This Is What It’s Like To Have A Pet

I am not much of a pet-lover…says me back when I used to see them as extra baggage, an added expense on my meager family budget and a waste of time caring for something other than my kids. Boy, was I in for a surprise!

I’ve always felt that pets — well dogs, cats, birds, fish and what have yous — are a totally waste of time and home space for anybody. They take up a lot of space in your home and a huge chunk from your budget making sure they have dog food, vaccine, leashes, cage, toys and other things you think you need just to care for them. Not to mention the time you will spend caring for them, the responsibility of taking them on walks, cleaning their poop (training them on where it’s okay to poop) and the routine vaccines they need to make them safe to cohabit your living space.

I’ve had a change of heart when a few years into my marriage, my husband (well, ex-husband now –but that’s another story) decided to get us a dog. I was easily convinced since being married for two years and still no child of our own, it was getting tiring being married. So there we were from the pet shop, bringing home a german-shepherd puppy we named Sam — Samantha actually but I call her Sam.

Sam was a very playful puppy, and easily trainable. I was amazed that a furball was quickly pushing herself in my heart little by little with her antics. In short, I fell in love with her without anticipating it. She would follow me around when I’m in the house. What really pulls my heartstrings was how excited she looks, wagging her tail and barking happily every time I would come home, and how sad she was whenever I leave the house to work. I haven’t seen this level of loyalty and sincerity in people, so I was really touched by this expression of love from my dog. I finally understood why some people love their pets very dearly. If you give them attention, they will love you unconditionally and they never change even if you were at times mean to them.

She started becoming my shadow when I’m at home. I am also impressed with how well they can sense your emotions. Whenever I’m sad, or be riddled with problems, she would always come near me and brush my legs with her head and look at me with sad eyes. It’s as if she knows I am going through emotional lows because of the burdens of life I am carrying at the time. Somehow, she takes some of the weight of my problems away. And I feel recharged to face my crosses with added strength. So I thought, maybe God made pets since we can’t see angels, so they are there to help ease our worries a little.

It was when Sam has been with us for four years that another german shepherd dog happen to come into our household. Bogart or Bogs is a black double coated sheepdog which we adopted since my brother in law at the time can’t take care of him anymore. He was doubly playful than Sam, always running. It would seem that this dog doesn’t know how to walk! I was again amazed by Sam’s protectiveness. I remember at the time, I was already pregnant myself after six years of marriage and no child. Whenever Bogs came to me running, Sam would place herself directly in front of me to block Bogs from crashing into me head on. Sam also does this when I already had my baby and we are out in the garden with them. She is like a nanny for my little girl. she would block Bogs and other people from my little girl especially since my litle girl then was just starting to walk.

Sam was with us for twelve years. When it was time for her to go, she just lay down in our garden and didn’t want to move, eat or drink. I stayed outside with her at times, placed an umbrella over her when it was raining because I couldn’t move her inside since she wouldn’t budge. When I woke up one morning, she left us. She was just lying outside like she was sleeping. And it was one of the saddest day of my life. Because here was this dog, my angel who shared my joys and my pain especially the times I was having problems in my marriage… she was gone. I never would’ve come into terms how much it would hurt for me when she died. I cried a river over her. And I swore never to have pets again. I finally understood how some people even buy a plot in pet cemeteries in reverence for these beings, these pure souls who come into our lives and take a piece of our hearts away in their passing.

So if you are contemplating on adopting a pet, be prepared to invest not only time but a piece of your heart for them because unknowingly, they will wiggle their way into your hearts. But I tell you, it would be worth it and they will give you happiness and love you never knew would come from these animals God gave us as pets.