Finding A Friend

At five years old I already knew what heartbreak was, the dog I raised since she was a puppy got hit by a car and crossed over the rainbow bridge. For two years I had taken care of her, played with her (fetch was her favorite) and loved her with all my heart. I was so excited about her that I brought her to my preschool show and tell. My grandma got one of the sisters in the litter and we named them after my favorite characters from sleeping beauty Flora and Fauna. At five I didn’t think I could love anyone as much as I loved my dog so when she died I didn’t think I could love anything again. I blamed myself I thought I was a terrible pet guardian. A year later I still had trepidation about getting another dog. My family however thought another dog would help with the grieving process. I wasn’t fully ready but we started looking anyway. Everyone thought I was looking for a puppy but deep in my heart I knew it would feel too much like I was replacing my Flora. One weekend at the local pet supplies store they were hosting the Animal Friends Connection adoptable pet day, so we decided to check it out. I told myself I was just looking, my mom said I didn’t have to make a commitment. We could take things at my pace. When we walked into the pet supply store there were a lot of people with their foster pets. We went up to the front table and the Animal Friends Connection representatives explained a little about the organization and the rules for the day. We told them we were looking for a dog and they directed us past the aisles of cats, closer to the back of the store where the adoptable dogs were. I started down the first aisle looking at the dogs, most of them were male or already in the possible adoption stage. I was looking for a female as we already had an adult female family dog and wanted to avoid any dominance issues. There was this adorable male bull terrier named Mikey who kept jumping out of his cage and into this lady’s arms. There were rows of empty already adopted dogs, I felt a twinge of disappointment but also a feeling of joy because so many had found homes. I continued walking past the empty cages until I came to this cage with a fluffy auburn colored dog. She was so pretty. The sign on her cage said “hi my name is muffin”. I thought it was a perfect name for her. My mom started talking to muffin’s foster mom Nancy. We found out muffin was a three year old sheltie mix. Nancy told us that muffin’s first family wasn’t always able to afford to feed her. That this was the third time muffin had bounced from her family back to Nancy. She had gotten approval from them this last surrendering of muffin to put her up for adoption. Nancy said due to the situation of not always having food muffin developed issues with becoming aggressive during meals. We talked to Nancy for awhile but I wasn’t ready to make a commitment. Nancy understood and didn’t want us to rush into anything. She encouraged us to keep looking and think about it. We continued down the aisles but muffin kept tugging at my heart. We were both broken and I felt we needed each other. Throughout the day we kept coming back to muffin. My older brothers who had been running around the store had found a cage with a litter of puppies but I was hesitant and didn’t go to see them. We came back to muffin. The Animal Friends Connection were allowing perspective adopters to take one on one walks with the dogs behind the store so Nancy suggested we take muffin for one. During that walk I felt completely comfortable and muffin seemed happy to go for a walk. I think that’s when I knew muffin was the dog for me. My dad and brothers didn’t want me to get muffin but my mom supported me telling them I was the one getting a dog so it was my decision which dog to get. After making arrangements for a home inspection with Nancy I excitedly awaited the day Muffin would come stay with me forever. When that day finally came I was so happy. Nancy said this would start the trial period and if we had any problems we could call her to take muffin back. Muffin had issues from her past but I was determined to help her through them. Muffin was there to stay. For fourteen years we went for walks, played in the backyard, snuggled together. At seventeen years old her body started failing and I had to come to terms with the reality that she was suffering. I had to make the painful decision to let her pass from this life. It was one of the worst decisions I’ve ever had to make but because of the love and friendship we had even to avoid the pain I wouldn’t change anything. Giving an animal a second chance at love and a good life is also accepting love and a good life for yourself.