On having a dog

"When a man is lonely, his dog is all he has."
- Mickey Rourke

Everyone loves Mickey Rourke right now. I'll admit - he was fantastic in The Wrestler. An outstanding performance, to say the least. His dog died just before the Oscars, and it obviously meant a lot to him. When it comes to owning a dog, you either get it or you don't.

I'm not lonely, at the moment. But there were a few times over the past two to three years where I could say that I was. Owning a dog is at times demanding, at times difficult, at times frustrating, but always rewarding. There aren't many things in life that are positive 100% of the time. Neither is owning a dog. You most certainly don't love owning a dog when you're cleaning dog poop from the backyard, when you're outside at 11 pm in the middle of January and he just can't find the right spot to go to the bathroom, when he starts barking at strangers enough that it becomes embarrassing.

But how about when you've had a bad day? How do you love owning a dog then? Try coming home ready to tear someone's head off and not calm down completely when your dog is so happy to see you he might explode with a massive case of the wiggles. You might still be upset, but you'll forget about it for a while. How about when you're laying around with nothing special to do and your dog does something so funny that you're still laughing about it 15 minutes later?

Anyone who knows my dog Jack knows that he has some "issues." He was abused as a puppy, which is slightly disturbing considering I got Jack when he was the 3 months old and the size of a shoebox - maybe even smaller. I still remember the day I went to pick him up. His foster/rescue family was kind of a hippy/outdoor family and they made me go on a hike with him and the other dogs so that we could "bond" in effect before I took him home. I thought it was a slightly crazy idea, but I didn't mind. Initially I was standing in the back yard with this man and his two sons. Their two adult dogs were out and very excited to be going on a hike. He told me that he would be right back and he was going to get "the puppies" (there were two - I only adopted one).

They were terrified. Jack (then known as Scout) and his brother Luke were not having any of me. They kept barking at me in their squeaky puppy bark. They would come out to examine me and then run back in through the dog door and in to the basement. This repeated itself about ten times and went on for approximately 15 minutes before we were able to start out hike. These poor little puppies were already deathly afraid of humans. Jack's brother had a bent tail from someone slamming it in the door. It was sad.

Then something odd happened - Jack came running up to my leg and licked my hand. He was still cautious but he was interested in me. (This is currently how he treats all strangers. Bark, approach in stealth mode, sniff, run away - repeat). The hike lasted 45 minutes and the dogs were allowed to roam free off leash. They ran all over the woods but Jack kept close to me. It sounds crazy but within that first half hour I already felt a connection. We finished the hike and they tried to talk me in to both dogs. I was already in love with Jack and wasn't ready for two puppies - so I separated the brothers. I was a little upset to be doing this but I knew he would be going to a good home.

I was with a friend of mine when I went to get him. On the ride home, she held Jack in her lap while I drove. Immediately once we got in the car he started a high pitched cry/whine that didn't stop. There were no breaks. He just whined nonstop for the 20 minutes it took for me to drop her off. As soon as she left and she set him down on the passenger seat so that I could drive the 5 minutes back to my house - he stopped crying. I guess he already felt comfortable with me.

Over the next months to year Jack grew from a tiny little baby to a big fat baby. He learned his commands and became a good dog. He was heavily socialized when he was a puppy - enough that I thought his fear of people would go away. It hasn't. But he's good enough in public that he behaves at the vet and in crowds and I have zero fear of him ever being aggressive or biting someone.

I get teased a lot for how close I am with my dog. Yes, he's a spoiled baby. And yes, it's probably my fault. But you either get it or you don't. You form a bond with a dog that's unmatched with few you will have in your entire life. You get unconditional love from very few sources. Apart from a dog - I would say that only other guaranteed source of unconditional love would be from a mother. So it's not something to take lightly.

There are many times when owning a dog is tedious or annoying, but I never question if it's worth it. When I'm driving home in a bad mood I don't even have to get home before I start smiling. I know what's waiting for me when I open the door. And I wouldn't trade it for anything.