I remember sitting in the humane society for nearly 3 hours with a beagle puppy on my lap. I was told she couldn’t be set down onto the floor because we were in the cat room so she couldn’t touch the floor (but why??) so we sat there, Piper on my lap while I spent the entire time petting her belly and overthinking the idea of having a dog. Am I making a terrible mistake? Am I too young? Am I really a cat guy?
The twist to the story is that I’m allergic to cats… and Piper wasn’t my first dog. Many years earlier I thought getting a dog was the coolest thing I could do. I was in my early 20s, living with my parents, and working part time. What could go wrong? Welp, me and that dog lasted all of one week.
Little did I know that my life would take twists and turns after that. I travelled some and it wasn’t long before I landed in Nashville, Tennessee, footloose and fancy-free. I worked a lot, made new friends, and if I had a dog, it would have been hard for me and so unfair to the dog. Early in my video production work, there were many 12 hour days so if I had a dog, they’d have to go to a kennel… a lot. That’s no life for a dog! The decision to get that first dog seemed right in the moment. Now that I can look back, I was such a goofball to think the timing was right. But hey, I was 23 and knew everything!
Fast forward about 7 years and Piper came into my life. A year later, Asia. They were the perfect fit at the perfect time. That was over 15 years ago and I bring all this up because some young people I know (who shall not be named) are thinking of getting a dog of their own. My story is an example of having to learn the hard way and it looks as though these people are super happy to put themselves in the same situation, one they’ll look back on with regret. Doesn’t that sound like big fun?
If I could, I’d tell my younger self to stop it. Thinking about getting a dog? Stop it. You have no idea what you’re doing. Stop it. Also, wash your clothes more. But the road ain’t no place to start a family! Oh goodness, I had no idea Journey lyrics would make it into this post but here we are. The lyrics kind of fit though, the people I mentioned earlier are on the road all the time: traveling on vacations or to and from work. The dog just chilling in a crate for 8 hours every day. What a blast.
I think the problem is (and this was true for me, too) younger people think having a dog is joy and fun and playing and snuggling and laughing and everything’s sunflowers and moonbeam ice cream. Well, it’s not. Plus, that isn’t even a real flavor of ice cream (is it Benson Boone??). Hardly anyone mentioned anything to me about the responsible side of feeding, caring for, sacrificing time and money, missing things, and all the stuff that goes into having another whole entity in my life. When you’re young and basically have no responsibilities, why would you tie yourself down on purpose? Don’t be a goofball, you goofball!
Plus, one of these people I’m vaguely describing doesn’t even like dogs. And here they are about to adopt… A DOG. Kind of like me going on a date with an atheist. What exactly am I hoping to get out of this, is what I should ask, right? Side note, I DID go out with an atheist once. Cool woman. She helped resurrect my dating life, so she was an angel for saying ‘yes’… just don’t tell her I sprinkled her with Sprite so now she’s baptized. She’d anoint my head with her fist if she ever finds out she’s going to Heaven one day.
But seriously, why do some people (me included) have to learn the hard way when it’s very possible to learn from other people’s mistakes?
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-Out of the Wilderness
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