BECOMING A DOG PARENT - PUPPY ADVENTURES WITH VERA
@vera_vision
If you’re like me, you’re winging it with your first dog. Sure, you research when you need to, but otherwise you’re relying on a gallimaufry of guesses, hunches, half-recalled pieces of bad advice, theories gleaned from TV, scraps of overheard conversations, and, of course, expectations.
EXPECTATIONS OF A NEW DOG PARENT
When I got Vera (Full Name: Vera de Milo), heres’s what I “knew”:
She ain’t never wearing clothes (what kinda weirdo garbs their dog?)
She gon’ be STROWNG (what’s up with these people pushing pooches in strollers?)
She gon’ up my game (my lil’ princess gotta find me a queen)
She’ll be my best friend (never talks (back), always does what I wanna do, never has her own ideas, etc. etc.)
REALITY OF A NEW DOG PARENT
I was right about one thing (the bitch is STRONG, but I carry her when necessary). She shuns the desired demographic (seems averse to even the vaguest suggestion of nubility). My plans more often than not revolve around her (don’t matter if I want to stay out, she needs to be fed). She’s family (we keep each other physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy). And she has clothes. And rubber boots. Costumes even. A lil’ white frilly thing for special occasions. More than a few festive frocks. Her collection started her first winter, about 10 months after she joined the household.
During said winter, she donned coats to brave the cold outside and onesies to stay cozy indoors, and with the emergence of spring, I packed away her clothes. Yet even before our first walk, Vera had started acting up. She was more timid. She wined and pawed at the drawer where I kept her food (and clothes!) even after she’d eaten. When not in my arms, she sought haven within her travel crate, usually reserved for punishment time. We went on a few walks and made it a point to take her to meet her favorites among my friends. Sure, she was happy to see them, but even they noticed a difference in her demeanor.