The Dog I Didn't Want

Let's get one thing straight. I'm a cat person. Little balls of affectionate fur that clean themselves and shit in a box. Best pet ever! So when my boyfriend came to me saying that we needed to get a dog, I immediately went through all the reasons why this was a bad idea. We live in a condo, I don't want to pick up poo, I've been bitten by a dog,  puked on by a dog, they're expensive, and just, no. We literally fought whenever the subject arose and I referred to it as my 'one thing I will not compromise'.

We can all guess what happened next. My lovely and stubborn boyfriend got his way and we brought home an adorable, constant bladder emptying, little pup. At least I got to name him, and Bronson seemed to suit his hard-headed (literally, too) personality. I truly hated owning a dog though. For so many years I had convinced myself I would never get one and now here I was, chasing after it with carpet cleaner and paper towels. Not how I envisioned my evenings after work. I remained skeptical even though friends and family told me it would get easier the older Bronson got.

After reluctantly settling in to a new routine, we brought Bronson to the vet for his first check up with us. Which, I'll admit was kind of exciting as she weighed him and told us how cute he was. I was beginning to feel...proud? The next feeling I had can only be described as if I was frolicking in a field of daisies and then Chris Neil comes out of nowhere and checks me into one of those electric fences they had at Jurassic Park. What?

This is where we find out that Bronson was born with a severe heart murmur and without surgery, will likely die of heart failure way before his time. I cried all the way home. What do we do? How do we get the money to pay for the surgery? Am I actually feeling some love for this cinder block who chewed through my winter boots and then allowed me to pick it back up when he poo'd pieces of it out two days later?

It was a complete blow to our normal life, which hadn't been that normal lately. When I stopped crying, I started thinking. We could have a garage sale and raise some money. We could get prizes and have a raffle. We could tighten up our budget and save all our spare change. Friends, family and complete strangers donated their time, effort and money to make those things happen and before long, we had raised and saved almost four thousand dollars. Bronson got his surgery and has had an amazing recovery. You wouldn't even know he had a problem.

Bronson playing almost a year after his heart surgery.

It goes without saying that it was probably the most humbling experience I've been through. And when it was all over, I felt such a strong sense of community, compassion, and encouragement. I found myself in the 'dog lover' category (which is a fantastic group of people btw) I truly loved Bronson now. It took a crisis, all of my friends and family, my community, and my boyfriend to have this change of heart and I wouldn't have done a damn thing differently.

Something I fought so hard against, and then had to accept very quickly in order to fight for, made me see certain obstacles in life differently, more attainable and less scary. I still have to pick up poo, get up early to take Bronson out, and occasionally rip my shoes out of his mouth, but he's just so friggin' cute that I actually don't mind...and every girl needs an excuse to go shopping anyway ;)


Stay cozy,
Alyssa