I 'm going to be completely honest.....I would've never guessed how much love and support a puppy can give a person, especially for me this summer! At first, it was an inconvenience and a lot of extra work having him in Philadelphia with us and I was always having to take care of him by myself - food, water, baths, walks, letting him out, quieting him down etc. It's definitely a lot of added responsibility. Don't get me wrong, he is a darn cute puppy and has been a real blessing and a lot of fun! I know many people think the millennials are buying puppies now rather than starting a family or having a baby.
When Zach and I were talking about this summer and how much he would be working, we decided it would be a good idea to adopt a dog. The days are long and tiring for anyone doing summer sales, and I admire them for the hard work they put in each day. Although it is well worth it financially, they typically start the day out with meetings from 10-11:00 am, and following their meetings they sell door to door until about 9:00 pm. On top of that, it sometimes takes 1 1/2 hours to get home. We agreed it would be a good idea if I had a companion or a buddy during the summer since I would be by myself the majority of the time. We only brought one car with us and knew I would be home most of the time while Zach was working. We were not ready to be talking kids at this point. We had just gotten married, and were still adjusting and getting to know each other better as a couple. I admit you're always learning and growing throughout your marriage, but Zach and I were not ready to take care of and provide for a child - not that you ever are I've been told. I have been told many times that the millennials are getting puppies rather than having kids, that was not the case for us. We were just young and newly married and opted to buy a puppy as I grew up with one most of my life.
We were thrilled at the idea of adopting a puppy together, which took a lot of research to decide which breed would be best for us and would easily adapt to apartment life - you can read about our experience choosing a dog here on a previous post.
When you are living in an apartment, left without a car and not knowing the area at all - it is a wonderful thing to have a buddy or a dog! Some days he is the only reason I go outside at least three times a day, to feel the beautiful sun shining outside our apartment in Philly. Having a dog is also a great way to meet and talk to new people everyday. I love it! I've gotten to know many of our neighbors and their dogs, which are all friendly and sweet. I was a little leery of having a puppy in an apartment, but I have been quite surprised at how many tenants, in our luxury apartments, are dog owners! Winston has lots of friends to play with at the dog park! And it has been interesting as we've been looking at apartments as we are getting ready to go back to school, most apartments have dog parks now and there is plenty of room to take your dogs out to run and play, which is way cool when you don't have a backyard.
I also think...no, I KNOW Zach looks forward to coming home to Winston every night! Zach loves being greeted by him at the door wagging his tail, and he loves showing Winston off to our friends more than I do. In all honesty, I think Zach loves Winston more than I do - which is quite funny because Zach always said it was my dog and it was for me. It is fun watching Zach play with him and their relationship is so cute, I love it!
Winston is a great dog and has been an amazing companion this summer while Zach has been working so much. I'm so glad to have him in my life - to get me out of the house and talk to people. I have to say Maltipoos are the BEST, I highly recommend the breed and they are great with kids as well! He's also a great traveling companion which I will tell you all my must haves for flying with pets in my next post- as we have flown back and forth to Utah with him several times now.
Hope you all are having a great hump day! Puppies are the BEST!
xoxo,
M'Taya