And it’s a wrap..!
My joyride of 1 month has officially ended. My last two dogs returned to their homes today. No regrets, because I learned a lot from all my dogs.
I worked for 24 days as a dog sitter and took care of 18 different dogs and 14 different breeds. The age ranged between 5 months to 10 years old.
The small puppy taught me patience again, taught me how to forgive mistakes and care for a baby again. The most senior dog I cared for was an English bulldog and she taught me how the life cycle runs. I had to support her from behind to go up the stairs. She was a good 60 lbs.
The biggest dog I cared for was a Golden retriever who weighed 100 lbs. But he was just 2 years old and was scared to jump down the bed. Size doesn’t matter at all! And the biggest lesson I learned is that looks can be deceiving! The sweetest dog I had was a Pitbull terrier mix. Pitbulls are considered one of the most aggressive dogs. But she was the sweetest one I had and made me feel so loved! She would wait outside the bathroom for me and would be so excited to see me even if I was gone for just 2 minutes! Some pups who missed their families didn’t eat much and I hand fed them and put them on my lap and pacified them like a baby. They taught me the importance of family. I encouraged all my dogs to sleep with me on my bed. Some who chose to sleep on their own bed, I respected that, but kept them in my bedroom lest they need something at night. Almost all of them who slept in their own bed the first day slept beside me on my bed the rest of the days. One pup prefers to sleep only in his bed, but the first night he was here, around 2 am I saw a nightmare and shrieked, and, in a jiffy, he jumped onto my bed, gave me kisses to tell me everything is fine and then slept beside me to tell me that he’s right here and I don’t need to worry about anything. He slept beside me the whole night and all the other nights that he was with me. A puppy who always sleeps in his crate, was too anxious to stay away from his family for the first time. But he was just 5 months old and having so many dogs around, stimulated him and made him hyperactive. So, we had to have him sleep separately and so my husband stepped forward and volunteered to sleep with him in the basement while I slept with the other dogs in our room. This whole situation taught me how much we all need to support each other and how we cannot do anything without that. When I had to cook in the kitchen, my son stepped in to be in charge and he would come and report to me immediately if someone was being naughty. It taught my son responsibility.
This whole thing benefited my Knuckles too. He has safely come out of his shell and despite being an introvert among dogs, he started playing with all of them.
This venture gave me the opportunity to care for a few rescued and adopted dogs and it made me feel as though I have done my bit in this life and successfully scored a seat for myself in heaven when I get there! All the bad karma I have gathered until now in my life has been replaced by good!
It has been a good stint and no regrets whatsoever.
All the people who told me not to do this on account of my health and my son’s, should understand that I did this out of my love and passion for dogs. And like one of my friends told me, I actually operationalized what I love doing and it’s not something everyone gets a chance to do!
I set out to do this with the mindset that I’m ready to fall flat on my face after failing rather than never trying. Honestly, I had thought I would have to stop Wag-A-Bond midway because of my health, but surprisingly my health stood by me all through this journey. I have never felt this alive in the past 6 years! A normal job is 9-5. I used to wake up at 5am to leave the dogs out for their business and go on till 10 pm, until I slept. My husband took them out on walks. We of course had an afternoon siesta too! For the past 1 month my pups and I have been napping to "dog calming music". For the first time I didn’t realize a month passing by. So, for all those who have been telling me an “I told you so”, please know that this was one of the best decisions in my life.
After I posted the update that “Like all things in my life, Wag-A-Bond has hit a roadblock too”, my therapist texted me that maybe Wag-A-Bond was removed from my path for now, because it was not its time yet, maybe Wag-A-Bond will flourish in another place another time and that is exactly what I want to believe. I’m only keeping this dream on pause for now and Wag-A-Bond will come back for season 2, bigger and better., Until then, we woof you!
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