. This guy is us as a dog. Low key but alert. Bossy and intelligent. He doesn’t like dirt. He is obedient but with a mischievous streak and I can not help but love him.
How did we end up with a second dog? Purely an accident. We went to the shelter to coo at puppies. While browsing the shelter website, we realized they had an Irish Wolfhound mix. The perfect Remus to our Sirius. We visited with him but decided to leave without him since we didn’t come to adopt a dog that day. He instantly put his little paw up on my leg and the rest is history.
We love our dogs equally but it’s actually Remus who changed the entire trajectory of our lives and I don’t mean that figuratively. I mean Remus literally changed out lives. Because we got a second dog, we had to move. Because our second dog was sizeable, we couldn’t find a rental in our neighborhood. Because we couldn’t find an affordable rental in our neighborhood, we moved to the suburbs. Because we moved to the suburbs, I had better access to a better job. Because I had a better job, we could afford to buy our home. Because we bought our home, I have a better quality of life. Remus changed my life.
While I never in a million years would have thought that I would own not one, but two dogs, I can’t help but be thrilled with them 90% of the time. That other 10% of the time, they are a living breathing nightmare. No one ever talks about that part. They talk about it broadly sure but no one talks about cleaning poop from an 80 lb dog out of a white carpet at three in the morning. No one ever talks about buying a men’s large Ralph Lauren shirt and ruining it because you have to put it on your dog to stop him from tearing into his hotspots. No one ever talks about your dog trying to manipulate house guests, literally toe the line of the no kitchen rule or how pricey boarding would be for a week while you take the much coveted international vacation.
And yet, I can’t help but love them and be constantly in awe of how grace brought them to us. That 10% is just that, 10%. Such a minimal amount when quietly and gently, our lives changed for the better because a small impulsive decision.
XO Prepford Wife (& Sirius & Remus)