It’s Been 84 Years…. Actually It’s 3 Crazy Years As A Dog Parent!
It’s been 84 years…. Well, not exactly; it’s actually been 3 years. 3 whole years since I went from being a non-pet person to the biggest dog in the world. Well, maybe not the world that is slightly hyperbolic, but definitely in my house 100%.
But pop culture references aside, I had no idea how my world would change once we made that fateful decision to adopt our first dog.
As a staunch nondog person, why on earth would anyone want to voluntarily give up their lie-ins to take a dog off a walk, or come out covered in dog hair, or *shudder* load a wet dog in their car and have to go through the hassle of cleaning them. And we won’t even talk about the drama of picking up dog poop.
As I sit at my desk, watching my child try to hand-feed our current foster Pomeranian, I can’t help but marvel at the transformative power of pet adoption. What I once saw as a disruption to my routine has now become a source of joy and companionship. Could it be that this fateful decision to allow my daughter the opportunity to have a dog at home has changed the course of my life for the better?
Three Years Ago: Where It All Began
Let’s rewind to three years and a couple of weeks. One cold and miserable day in January when Olvia was lying on the sofa “dying” because she had finally succumbed to the COVID-19 virus precisely 12 months after I was too “dying” on a sofa in the exact same room with the exact same virus. Except mine was much worse, of course, being the more dramatic one in this relationship.
We got a phone call to tell us our application to adopt a beagle was successful enough to result in us going for a meet. Tegan was a 12-year-old beagle whose owner was moving into a nursing home and could no longer care for her. A few days later, I made the absolutely terrifying drive to Huyton through Liverpool, one of my biggest driving fears to meet Tegan. It was love at first sight, and before we left, we committed to bringing her home the very next day.
To say our adoption journey didn’t go exactly how I thought it would or imagined it to be was a massive understatement. The senior beagle, now entrusted to our care, was, as expected, terrified. As a novice dog owner, I wondered what the hell we had done, why they thought it was OK to let us do this, and what on earth was going on.
At times, there were tears, tantrums, and bad behaviour from Tegan and me, and it was a massive learning process. One in which I had no choice but to ride the wave and hope to God we came out OK and unscathed on the other side.
Love, Loss and What Happens Next
But the wild ride that was my time in dog ownership took an unexpected turn when Tegan passed away a mere 13 months later on the 20th February 2023.
And if I didn’t get it before, I most definitely did get it then when my heart shattered into a million pieces at the sight of our girl lying there, legs out stiff, eyes open at the end of my bed.
The tears fell at the thought of it for days, which turned into weeks, and I busied myself with doing the only thing I wanted to do in the aftermath of this horrible event. Find out how to get the presence back in our home. In the face of this loss, I found a strength I didn’t know I had. I refused to let this be the end of my journey as a dog owner.
You see, it wasn’t a home per se prior to Tegan arriving. It was two people living their lives under one roof. It was a parent-child dynamic centred around a bit of isolation and a self-made cocoon that kept us going in our hamster wheel day after day.
Bringing Tegan home gave us something else to focus on, something else to love and care for, something else to brighten up our days, a reason to come home, and so much more. What would we do now she wasn’t here?
Well, we took ourselves back to the place where it first started. Dogs Trust Merseyside. And within weeks, the decision was made to become foster carers. You see, Tegan’s short time with us was littered with many, many vet visits and excessive bills as we tried and mostly failed to get her pain and anxiety levels under control. It was aggressive cancer that took her, but it wasn’t the only health issue that she was fighting, and she was a fighter in more ways than one. And what we went through in this short time made us well place to care for toher dogs who needed help while awaiting their chance at a new forever home. Much like the one we gave Tegan.
Fostering With Dogs Trust Merseyside
But in March 2023, our home was once again filled with the presence of a four legged family member who served to mend our broken hearts and restore fun and joy to our home. Sophie, another senior beagle, was recovering from some health challenges of her own, and if we though living living with Tegan was a baptism of fire we were about to be floored once more and learn truely how crazy beagles can be. Soph had so much more to teach us in the ways of the beagle and what it meant to truly be a beagle parent.
She was everything Tegan wasn’t. Tegan didn’t like other dogs or being out of the house, and Sophie loved it. Tegan hated kids; Sophie’s best friend was my youngest niece. Soph loved food a bit too much, but an appropriate amount for a beagle (IYKYK). Tegan was uber-fussy over what she dined on. The differences were many and vast, but the experience was comfortingly similar and completely new, all at the same time.
We were four months in with Sophie when she went home, and from there, we haven’t slowed down too much. Today, as I write this long overdue post for the dog blog I set up and promptly abandoned, my ninth foster is looking at me, wondering why on earth I am sitting at my desk when I could be snuggling her.
While this is merely a brief overview of exactly how the past three years have unfolded for me since switching from being a strict no-pet person to the one who needs all the dogs all the time, it’s not hard to see where and when I stepped onto this slippery slope, and my downfall began. And if truth be told, this is one ride I’m not ready to stop just yet.
It’s Not Exactly 84 Years But It Could Be!
So here’s to three years of being a dog person, and hoping this is only the beginning. If you want to follow our dog fostering journey please join us over in Instagram at onefrazzledfosterdog.
