Reindognation

When I was in college but still living at home*, my mom decided to get a puppy. We already had an aging, quiet family dog, and, quite frankly, I thought she was nuts. At the time I worked in a pet store that sold mostly birds, but my boss had a German Shepherd Dog puppy that ran amuck in the store, biting my ankles and leaving messes for me to clean up. I was not impressed with puppies. Plus, we already had a dog. Why would you ever need more than one dog?

But she brought the pup home anyway, and our lives were changed for the better, even though Brandy turned out to be a challenge. After a year, the whole family happily adopted another dog, this one our first purebred (a Shih Tzu). I took Becca to a few matches and shows, and my fate was sealed. About 18 years later, I’ve owned six dogs, not including that Shih Tzu. Many of those dogs titled in various sports, and I have spent countless hours training and caring for them. I can’t imagine not sharing my life with a dog (or three). I can trace my current career as a freelance writer specializing in dog sports back to this humble beginning.

Of course, owning dogs means losing dogs, since their lives are so much shorter than ours. But one advantage to having multiple dogs is that, sooner or later, you start seeing traits in your new dogs that remind you of past ones.

Sometimes it’s small. For example, my young Papillon can throw himself into a down quickly like my crazy mixed breed, Gabby, used to. He also shares her passion for barking and running to the front door when the doorbell rings on television. 

But sometimes it’s big. Our newly rescued Beagle shares many traits with my dear Vizsla, including his passion for seeking out the source of smells and his belief that he should voice every feeling he’s having (and he has many). Every time Mr. Beagle starts drinking at the water bowl and finishes halfway across the kitchen (leaving puddles along the way), I remember my Vizsla's pendulous lips and many wet kitchen floors in years past. It makes me smile rather than swear.

Our former dogs can never be replaced. Even the ones that made us weary in their last years with senility, bad habits, and medical woes, are remembered fondly. We find ourselves dwelling on their good years and glossing over the bad ones. When we add a new dog we often surprise ourselves by discovering that we can love and cherish him as much as we did our older dogs. Our capacity for love seems to be limitless, as long as we allow it.

So if you are like me and you’re on your second (or third, or sixth) dog, look closely for signs of your previous dogs. I think you’ll find them, and that’ll make you love you current dog even more.

The famous Mr. Beagle, otherwise known as Wrigley (as in Field, not gum).

Spark, the speedy Papillon.

Payton, the wonder Whippet.

These photos were taken by The Girl, who, at four years old, is a better photographer than I am.

*I know it sounds like I was a nerd, but I saved a ton of scholarship money which I later used to buy a house.**

**OK, yeah, I was also a nerd.


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I write about cats too, sort of.