Our family Corgi turned two earlier this week. It was a monumental occasion in the household for everyone except the dog.
She got a scrambled egg for breakfast and lots of cuddles and a nice long walk, but her birthday wasn’t really celebrated for her – it was for us having her in our family.
Two years ago this summer, our sweet little Chihuahua named Vicki passed away after being my companion for 15 years. I was devastated. My children were mourning. My older daughter’s first word was, “Vicki.” My husband and I took Christmas card photos with the dog regularly.
I’ve always had a dog, always grown up with at least one furry companion. But it felt odd looking for another dog just a few weeks after Vicki passed. It felt disloyal – until my daughters’ art teacher told me these wise words: “If you know you want a dog, just get a dog. A day without a dog is a day wasted.”
A week later, we got our Corgi.
My husband and I had a long-standing joke that he got to pick the next family dog. When we married, he wanted a Siberian Husky and I wanted a Chihuahua, so we obviously compromised and got a Chihuahua. For several years, he had heard about Corgis and what good dogs they are – active, smart, full of spunk and personality. Plus they’re adorable. So we found us a Corgi and brought her home.
Y’all. That was a bad puppy.
Those words Kyle had heard about Corgis? Active = wild, chaotic. Smart = able to outsmart humans on many occasions and have a mind of their own. Full of spunk and personality = will not listen but will bite. True, absolutely adorable, but she was driving us crazy.
Vicki, even though stereotypically Chihuahuas are known as biters, never bit anyone, not even the girls. She was an easy dog, one who my little daughter carried around like an accessory from the time she got home from school until the time she went to bed. This new puppy was not like that.
She bit constantly. She chewed everything. She hated walking – hated it. Kyle and I joked about the “Corgi rug” we’d pull behind us because she would just lay on the ground until someone picked her up and carried her the rest of the way.
We took her to Sharon St. Andre with Sexton Animal Clinic and had her professionally trained because we needed help. We weren’t going to give up on our new dog, but she was wearing us out.
It didn’t take Sharon long to put our pup in her place and teach us some valuable lessons in how to train her and get her to behave. Now, at two years old, she is our constant companion, going often on vacation with us, cuddling with us – and yes, even enjoying long walks.
So as she turned two this past week, it was not just a celebration of the day itself but a celebration of our puppy herself – of how far she’s come and what a wonderful companion she is in our family.
