It warms my heart to see old pictures of Junior of when he was a puppy. So cute, innocent, and the naughtiness in his eyes that I couldn’t resist but adopt him. A 40 days old puppy who came to my house for someone else, but ended up being with me for the rest of his life.
And it warms my heart even more when I see Junior now. An 11 year old senior dog whose fur has turned from fawn to white, slow, fragile, and yet so elegant with fits of naughtiness. 11 years ago I made the best decision of my life by adopting Junior even though I didn’t want another dog because I already had Casper.
As a pet parent, I often wonder about the answers to the questions like “is our bond irreplaceable?Is it strong enough?” My answer was, my own efforts have made my bond with my dog stronger and irreplaceable. The answers lie in our own actions.
The connection that we build and nurture with the ones we love is the very reason they stick around with us. This applies to every relationship in our lives. But the focus here is the human-dog relationship. My efforts, my will to take care of my dogs for life-long, my love nurtured this relationship to its best, whereas my dogs gave me unconditional love, emotional support, unquestionable loyalty, and fearless protection.
This bond proves that you do not need words to express love. And as the old saying goes, “Actions speak louder than words”, I understand Junior even though he cannot speak and he understands me even though he doesn’t understand my language. We love each other regardless.
When Junior was a puppy, he was very energetic and naughty. Since I already had Casper, I could compare and realize that Junior’s energy was at another level. He never slowed down even when he was ill or not in the best of best. Even today, when he wants to play, he suddenly looks like a puppy again. The only difference is, now he cannot play for more than 10 minutes.
It has been 11 years, but it seems like just yesterday when I brought him home. A journey from having baby formula to medicated food. A journey that still continues to melt my heart every single day. A journey from pulling me on walks where people thought my dog was walking me to me giving him support while walking. 11 years looks like 11 days when filled with love. I still fall in love with him every day. This bond is irreplaceable.
Honestly speaking, the past 11 years were the bad years of my life for personal reasons. Had it not been for Junior, I wouldn’t have been able to get through these years. Junior not only gave me emotional support, but he also kept me physically healthy. Even though it seems on the outside that I adopted Junior, in reality, he adopted me.
This transformation of Junior from a puppy to a senior dog has been very wholesome. I saw my baby grow into a handsome adult to a gentle senior. The journey has not been easy, but it has been worth every single day of it. We faced many turbulences together. From Junior’s Cancer to depression, from being broke to heartbreak. From Junior’s kidney failure to not knowing if he will wake up the next morning. But what stayed constant was, we went through this together and came out stronger each time. The irony of my life is, these were the worst years of my life, yet the best ones. And I would live through it all over again if Junior is by my side.
A dog is just not a pet or a status symbol. They are your family, your life-long friends, your true companions, and for people like me, they are the reason I live.
