Dunkin the Dog

Being a dog mom is just like being a real mom except you skip the newborn stage and jump right into the terrible toddler stage. A huge responsibility that I was completely unaware of. My dog also has the personality of a toddler too.

Dunkin is a year old, and he is crazy. Dunkin is a very unique and intelligent dog, almost too intelligent. He has learned to open doors and trash cans to essentially make a good day into a bad day just because his walk was cut short. The personality of Dunkin often leaves me thinking “is he a human stuck in a dogs body?” Dunkin is a Chocolate Lab but he’s far too mouthy to be full bread. I’ve always wanted my own dog but now I finally understand why I am just now getting one when I’m 16. Understanding the difficult part of being a dog mom, when things get tough just saying “ugh! I’ll just get rid of him” When you see dogs you think they are cute, loving and full of fun, that is honestly wrong. Potty training was such a battle in itself. Having a puppy is fun but every time there is an accident that fun goes a way in a snap of a finger. Causing moods to drop from happy to mad. All while Dunkin sits there confused on why you’re angry. “No! Bad boy!” Then as I simultaneously cleaned away the thing that made me angry. Dogs don’t understand so it is best to be patient with them, and when you aren’t it’s often scary. I didn’t have my parents to help me with training my dog so I learned from the best of my abilities while using the ability to stay calm. I’ve grown a long way from being a staple in a dog’s life. I’ve seen a lot of animals get neglected in my lifetime, and it sucks seeing that happen. A dog looks at its owner as their “person”. Dogs aren’t able to choose their person so every person who has one needs to give them their everything, and that is what I did.

This kind of responsibility left me really stressed and overwhelmed. I wasn’t sure what to do when it came to potty training my dog, so it took a lot longer than expected. From this I learned that even when you feel lazy to take your dog out for a walk or just put him outside to use the bathroom. My dog not being potty trained for a long time really affected my relationship with my mom causing us to fight pretty consistently. Sometimes it is difficult to find that motivation to go out with these dogs but the most consistently you do it the quicker the process. It is important to remember these lessons because they will teach you for your next adventure when and if you choose to get another dog.

You often spend more time cleaning up messes than it would to take them out. Something challenging that made being a dog mom difficult was dedication. Now, of course you would think that thinking of dedication would be a no brainier, and well it is. Dunkin is a very hyperactive pup with the biggest personality. This often makes it difficult to understand him all of the time. My dog is in a hyper mood 24 hours out of the day. Constantly asking to go on walks, or play tug of war. Also, one of the most vocal dogs I’ve been around. When having a pup with a lot of things to say all of the time it can seem a bit overstimulating. It also is tricky to understand what he wants since he’s always talking. This can be tricky but over time you learn to understand the different tones in these conversations from him on what he wants.

While having a dog is a lot of responsibility, I have learned from such things because now I understand how to take care of my next pet in a way I didn’t know how with Dunkin. I am grateful to have learned from this doggy toddler stage for the future and have the happiness and most potty trained dog I know.

“chocolate lab” by protographer23 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.