My new grand-puppy!
I have had pets for as long as I can remember — black cat named Midnight that died suspiciously; a dog named Duchess with the prettiest blue eyes; too many hermit crabs to count; a few fish along the way, and two hamsters that made more hamsters, one of whom then ate said baby hamsters.
Aurora
There was a dog named Chamomile who herded me up and down our too-narrow staircase, and a dog named Tellulah who was somehow always more than I could handle, and a cat named Spencer who never seemed to really like me.
Now I have two dogs. One is Walter, a distinguished gentleman of 17 years who is part Cairn terrier and part Chihuahua, blind, deaf. and suffering from dementia. But he still loves a good scratch behind the ears and a slow walk through the neighborhood.
The other is a chiweenie named Aurora. She’s my nearly four-year-old Sleeping Beauty, our COVID rescue. Cliché as it is to say, she 100 percent saved me. She is sweet and feisty and insists on taking me on walks and demanding that I take time to just breathe while I pet her sweet head.
And now, I have a grand-puppy too — Hercules, who is 12 weeks old now.
My almost 25-year-old daughter had been wanting a dog, and she finally fell in love with this little black ball of fur at a local rescue. She said she wanted a small-to-medium dog who would be happy to snuggle with her all day while she worked from home. The rescue told her little more than they were guessing the little guy would top out at 30 to 40 pounds. They didn’t even venture a guess at the breed.
Well, Hercules has already hit 20 pounds, and the trainer my daughter hired to help with all of the hand and ankle biting is suspicious he might be a Belgian malinois, akin to the German shephard.
I think my daughter is secretly happy about that. She wanted a big dog although her beau was hoping for a small one. Regardless, they love Herc, as they affectionately call him. I am thrilled they liked my idea for his name. And I love the phone calls I get from my daughter about how the furry guy is doing.
I feel like I’m in training. My first grand.
Hercules
I love the updates and photos. I love how my daughter is trouble shooting issues and researching training and food and enrichment toys. I empathize with her frustration.
Puppies are tough. A baby will be one day, too. But she loves it. She loves helping Herc to be the best puppy he can be so he can grow into being the best dog he can be. It makes me happy and hopeful for the future.
Not that I had any worries. My daughter is great with kids. She’s been babysitting for as long as I can remember, with a focus on kids with special needs. Her career is working with families with kids on the spectrum.
But seeing how she handles a “child” of her own is different. She’s good at it, and that makes me happy.
But what makes me even happier is how she handles what she feels like she’s not good at. She looks to me and her dad and to experts online to get the information she needs. And she’s adapting. That’s the thing about pets, they reveal our true colors, and they help us to grow. It’s not their job. But they sure are good at it. Watching her work to accept Herc for who he is and helping him to be his best at the same time is kind of remarkable.
It’s weird. Like most of us of a certain age, I still don’t even feel like I’m “of a certain age.” In other ways, I’m intrigued and excited about the new roles I get to play. I have loved being a mom to my daughter, and I love being a dog mom to Walter and Aurora. And I am loving having a new grand-puppy.
But I don’t think I’m a grandma or a grandmother or even a Bubbe. I am thinking maybe BB since my two last names both start with B. I don’t know yet what I want to be called. But I do know for sure that I want to be called on.
Walter
Pets are amazing. They love us unconditionally and, in most cases, we don’t deserve them and all that they do for us. We owe them our love and our respect.
And we owe them the utmost care since they are among the most vulnerable among us.
I can’t wait to meet Herc in person and smother him with kisses. For now, I’ve had to settle for FaceTime calls where I chant “Hercules, Hercules” while he cocks his little head side to side. And sometimes, that’s just what the doctor ordered.
