Our Menagerie

Someone really should have warned Matt that marrying me would mean living in a zoo. I say someone, because I didn't know it myself at the time. I'd only ever had outside pets, and he was allergic to anything with fur, so it wasn't even an issue.


Until a couple years down the road, when we started feeling that something might be missing...and decided to keep our eyes peeled for the right puppy. Then one Saturday, a wild goose chase after a golden retriever pup I'd seen online, who wasn't meant to be ours, led us to a different shelter and a cute little mixed breed girl who was. She was asleep when we walked in, completely unaware that her life was about to change forever. But after her sister peed on my arm, we woke Callie up, she boldly sniffed Matt's shoelaces...and decided to come home with us. No arguments on our side. We practically cleaned Walmart's pet section out, buying everything our new darling might need or desire, and then got down to the business of raising a dog. 


It's been a wild ride. That first year she ate everything she could reach - including the basic structure of our apartment. We patched drywall and paid for digested linoleum, and tried desperately to substitute the nearest chew toy for our much more tasty hands. We watched as she climbed over her baby gate like a little monkey and decided she'd much rather sleep between us. A quiet girl at home, she barked so loudly in obedience class that no one could hear the instructor the first full session. And oh, how she tugged on her leash - as if she thought that if we didn't get around that next bend in time, she'd miss something incredible happening right now.

But we survived, and we flourished. Suddenly our peaceful home was transformed into a bright place of squeaky toys and wrestling, of a furry "horse" galloping up and down the hall, and excited whimpers accompanied by full-body wiggles when we got home from work. Matt discovered that there was one dog in the world he wasn't allergic to, and I discovered our bed really could fit three and her smile was more important than keeping the couch perfectly clean.

Now she'll be four years old in June and is such a little lady - finally settling into her adulthood and losing some of her puppy ways...but never one to turn down a good wrestling match with her "daddy." She was the beginning of our transformation from couple to family, and will always be our special girl.