“Pets are humanizing.

They remind us we have an obligation and responsibility

to preserve and nurture and care for all life.

— James Cromwell

Before the end of October, I will be adding a new responsibility to my life. I don’t need to make this life change, but I want to. It will require me to change up my schedule and priorities. There will be extra work involved. It may change the dynamic in my household. There are plans to be made and resources to obtain. At the beginning of the responsibility, it will require my time and attention. I have worked hard to pursue this change and make it happen. Now that I am on the eve of reality, I am mostly excited but I do have moments of self-doubt.

“Am I making my life more complicated or richer in orchestrating this new commitment?”

Are you curious?

Our family is going to grow to include a new puppy.

I believe deeply in rescuing and fostering animals, so you might ask ‘Why not rescue a dog?’

If I lived on a farm, I would have animals of all types and shapes and sizes. But the size of my lakeside cottage and animal pack suggests a smaller dog. And I have fallen in love with the breed of French Bulldogs. Thus, I am going to add a Frenchie to the family that is related to our first French Bulldog.

I have initiated this big change and commitment in my life because my original dog, Buddha Bear the brindle boxer, is turning eleven this month. He is a healthy, happy boxer boy who still runs on the beach and loves to play. He has a gray muzzle and stiff joints. He and I share bouts of touchy tummy and arthritis in our bones. My wish is that we have many years together ahead of us, but I know that life is fragile.

Big Boy, who I have written about in two children’s books, was a surprise and unplanned addition to our family in 2013. His cancer was also unplanned and a surprise. In the winter of 2019, Big Boy lost significant weight and no longer could put weight on one of his rear legs. His cancer presented me with the hardest decisions of my life.

Both Buddha Bear and I mourned his loss greatly. Buddha Bear so much so that he licked his tail to point of it needing to be docked. Losing his tail at the age of nine was hard for him. He had to learn to sit, run, play, and show his delight with a tiny tail all over again.

I am bringing a new puppy into our family because I anticipate that one day we will sadly say goodbye to Buddha Bear (I struggle to even write these words). And there is another dog in our family who looks to him for everything.

Six months after Big Boy’s passing, I wasn’t necessarily read to expand our family. There will never be another dog like Big Boy. But, like my neighbor had said to me, “Another dog will find you, Leslie.” And one did. A cheerful, cheeky French Bulldog named Crook (because of his crooked tail). Buddha Bear has learned to live with a thirty-five-pound ball of energy and accommodates his snuggles and silliness. And Crook is devoted to Buddha Bear and to me.

This is the reason I am introducing a new puppy into our pack while Buddha Bear is still able to play lead to a new pack member — and to give Crook another playmate for when his Boxer hero is gone. Some may think I am attributing too many human emotions to my animals, but I have witnessed how important their relationship is to each other and to their human partners.

I thought Buddha Bear wanted a kitty and so we rescued a dog-confident kitty that joined our family after Crook. Nala has a role but there is something unique about a dog pack. We are a wild bunch!

So, if I am a little frazzled when you see me next, and look like the parent of a newborn you will know the reason why. I may regale you with too many puppy stories and pictures with my enthusiasm. I know my life will be the richer (and more complicated) because of my choice.

I have never had three dogs and a cat in my life, but I know I always learn something important from every animal with whom I live and I interact. I look forward to those lessons. May they make me the best person I can be.

Are you doing anything to change up your life?

Leslie

“Animals, like us, are living souls. They are not things. They are not objects.

Neither are they human. Yet they mourn. They love. They dance. They suffer.

They know the peaks and chasms of being.”

― Gary Kowalski