The Year Without A Dog

God’s timing is perfect and often very interesting. On April 17, 2019 at 2:00 in the afternoon, we said goodbye to our beloved corgi, Higgins. One year later, on April 17, 2020 at approximately 3:00, we picked up a new addition to our empty nest — a labradoodle puppy!

Goodbyes Are So Hard

We were so sad when Higgins died. He lived with oral cancer for almost two years. Though he kept his sweet personality, we could tell he just didn’t feel well. We made the difficult decision to say goodbye.

It was such a hard day. I remember having a little panic attack. I wanted to scream “no!, I changed my mind, I want him back”! We cried all the way home and shed many tears the following days and weeks.

The day after Higgins died, I cleaned out “his room”. I boxed up all the blankets, toys, dog dishes and leftover food. His second mom, a true animal lover, came and got all of his things out of the house (a big mistake in hindsight). We got rid of the chair and a half that we used to always sit on — I thought the reminder would be too difficult. We replaced the carpet in our family room and bought a new sofa.

When we knew Higgins did not have long to live, my husband and I talked about whether or not we would get another dog. We vacillated between “no, we’re too busy and are gone too much” to “we really need another dog”. We decided to wait a year before we entertained the thought.

Should We Or Shouldn’t We?

Sure, there were some nice things about not having the responsibility of a dog. The clumps of dog hair that endlessly drifted around our house disappeared. No late night potty breaks outside. We didn’t have to interrupt our day to go home to let the dog out. Traveling was a little less stressful — no arrangements to make for dog care and we could go on a whim.

But, one thing we didn’t count on — the silence. The silence was overwhelming. No clicking of claws following me around the house. No welcoming barks whenever we returned home. No funny little noises coming from a sleeping pup. We missed our little buddy so much.

I think we lasted until October before we started seriously thinking about another dog. I remember a conversation we had — we were weighing the pros and cons of getting another dog and decided that the pleasure of the companionship of a furry friend outweighed the convenience of not having one. We decided we were simply dog people.

Waiting

As much as we loved our Higgins, we knew that we did not want another corgi. Corgis shed A LOT and it was becoming difficult for us to get him in and out of the car, especially our jeep in the mountains. We needed a dog that could jump in and out of the car on his own. And, honestly, Higgins was such a good corgi, I was afraid I would compare any other corgi with him, which would be terribly unfair. So, after much research, in November of 2019, we reserved a labradoodle puppy from a local breeder.

The timing of when we would receive the puppy was important in our decision. I had a trip planned the middle of March so we wanted to wait until I returned home but, we wanted to get the puppy a few weeks before our planned vacation to North Carolina in May. (Of course, the March trip was cancelled and the May trip is yet to be seen.) The litter we chose was born on February 6, 2020.

You would think we were having a baby. We started getting pictures from the breeder as soon as they were born (which I promptly showed off to family and friends). We met our future puppy in March, when he was four weeks old. I spent hours checking out all manner of pet supplies online and unpacked boxes and boxes delivered by Amazon Prime. Finally, after a couple of weeks in Puppy Manners University, we got to bring our boy home.

Coming Full Circle

Is it going to be difficult? Probably. Having a puppy in the house will be an adjustment. No more sleeping in. No more long, uninterrupted periods of time. Possibly a little noisier. But, oh, how I’m looking forward to having a little ball of fur cuddle in my lap. And walking with a little friend over to my parents’ house for coffee. And having someone follow me around all day. I won’t have to talk to myself any more. Ha!