My son started asking me for a dog when he was 5 years old. I had the perfect excuse to deny his wish: 'We live in an apartment. Maybe when we get a house.'
Soon his pleas were reinforced by the ones of his little sister, who also asked for a pet. I didn't see how we could have one. It's not that they showed any incredible affection towards animals they were even afraid of them! I couldn't risk a commitment like that just yet.
But on my daughter's 6th birthday, I got her a beta fish. It didn't last more than a year - I accidentally killed it one time while cleaning the aquarium. She cried, heartbroken. I had never seen her sad like that, and my heart ached. For months, she couldn't hear about fish or see one without getting sad. But Opal, the fish, was gone, and she vowed to never have another one.
They asked for a dog again.
So I got my son a hamster on his birthday. They had a lot of fun with it, although always afraid to touch it. Buying cages and accessories was a new item on the family budget now. I was able to understand all the things I read about how not to get a pet before the kids were responsible enough to take care of it. Or how not to get a pet for the kids, unless you actually want one yourself, because it falls on the mom to take care of it.
Peanut didn't live too long but had adventures worth twice her lifetime. When we found her dead, my kids prepared a funeral. My son made a video in her honor with all her memories.
They mourned for a little while and then asked for a dog.
Five years had passed since my son had first asked for a dog, and he knew how to use this to his advantage. Five years is a long time for a kid. He had been very patient. We were still not getting a house. Let's have a dog now!
He signed up for my email to every animal shelter in the city, and I got tons of notifications. He searched for dogs online every day. He made a list of 52 possible dog names he could give his future dog and gave it to me in an envelope. He learned facts and information on many breeds and became an expert on dogs. He was determined to convince me to get a dog soon.
Both children prayed every night about it. They played, pretending to be dogs, walking on fours, and panting with their tongs out. Was that a plot to make me go crazy? No, please don't lick my face! I will start looking for dogs! Let's talk about it. Meanwhile, their bedroom walls had dozens of pictures of dogs, taken from different calendars I gave them. As a photographer, I love pictures. As a mom, I still wasn't ready for a real-life canine in my little space. Especially when my husband also didn't want a dog either.
But then Covid-19 hit.
We were one of the many families who adopted a pet during the pandemic. Being forced to stay home and miss all the summer fun, made it impossible for me to wait any longer to give my kids what they had been asking for five years (five years!).
Finding a dog seemed more difficult than I anticipated. It seemed like everyone was looking for the same thing as me. It had to be a puppy, my husband specified when he finally got on board. As first-time dog owners, with small kids already afraid of dogs, we couldn't risk adopting an animal with an unknown history. Pups were hard to find in shelters and too expensive to buy. Besides, my husband didn't like the idea of buying a pet, with so many already without a home. It was starting to become frustrating.
We finally found online a cute puppy in San Jose that needed to be rehomed for a small fee, covering just her kennel and toys. It was a 4-month-old German Shepherd, the owner said, and she couldn't keep it in her new apartment. I wasn't planning on such a big dog, but she was too cute to pass. (Later we figured out it was a Belgian Malinois mix).
We drove the 2 hours from Sacramento to San Jose and met Minnie in a Walmart parking lot. She was a lot bigger in person than in the pictures and my heart raced a little. Was I doing the right thing? Would she be friendly to us? I was a little nervous when the owner gave her to me - I had never held a dog before in my life.
The ride home was full of anticipation and emotions. My kids were elated. They immediately changed her name to Millie. I was relieved to finally get a dog and scared at the same time. Millie threw up inside the cage and the kids assumed she got car sick from the trip.
We stopped by the park before getting home and took Millie out of the car to run around. She chased my daughter and she cried, scared. She wanted to play tug of war with me and I was afraid she was being aggressive. She pooped in the living room and my husband got upset. But we soon learned she was just being a playful dog and that she already loved us. And we loved her back, immensely.
For the first time in my life, I had a dog sitting on my lap and I couldn't remember how my life was before having Millie. It was just like having another kid. I soon became her favorite person and the one she obeyed more. I was in love.
Then a few days later she stopped eating and started throwing up. She rapidly lost weight and the vomits were increasing in frequency. It was scary. I hurried her to the animal hospital. We had to wait outside because of Covid guidelines. The person in front of us came back crying after putting down her cat. I took pictures of Millie, afraid of what could happen.
Waiting outside with Millie at the Animal HospitalThe veterinarian explained the suspicion of Parvovirus, a deadly canine virus that kills over 90% of dogs who get it, and asked to take a test. I promptly agreed to the cost of the consultation, test, and medication, but when the test came back positive, I felt hopeless. The only thing they could do was admit her to the hospital and hope the $5,000 treatment would get any positive results. Other than that, she would die. The treatment was likely to not help anyways. She was very sick.
I sadly declined the hospital option. There was no way I could afford that. The doctor gave her 2 days to live.
At home, I looked at her sad little eyes and my heart ached. How come, after waiting all this time to get a dog, we finally get one just to lose it less than 2 weeks later? How come this dog had made such an impact on my life in so little time? I couldn't bear losing her!
I asked my mom and aunt for prayers and searched online for anything I could do. I remembered how my mom had treated our dog years ago when the veterinarian wanted to euthanase it after she got canine distemper, another deadly disease in dogs caused by a virus.
She had prepared special foods for it and would give them in a syringe. She gave shots with medicine herself. And the huge Fila Brasileiro (or Brazillian Mastiff) would lay down on her side and let my mom treat her, day and night. She completely recovered and beat death. Couldn't the same thing happen to Millie?
I found a recipe on youtube that promised to cure the parvo. I bought the okra at a Korean supermarket and blended it with Pedialyte. I added everything I thought it would make her body stronger and gave it to her 3 times a day or more, with a syringe for dogs (which made the job a lot easier than my mom's, who used a regular syringe). The potion was disgusting to see, and I can just imagine the flavor. Millie fought it. And fought some more. Until it started to get more difficult to feed her that remedy. I then noticed something: she was getting stronger! She was able to fight. And she was still alive after 2 days, then 5, a whole week after the doctor said she would die! I stopped the home remedy and just continued to give the antibiotics in tasty dog medicine pouches and left the poor dog in peace.
It was finally her turn to get her shots on the long waitlist because of COVID and she was vaccinated. The veterinarian was happy to know she survived.
Millie is turning 2 years old this month and she doesn't fit in my lap anymore. She has traveled thousands of miles with us on road trips, and will never miss a chance for a joy ride. She loves to run after my car around the neighborhood, make friends at the dog park and play catch or tug of war. She runs fast, and every time I see her beautiful strides, muscular body, and all that energy, I think that one day she'll be older and weak, and she'll eventually die. And that makes me even more grateful to have had her life spared almost 2 years ago. It has been a fascinating and fun time.