A New Dog's Life

"It seems to me

As we make our own few circles ’round the sun
We get it backwards
And our seven years go by like one..."

–Rush, Dog Years



We used to have to take him outside in a bag. It was cumbersome, but there was no other way to keep him out of view, especially from the apartment manager who lived on the property. Our dog put up with it, too, since each time it was his opportunity to run free and go to the bathroom in the Lighthouse Field next to our apartment building.

I don't think we fooled many of our neighbors, though. And even the manager found out eventually we had a dog. Of course, we didn't get rid of our little black and white Shih Tzu named Joshua. My ex-wife and I had found him abandoned nearly a decade previous, and my then soon-to-be wife Amy and me kept him.

Amy also had two cats from the same litter, Charlie and Chelsea, since they were kittens. Chelsea was a beautiful Calico and her brother Charlie was white with back patches. Together we made a little family, even if the cats did not like the dog at all (eventually they just put up with him). And it was all wonderful, even having to take our dog out in a bag to go outside for walks and to go to the bathroom.

Until it wasn't wonderful anymore. Pets like people get old, and Joshua was the first in our little family to get really old and unwell. For years he suffered seizures where he'd fall over on his side shrieking and pee. It was so hard to watch and we never found out what exactly what was wrong. He also became arthritic over the years and in his last few years he had trouble running and then even walking was difficult. We even got doggy acupuncture for him at one point, which seemed to help for a little while. We never knew exactly how old he was, but according to vets over the years, he was at least 16-18 years old at the end of his life.

And then shortly after Amy and I got married, we had to put him to sleep. That was followed by Charlie, who we found was diabetic and just got sicker and sicker in his old age, and then Chelsea, who actually lived to be 21 years old. Chelsea lived to see our new house, and our girls, Beatrice and Bryce. Bryce doesn't remember, because she was a newborn at the time, but Bea remembers. She used to pull Chelsea's tail and shriek "Kitty!". In the end, Chelsea couldn't clean herself very well and she began to track dirty litter everywhere, including our bed.

After 21 years of life, we had put Chelsea to sleep, and our little pet family came to an end. We loved them all, but swore there would be no pets again for years and years to come. Especially no cats or dogs.

Until the girls worked and worked on us in the years since, and we gave in. First, to a fish. And then to another fish. And then to two guinea pigs and a bunny (that we ran a science fair project with).

We still have the bunny, named Dragonlily. All the other kid pets are now gone. We still swear there will never be any cats in our family again. And we still wanted to swear there would be no dogs for years to come.

We did. Until we didn't, and then Amy had a great idea: if we all really wanted a dog (after all these years), then the girls would have to research dogs, how to adopt a dog and the process and costs (we'll only adopt a shelter dog in the end), the feeding and care costs, how to crate the dog at home, walking the dog every day, who could help take care of the dog when we traveled, and so much more. And who would pick up the dog poop -- everyone including the girls -- no matter how much Bryce has already protested.

Beatrice has done more of the research to date, but Bryce is helping as well. Amy has been searching them for shelter dogs online, and recently took the girls to see one the other day named CC. She was sweet, and she could've been a good dog to us, but that evening the shelter called to say she'd been adopted.

That's when my old dog Joshua's life flashed before my very eyes. From the first moment the shaggy little muppet dog ran excitedly up to me with a tiny pink tongue poking out, to the all the years in between running and playing and barking through Lighthouse Field, to all the snuggled up lap-time, to the thousands of trips in and out of our apartment in a bag, to witnessing all his painful seizures, to the end days when he slowed and seemed to be in constant pain, to when I held him close as the vet put him to sleep forever, tears pouring down my face.

It's been over 16 years since we've had a dog. And someday soon, a new dog's life will flash before our very eyes, and we'll do it all over again.