The Day I Became a Dog Mom Changed My Life

First things first: dogs > cats, all day. No one can convince me that cats are in any way better than dogs.

And yes, I have a doggo. Everyone meet...

Kermit, the Dog

Kermit (better known as Worm) is energetic yet lazy, smart yet goofy, loyal yet stubborn, sensitive yet kind of an asshole — he's a little bit of everything and sometimes a little misunderstood. But two things are for sure: he's goddamn handsome and he's the best dog on the planet, past, present, and future.

You may be saying, "But Rossana, you're just being biased because he's your dog." And you're wrong. Everyone loves my Worm: grandma and grandpa Nelson, grandma Giusy, his aunts and uncles, cousin Tory, godfather Walt, our friends... everyone. And yes, I use family terms because Kermit is family.

How It All Began

One day (July 17th, 2015 to be exact) I told my fiancè (then boyfriend) Tyler that I wanted a dog. I have a family dog, but she's very mean (which is a totally different story), and I wanted one of my own. We talked about getting a dog together someday but not any time soon becsuse we didn't live together and that'd be silly. But he answered with, "No, we're getting a dog." YES SIR.

That night, I spent the night at his house and we stayed up until 3 am searching for male puppies for sale in the area. After hours of not feeling that immediate spark, Tyler (because if I don't credit him for finding Kermit, he'll freak out) fell upon this little guy...

Alvin

*side note: Tyler just yelled at me to make sure I write that he found him*

We decided right then and there that we had to go see him.

In the morning, I called to make sure we could come see him after Tyler got out of work, which it was, and then we waited. We waited for what seemed to be 4 years for Tyler to come home so we could make the hour drive to see Alvin. I had to work later in the day, but I just sent my dad a text asking if I could not come in because we wanted to get a dog and he literally sent back "OK," so we were off!

On the way, we tried coming up with names: Brody (if he was bad-ass looking), Iggy (that way Tyler couldn't shame our future child with the name), Turk (so we could call him Turkleton *Scrubs reference*), and Kermit (which I was so against). We also told each other that we didn't have to get him that day because he could not like us. LOL.

When we arrived, we saw 3 separate play pens with dogs. We first see his siblings (Theodore, Simon, and Chipette) barking and jumping to get our attention and then we saw him. He was sitting towards the back of the pen looking scared and nervous, so naturally we asked to see the only dog not interested in us at all. Tyler held him, I looked into his eyes and next thing you know we're signing papers and walking out with our new puppy.

We immediately named him Kermit because he obviously looks like a Kermit, and the rest is history!

The Worm is the light of our lives. He's brought us so much closer as a couple, and we love him more than we ever thought humanly possible. We say all the time that no one should love their dog as much as we do, but he's not a dog to us — he's our son. Every time someone says how cute he is, we say "thank you," as if we had any part in making him. We take him almost everywhere with us and include him in as much as physically possible. He sleeps in between us every night with his little head resting on the pillow. Every time Tyler watches a game, Kermit is right next to his daddy watching too. Tyler proposed to me by having Kermit dressed in a tuxedo. We even plan to hopefully include him in our wedding. Everyone even says they think the Worm forgot he's a dog and thinks he's human.

(Yes, I know I'm saying "the" Worm. It's not a typo; it's because he is the Worm.)

He may think he's human and part of that may be our fault for treating him that way, but we don't care. We do everything to make our little man happy, and he really is the happiest doggo.

Just in case you didn't believe me...