Last week, my mom called me to inform me of the wonderful news that we had adopted a puppy.
She had been looking for a puppy for a while now, but either couldn’t find something she wanted or something our landlord would be allow. Finally, she decided to buy a white long-haired chihuahua named Sammy.
I was a bit hesitant to use the term “puppy” with him because he’s about a year and a half old, but after seeing the way he acts around people, I think the term was appropriate. Although he was a little bit leery of me when he first met me, as soon as I sat down, he jumped up in my lap and wanted me to pet him.
Mom said she was thinking about changing his name from what his previous owner called him, Sammy, but I had already grown attached to the name and I didn’t think it was a good idea to confuse him too much when he was already adjusting to a new place.
So now I have one more thing to be excited about when i go home for break and another reason to buy doggie treats on Black Friday when I’m doing my Christmas shopping.
There’s really only one downside to this, in my opinion. Don’t misunderstand me, Sammy is absolutely adorable, playful and I’m really glad we could save him from the animal shelter. The only problem is he reminds me a lot of my old dog.
I had a dog who was about the same size as Sammy that I basically grew up with. I had from the time I was about 10 years old until this summer. He passed away unexpectedly and I was devastated. I’m not really sure why it affected me so harshly, but it did.
Afterward, my mom wanted to buy another dog, which I can understand because being home by yourself can get very boring, but I also thought it might be too soon to get a new dog.
When she called last week, I was excited, but I was also nervous that I might not be ready, and I was kind of right.
A few times this past weekend, I did a name slip and accidentally called Sammy the name of my old dog. While he didn’t notice it, I definitely did, and it hit me more than I expected it would.
Of course, I really like Sammy, but I still feel bad because I called him the wrong name, even though he probably didn’t care at all.
It’s just going to take some adjustments for me. Even when I came home for fall break this semster, not ssing the familiar cage with a fun-sized dog who’s excited to see me left a few pangs in my chest.
Not anything that I couldn’t get over within a few minutes or anything, but they were still there.
It’s hard to forget about someone I spent a few years of my life with, let alone half of my life.
I guess it just takes more time for some to get over the loss of a pet, even if you only saw it on breaks. Maybe the more I get used to Sammy, the less it will matter to me. But right now, I’m still adjusting, and who knows how long that will take.
KHADIJA DJELLOULI
