Where do I start?
I’m not a huge animal, person. Jake has been very open and honest about wanting a dog for a couple of years now. I always had a dog growing up, but I was a teenager, I had no interest in walking them, they barked all the time and they got under my feet when I was in a rush. Surprise surprise, I wasn’t really interested in getting a dog again.
I managed to put Jake off with excuses like, ‘when I’m on summer holiday, when I’m on maternity leave, and then when things have settled down.’
We came home from tepee hospital on December 1st and by December 2nd Jake already wanted a dog. It was the week before Christmas and Jake was due to return to work full time on the 2nd Jan. we had two weeks left together, to sort everything out and finally start to return to some sort of ‘normality’. With that in mind and the 2nd Jan looming, I finally gave in a suggested it might be a good time to get a dog.
I have never been very good at being alone or being at home all day, I’m definitely a busy, social I able person. Sitting at home makes me anxious, depressed and quite honestly so bored that it turns me into some sort of crazy monster that would rather do anything than be stuck indoors. I knew I needed to do something ready for January. My option were either start thinking about returning to work shortly after, start volunteering somewhere to keep busy or get a dog. With my health not being at its best and having no interest of implementing an script routine so soon I opted for the dog.
Jake said that if I finally agreed to get a dog it could be any dog I wanted, only one requirement, it had to be hypoallergenic because of his asthma. I guess I could work with that. I started my mission looking for a toy poodle, either red or black. I don’t know if you know anything about dogs but red and black toy poodles are either crazy expensive or puppies. I wasn’t too keen on getting a puppy purely from being lazy to be honest. I didn’t want want house train her, I didn’t want to cover chair legs or skirting boards from teeth, I didn’t want to sit in the house for weeks waiting for her vaccinations, I just wanted a dog to keep myself busy, get out the house and most importantly keep Jake happy. After scrolling through hundreds of dogs on the internet with every type of cross breed you could think of I managed to find a 4 year old, black, toy poodle name Lyra. She was perfect.
Shortly after finding Lyra I went back into hospital but hospital or not Jake was not giving up on his dream of having a dog in the house. He went to collect her anyway and brought her o her new home. even though very shy to begin with she is now settling into our home nicely. She snuggles on her blanket in the sofa and keep guard when I am home alone, she comes to comfort me when I am getting upset and stares at me when I’m taking too long to get out of bed in the mornings.
I still stand by my first comment ‘I am not a dog person’, however Lyra is becoming my little furry friend and I love having her around. In our first few weeks with Lyra I felt so distant from her, I felt like we were trying to replace Tobias with her (stupid I know) something to look after, something to take out with me, something to keep my company, something that is so dependant.
In a strange way she has replaced lots of moments where I would feel lost, lonely or vulnerable with comfort, peace and security. She is a really funny (sometimes naughty) little dog, I am so glad she is now part of our home.
Puzzle Pieces of my Heart 