A Dream Come True

I had a dream - that dream was to have a puppy. I've wanted this since I was four years of age. I know this because my Mum recounts stories of how by the time I got to school I had invented imaginary dogs. I wanted a dog so bad that I spent my childhood latching on to anyone with a dog. I walked dogs for friends, I loved any extended family dog as if it was my dog staying at someone else's house - I just really wanted a dog.

As my Mum was a child-minder I was never going to be allowed a dog. I had a rabbit, Bonny, who thankfully thought he was a dog and was happy to play fetch with me but he was never the dog I wanted.

It has been said many times, not least in this blog, that I can be a bit of a 'dream killer'. While Laura dreams big, has high expectations and generally a way of making the craziest plans happen exactly as she wants them to, I like to call myself a realist. I like to think of all possible outcomes and err on the side of caution. I don't like to disappoint and I don't like to be disappointed so I protect myself by being cautious.

While I apply this theory to almost all of my life there is one thing I have always been unequivocally excited about. You guessed it - a dog!

I didn't have expectations around breed or size, I just wanted floppy ears - see our last post for how we decided on that!

But having met Bisbee when she was just 3 weeks old, I was in love. I was smitten, obsessed, over-excited, you name it - this was one dog I was dreaming big about and the cautious me was no-where to be seen. This level of excitement over-spilled into tears, waking up too excited knowing her arrival was weeks, then days away. Shopping trips specially for her, I think we shopped more for her than for our wedding holiday. We weren't excessive but with almost all puppy stuff being sooooooo cute we definitely bought more than we needed.

On the day, the roller coaster of emotions was massive. We were not unaware of the responsibility that we were taking on or the change it would bring to our life but we were unprepared for the amount of love we already had for this bundle we had only spent 2 hours with and who had no idea who we were.

I'm pretty sure when we stopped for a McDonald's breakfast on the way there and ended up sat opposite each other crying, the staff were probably like WTF crazy ladies. We pulled ourselves together though and made the last bit of our drive in a fairly sane state.

As we approached the house, hearts beating, hands clasped tight we knew we were making the right decision. The moment the door opened we were greeted by a wagging tail and plenty of licks. She was ready and we wanted to be the best puppy mummies she could ask for.

It's been a week since we picked up our bundle of joy and I can fully admit it has been harder work than I first thought. Thinking back I don't ever remember looking after a puppy, just a well trained older dog, and it has given me a huge appreciation for all other puppy owners. I have never given anything as much attention, I've never jumped up so often or talked about pee and poo, I have never spent two entire days thinking of one thing and one thing only and yet I am still so unequivocally excited to have my own dog.

We will track our progress in the blog so we can look back on how far we have come, but so far so good. It wouldn't be anywhere near as fun or rewarding or in fact possible without my team-mate, partner and all round wonderful wife. I think it is fair to say having both of us doing this makes it a little easier. This way at least it's not just the puppy getting food and sleep.

As I write this I am about to start work, Laura is in bed and after a morning feed and clear out this is what I have for company:

Life is pretty perfect right now!