This might be a lengthy one.
So a background on my views on pets/ how I got my pets:
As a junior in college, I was really wanting to get a pet. First reason is because I am a HUGE animal lover. Some of my happiest moments as a kid was sitting on the tile floor in Florida playing and hugging my English Bulldog, Belle. Just as not everyone is cut out to have kids, not everyone is cut out to have animals either. You have to love animals, and I think it is really important to understand that they aren't accessory items but extremely dependent living beings. Animals have their own little personalities, likes, dislikes, and not so great moments. Dogs are domesticated animals as well, and they need companionship. For this reason, getting a dog to tie it up in a yard and ignore it is completely unethical to me and is extremely upsetting. If you can't understand the responsibility involved in having a pet, especially a dog, don't get one.
I do not like being alone. I am also very aware of what makes me happy vs. unhappy and companionship makes life much more worthwhile. Taking care of people or animals and loving unconditionally is also important to me; living life solely for myself just flat out makes me miserable. As a college junior, I was preparing for Leo to move the next year and go to a graduate program for the next two years. I decided to go ahead and get a dog because I knew I was going to be feeling very lonely and upset when he left. I knew that it would help me through the transition and I also really wanted to have a little companion in my life.
Some people don't know this, mainly because I did not want to talk about it at the time and still don't like to, but I adopted a dog. Her name was Sadie, she was a mix breed dog, around 1-2 years old and had mild heartworms. I walked around with her and loved her, she was such a sweet dog. I got her in early December, and the day I got her she ran away. I put her in my bathroom temporarily (my bathroom was huge by the way) while I was going to a gig because I wasn't sure if she was house trained and hadn't bought a gate yet. She was in there for maybe a couple minutes, and the front door of my apartment was open and when I opened the bathroom door for some reason (can't remember now) she freaked out and bolted out of my apartment. I realized that she was probably caged in as a puppy and scared; I felt so terrible for not thinking of that. I did not go to my gig, but spent a large part of the night looking for her in the woods behind my apartment where she ran. Of course I didn't find her, and for weeks after I constantly looked through the woods for any sign of her and left food out everywhere. Long story short, I got a phone call a couple months later from someone who ran over her and looked at her collar. She had been living wild that entire time. I went to her, and Leo and Byron buried her in this spot on the edge of a field that was wild like her, and had a perfect view of the sunset. I didn't go with them to bury her because it was too upsetting to me. I went to see her afterwards though and I just remember crying a lot.
Needless to say, I didn't want another dog, I wanted to find Sadie. I felt like I wasn't ready to get another dog after she ran away, because I didn't want to fail another dog. My mom knew that I wasn't getting Sadie back though, and decided to go in with Leo and find me another dog. And she found a litter of Chihuahua's. I drove to Danville with Micaela and met this woman with a bunch of little Chihuahua's. They were all cute, but there was one weirdly colored (her hair grew out though) one, around a 1 1/2 pounds that was kind of bossy and I knew that was my dog. We sat in the car the entire way back to Greenville trying to think of a name for her, nothing fit her because she was just different. So I called her Cadence :D. Training her was pretty much a nightmare, and a lot of trial and error but that will come later.
Because I was a student, I really wanted Cadence to have a companion while I was at school. I didn't really tell a lot of people I was looking at other dogs, but I pretty much knew I was going to get another one when I got Cadence. I found a litter of Shih Tzu's and drove with Leo to Sanford and let Cadence play with two different black twin Shih Tzu's. She had no interest in the first one, but was running around with the second and I knew they would get along. I got him that day, and named him Wesley :D. Although some people didn't think it was a good thing to get another one, I knew it was. I can't imagine life without Wesley, he is the perfect balance point and pretty much the worlds sweetest dog. (in my opinion)
So here is my advice and experience with having two dogs in college.
- Socialize A LOT!
Dogs, especially Chihuahua's need to be socialized to other people and dogs. Dogs that have tendencies to attach themselves to their owners or have any sort of traumatizing past need to be socialized. I did not want a Chihuahua that growled at everyone, so I took her to parties, friends houses, teachers houses, even studio classes and chamber rehearsals. I literally took her everywhere and let people hold her without me hovering all over her. I did the same deal with Wesley, and I took them to the dog park A LOT. Cadence is still not big on dogs (besides Wesley) and hates puppies with big paws that step on her but at first she wouldn't even leave my feet. Now she runs from me the second she can. She is also very loving and is a total attention whore to anyone she sees. Wesley is just loving to everyone; neither would ever randomly growl aggressively at anyone because they were socialized.
- Be ready to sacrifice your time
I am gone a lot at school, but when I am home I spend all of my time with my dogs. Whether it is sitting on the couch with them, playing with them, talking to them (which I do a lot, maybe that is weird..) or being near them (Cadence always has to be near my feet for some reason), when I am home it is dog time. Time out your class schedule and day so that you can spend more time at home. I practice a lot at home and try to take classes back to back so I can have a portion of the day at home or get done earlier. I also manage my classes and rehearsals so that I can get home to take them out to the bathroom. This is really important, especially when you are house training because they need to be taken out constantly. If I am gone for a long time, I leave a puppy pad out for Cadence (which I trained her on from the beginning) because she can't hold it as long. If you can avoid the puppy pad, do; they are kind of a pain in the ass especially when dogs miss the pad. Crate training is also good. Cadence was much slower than Wesley to catch on to the house training business which takes me to my next point
- Be patient and expect a lot of mess ups.
I can't even begin to share everything my dogs have done. Both had terrible teething experiences (Cadence's teeth bled, and Wesley chewed everything!! Including Louis Vuitton bag handles, BOSE headphones, WALLS, furniture, BOOKS, SHEET MUSIC THAT WAS MY TEACHERS, and even homework which was ridiculous to have to explain) Leo was convinced we should have named him Chewy because A) he looks like Chewbacca and B) his love for chewing things. Cadence was the house training nightmare. If she went there once, she just didn't understand why she couldn't again. And she is extremely stubborn and willful, scolding her sometimes gets you nowhere because she just gets an attitude and glares at you. Wesley just feels awful and sad; Cadence gets defensive. However, instilling fear in pets to obey you is absolutely NOT the answer. Be firm, be consistent but it is more important to reward them and let you know that you are happy when they do something right. It makes them want to do it again, and eventually break away from bad habits. It also makes for really happy pets.
- Take responsibility
This seems like an obvious statement but in a way it isn't. It took me a long time to realize this, but you need to take responsibility for your pets actions. Scolding them and screaming at them constantly will not make them not chew another book, but realizing that you are most likely doing something wrong for them to think it is OK to misbehave. Be flexible with training and open to trying a lot of different options if one isn't working. Also, if a pet misbehaves or has an accident, don't punish them an hour later. Watch them and make sure they know the MINUTE they mess up that it is wrong. They have short memories, and if you come home from school and see a mess, they most likely won't realize what you are scolding them about. This mindset really worked for me.
[As a side note I think the take responsibility mentality is extremely important for having a happy dog. I know that some breeds have more aggressive tendencies, but it all comes down to the owner. If the dog is aggressive, it is either from having a traumatic experience in their life that made them that way or having a bad owner. Dogs that fear owners are not happy and are going to be aggressive. Dogs that are not loved and largely ignored are going to be miserable and probably aggressive. Dogs that aren't socialized are going to be aggressive and scared of strangers. They know when they are loved and looked after properly, and it is important to realize that they are COMPLETELY dependent on you. ]
Dogs are also very expensive. Shots, vet visits, food, getting them fixed (especially very small dogs like Chihuahua's) and medicines are not cheap. Get a pet when you know you have money to pay for their expenses, and if a medical emergency comes up.
Most importantly, make decisions for your pets for their benefit, not yours. If something is expensive or inconvenient for you but might be better for your pet, really consider it because they are dependent on you and your decisions. Be reasonable of course, but you have to take responsibility for being a pet owner and doing what is best for them.
With all of that being said, I never ever regret getting Cadence and Wesley. They have really helped me into young adulthood and showed me a side of myself I hadn't known, which is the more maternal Liz. Coming home from school, being completely stressed and tired of the music world is so much better when you have pets greeting you at the door. It makes anywhere I live instantly home because they are there. And being around their unconditional and total love makes you think a lot about your own relationships.
Seeing them happy is an incredibly rewarding and wonderful feeling. And it makes me more happy than any job, grade, or audition result ever could.
