True Story: My New Puppy Arrived, and We Both Cried All Night

This is Primrose's tale, and how my unexpected plunge into puppy parenthood turned into a complete breakdown in 2.5 hours.

I was glad to be around dogs when I started working at fiverr.com but I didn't own one. I'd always had pets as a kid (cats and dogs), so I was happy to be pet-free as an adult. I adored all of the dogs at work and decided it was the ideal situation:

1. Playing with puppies
2. ZERO Liability

Let's fast forward a year. I began to consider getting a dog after jokingly telling my family that I wanted one for Christmas. A coworker kept sending me puppy advertisements on the internet, causing my puppy fever to spiral out of control, and I realized how badly I wanted a dog. As a result, the hunt started!

Yorkie has a party

I came across an advertisement for a 10-week-old female chocolate Yorkie one day. “The mom is an AKC Yorkie 6 lbs and dad is a party Yorkie 4 lbs,” the ad said, word for word.

“Party,” which was, of course, meant to be “part,” is probably the best typo ever. My previous puppy inquiries had always resulted in the phrase "someone is already involved." However, she was still available, much to my surprise!

I was knocking on doors two days later with my little sister Lynnea in tow, feeling extremely nervous. Four Yorkies, one of which was a puppy, welcomed us.

I inquired, “Is that Prim?”

I realized I'd already named the dog I'd come "just to look" at when the man stared at me like I was nuts. She was such a sweet and lovely puppy. And with all of my anxiety, I couldn't deny how cute she was. I inquired as to Lynnea's thoughts. She gave me the look that said, "You're not going home without this puppy," and that was the end of it.

Not one, but two meltdowns

I was in my car in less than 15 minutes, carrying the dog I'd called Primrose (Hunger Games for the win!). I began to feel anxious. What had I done, exactly? I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I decided to get a puppy! I couldn't believe it when we went out to get the supplies we needed.

Prim suddenly began to scream and vomit as I held her in the front passenger seat. I may or may not have yelled. While all of this was going on, my sister snapped a few Snapchats.

There will be another meltdown later. I'm not ashamed to say it anymore: I cried. Quite a bit. I was so exhausted and scared that I cried later that night and again two days later.

The first week was the most difficult. I was told I wasn't cut out to care for this adorable little creature. Prim whimpered her way through her first night in a plush crate on my bunk, next to me. I had to keep reminding her that I was still there by placing my hand on the kennel.

I knew how much my life was about to change throughout that weekend. I noticed a few things as I went through my daily routine:

• When I showered, Prim was not pleased. She made it clear to me by wailing and weeping as loudly as she could.
• Prim disliked being left alone. Since she wanted to be near me, she chewed her way through her fluffy kennel.
• Since Prim disliked the rain, potty training in Seattle seemed unlikely.

Trying to figure it out

I learned to adjust my habits to accommodate hers. The first thing I had to do in the mornings was taken her outside. I couldn't take another 20 minutes of snoozing and browsing Facebook/Instagram on my tablet. While waiting for her to understand the idea of "go potty," I had to practice patience by walking around the street. My house had to be puppy-proofed. Prim liked to chew on things, particularly power cords, so I made sure to keep anything like that out of her control.

We're now getting it down after two months. For example, she now prefers to sit in the tub's corner while I shower. She's always worried about it, so we'll figure it out later!

In Love With a Stranger

I went to see a movie about two weeks after we started dating (without Prim, of course). I suddenly realized how much I missed her. I couldn't stop thinking about her and couldn't wait to see her when I got home.

I couldn't imagine my life without her, even though things were—and occasionally still are—difficult. Prim is a friendly, scrappy puppy who gives kisses to any human and dog she meets. She walks with a strut and sleeps next to my head on my pillow every night.

I'm not sure there's ever a good time to get a puppy. If I had waited two years—or eight—I believe I would have been just as nervous. Even after a few tears, I know it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I have wonderful encouragement, too, thanks to pep talks from friends and family, being greeted with a bag full of dog treats by my coworkers, and being immersed in an amazing dog culture at the Rover HQ.

My life has improved significantly. I'm now a mad dog mom, and I'm loving it!