I still remember that day. We went to the mall looking for shoes and ended up buying a puppy. I do not remember if we did get the shoes or not, but I do remember getting my sweet, loyal, loving, and cuddly friend Simba!
My oldest sister Angela, younger brother Dani, and I walked by the pet store at the shopping center. We were enticed to come in by the cute puppies and kittens on the window. As we came into the store, Angela and I were immediately attracted to a kennel with three small, fuzzy puppies playing with each other. They were about 3 pounds. Two of them were black and one was tan. We were smitten by their cuteness and playfulness! They were cockapoos (cocker-spaniel-poodle mix).
Angela asked the store employee, “How much are these?” Six-hundred dollars, was the reply. “Can we hold one?” Angela asked interested. The employee affirmed her she could and went behind the glass window to go grab the dog. Angela pointed at the one she wanted – Simba! Angela asked how big he would be when full-grown and they told us he would get up to about 12 pounds. We liked that because we wanted a small dog. They are cuter, we thought. Simba, however, grew to be 35 lbs!
Neither Dani nor I had ever had a dog before. We didn’t have relatives who had them either. Angela had only one dog before, which my parents had to give away because he chewed up everything.
Our family migrated from the Dominican Republic, where many homeless dogs roam the streets. If a dog had a home, they usually were caged outside, on top of the roof (flat, cement roofs), chained, or left to wander freely anywhere (including the streets). Very few were inside dogs. Dominican dogs are definitely not as pampered, considered or taken care of as much as they are in the United States.
Simba was trembling in my sister’s arms. He was taken away from his kennel and his friends. He was shaking all the way home. I was holding him in the car and I was a little bothered by the bad odor. I had never real
ly held a dog before.
Needless to say, both my mom and my other sister Tina were surprised when we brought home a puppy. They both thought he was cute, but didn’t really want to touch him. We were all a bit strange to hold a dog (maybe because he didn’t smell that great and we were used to dogs being dirty). Dani dropped him the first time he held him!
Angela and I thought that Simba could stay in a small spare room we had. A friend of mine, who’d never had a dog either, suggested we covered the floor with newspaper in case he relieved himself in the room. That made sense to me because we had pet chicks before, and covering the floor with newspaper would do the trick of protecting the floor. We soon found out that newspaper didn’t work for dogs. Simba simply grabbed the paper with his teeth and tore it into pieces! (He didn’t mean anything bad by it; he was just a puppy full of energy.) We also tried putting him in a medium cardboard box. As soon as we put him in, he jumped out. If you’re thinking that we were clueless, that’s an understatement! At least we had the good sense to take him to the vet to get his shots.
The doctor clued us in to buy a crate for housetraining and to neuter Simba at the right time. Angela asked him about how often we were supposed to bathe him. He asked us how many times we bathed him, and my sister responded, “A few times a week.” “A few times a week?! Why would you want to bathe him that much?” asked the vet. “Well, he doesn’t smell very good.” replied Angela. Then the doctor explained to us how that would cause his coat to get dry and suggested a spray to get rid of the odor. I guess we weren’t used to the smell of dog. We expected him to smell like a human.
The first time we left Simba alone in the house, we left him out of his crate because we thought it’d be too cruel to leave him locked in that small space for so long. I didn’t get to see it, but my sister told me that there was pee and poop everywhere when she came back to the house!
Needless to say, we didn’t know much about dog training. We were mostly interested in training Simba to go to the bathroom outside and so we signed up for a puppy training class that cost over a hundred dollars. I didn’t get to attend, but both my sisters took turns taking him. We thought Simba was the student, and not us. So, it didn’t matter who took him as long as he got the education he needed to be a well-behaved dog. The inconsistency in handler didn’t help. My sisters didn’t do well in passing on the information they got from training class to the rest of the family. Simba learned to sit, but he didn’t learn any other command. He never really understood that relieving himself in the house was not acceptable. He barks a lot, jumps up on people, begs at the dinner table, pulls on the leash, and eats from the trash. Simba didn’t get the education we hoped, mainly because we didn’t realize that we were the ones who needed to learn and reinforce wanted behavior. The inconsistency in our dog education philosophies didn’t help either. Poodles are one of the smartest dog breeds, but I bet Simba was confused with everyone in the house handling him a different way.
At an early age (less than 1 year old), Simba developed cataracts in his eyes. In order to get rid of it, we would have to pay for an operation that would cost about two thousand dollars. We couldn’t afford it, but we tried other treatments that would at least relieve it.
He also had recurring ear infections, and we took him to the vet frequently for it. We had been sold a puppy with bad genes. That didn’t affect how much we loved him, though.
I loved waking up to see Simba! He was a very playful and cuddly puppy. Seeing him and being around him brought joy to all of us. We took lots of pictures of him as a puppy as well as when he was fully-grown. We love him very much!
Do I regret getting Simba? Not at all! He has been there when nobody else has, and no matter how bad I may be feeling, his presence has always given me comfort and warmth. I do wish, however, that we would have been more consistent with him and given him the guidance he needed. Dogs give us their whole lives, their loyalty, and love, and we owe it to our best friends to learn about their material and emotional needs.
To anyone wanting to acquire a dog, I would first advise to consider what this would mean in terms of investment in time, money, love, and care. Many people get dogs without thinking about the long-term commitment to a living being. After realizing what having a dog means, some people give them away, sometimes ending up in shelters.
Secondly, I would suggest buyers to research the dog breed that would be most compatible with their lifestyle. We were lucky to get a very friendly dog that doesn’t shed, but that was totally by chance. Instead of being spontaneous the way we were, I recommend planning for a dog. Do you want a dog that will play and run all day (i.e. sheltie) or do you prefer one that will not mind sitting with you on the couch most of the day (i.e. Pekingese)? Do you mind having to take the dog to the groomers every month and combing its hair everyday? Do you mind a dog that sheds? Do you want a small dog or a large one? All these questions are related to your lifestyle and pertain to breeds. Pick wisely.
It is my theory that Simba may have come from a puppy mill. Puppy mills are inhumane places that produce dogs simply for money. The care given to puppy mill dogs are very minimal, causing many genetic diseases to be passed on to the puppies bred. We didn’t know about puppy mills, and didn’t think about where we would get a dog. This is common for many first-timers. I advice buyers to research the places where they want to buy their next dog and make sure the parents are healthy and raised in a well-balanced environment. Adopting dogs without homes and giving them a chance at a happy life would be optimal. Do not contribute to puppy mills.
Dog education is essential for a good dog:owner relationship. Be aware that most of the training we’ll do as dog owners is mostly for us than for our pet. If there are many people in the family, make sure everyone is on the same page on the discipline you want to give the dog. Educate yourself with many of the resources out there to help understand dogs and how to handle them. Both you and your dog will be happier as a result!
I hope most of you reading this won’t make the same mistakes we did with our first dog. Let us all take the time to educate ourselves about dogs and how to properly care for them. They deserve that and much more from us!
I love you Simba!
