Dogless

April 2019

Dogless

If I counted up the years of my life I’ve spent without a pet, I am guessing it would be less than 5 years. Most of my life I’ve lived with dogs, but I’ve also cohabitated with  cats and various guinea pigs, hamsters, birds, fish, and even hermit crabs. I recently lost my  buddy Teddy.  If you have also shared your home with a little buddy, you get it. My house is empty. Funny thing to say when there are  two of us here…but there is a little dog shaped hole in every room.

It is strikingly noticeable how  everything I do, once revolved around a 10 lb. bundle of energetic fur. For a little guy, he had a big presence!  If I was in the house, he was by my side.  My last sight as I walked out the door was those panicked eyes pleading me not to go.  My first sight when I returned was those eyes of Joy that I was back.   I’m told, when I was gone, he was at the top of the stairs waiting for my return.  Even if I was gone for days. That’s a lot of love!!

So saying goodbye was tough.  Not talking to him on a daily basis…equally tough.  My eyes leaked the first few days. While that got better, his absence was and is still notable.  Not sure how long I will be looking for him in every room, or automatically reaching down to pet him every time I sit, but I know that every time I drop some food I’ll be expecting him to come and the dog toy isle in stores will always call me.

Will I get another dog…no doubt…eventually.  But for now I’ll do my best to learn how to live dogless.