I didn’t grow up with a dog, in fact, the only pets I had were parakeets and rabbits.  Both of which I knew I would never have as an adult.

Just after I got married, 11 years ago, my husband surprised me with a maltipoo for my birthday. I was speechless and a little upset mostly because I had no idea what it meant to be a dog owner! Little did I know I was about to embark on a journey that would reshape the person I am today.

We named our first furry baby, Peanut. To be honest, before he arrived I had put him on a one week trial….if it didn’t work out, we were going to send him back.  Peanut was born in Texas and arrived via American Airlines where we met for the first time. He was 8 weeks old. Tiny, like a Peanut, with white curly hair. He was terrified. When I reached for him I immediately panicked because I didn’t know what to do next. Once I got hold of him from the back of his crate, he curled into the palm of my hand and calmed the nerves we both had and we both immediately felt a sense of relief. It was clear, I was consumed with so much love for this little animal.  It hit me in that moment that we had just become family. It didn’t take more than 5 minutes for me to make my decision that he was staying with us forever!

Most valuable lesson as a dog owner:

Unconditional love. Peanut gave me the gift of friendship with no strings attached.  He grew to love me and my husband as his furry parents and we loved him as our furry baby. He journeyed with us through two pregnancies and babies and accepted and protected our kids with every bone in his body.  We tragically lost Peanut to a coyote attack shortly after his 7th birthday and it felt just as tragic as the loss of any family member. There were days Peanut and I were besties and days we were frenemies, but we were family. In his absence I learned that he taught me to be more kind, more compassionate and more forgiving.

Today we have Coco another adorable maltipoo.  He is everything Peanut was and continues to be for us.  While having a dog can sometimes feel like work, there isn’t a moment that goes by that I’m not reminded of Peanut and how his legacy serves as a reminder to not take the human and dog relationship for granted.  I can definitely say I am a better person because of my furry babies and will be forever indebted to my dogs for the lessons they teach me everyday!

Your chick,
Sonia

Chick Picks:

There are so many versions of this sweatshirt! The one I am wearing is linked here |  A slightly higher end version of it is linked here | Revolve has a distressed version here | Jeans are linked here | Booties are sold out, but I have linked something similar here |Check out the necklace that we all have here  see it on me here