I heard you got a dog.

Dear Anybody Who Just Got a Dog,

I got my dog right before the start of my freshman year. I didn’t know what he was at the time: what breed, what size he would grow to be, or anything about him really. My mom didn’t know either, she just thought he was a temporary companion as I went through adjustments and changes in my life. At first, I tried my best to hide my dog from my friends and those around me. He could be very temperamental, so I would conceal him, until I could let him roam free at night when I was alone in my room. Nobody knew I had a dog, because I kept him chained up all day. I didn’t know how people would react to my dog, and I was afraid of people trying to help me control him.

Soon my dog was growing faster than I could keep up with. I tried to make him stay small. I wasn’t prepared to have a large dog, I just wanted a manageable puppy. But I soon learned that it was completely out of my control. After all, it was a growing dog. For a while, I didn’t realize just quite how big he was. I thought that I would be able to train him myself, and condition him into being a quiet, restful dog. I tried to control him when he walked, I tried to control where he went, I tried to make him stop growling, but it was completely exhausting. Every time I tried to train him, he retaliated, and the problems grew worse. I was growing so weary of attempting to control him that I would sleep for the majority of the day, because he couldn’t bother me when I was sleeping. When I was awake, I spent so much time distracted by my dog that I had no time to eat or take care of myself.

Despite my efforts, my dog kept growing. He grew so big that he had complete control over me. I was too afraid of his strength and size to confront him. When I would be out with friends, he would bark and growl at me until I went home, because he craved my undivided attention. He would nip at me until I went into my room, where he would come out at his worst. Even when I could barely hear his yelps, at a concert or at school, he would scratch and scratch until I let him out. Out of complete exhaustion, I once went to a trainer after a mild attack from him, and the trainer gave me some advice to train him. However, the trainer’s tips didn’t help to calm my dog down at all.

When my dog peaked in size, he peaked in aggression. A few months ago, he attacked me worse than he ever had before. He besieged every part of my body to the point where I genuinely thought I would never recover. I spent a week in the hospital to treat my wounds and train my dog, surrounded by other teenagers that also had their own. We learned how to distract our dogs, what to feed them, and how to play with them. When I was there, I realized just how many people have their own dogs. People of all ages, backgrounds, and personalities can all have one. Some are big, some are small, some are moody, some are quiet. Everyone’s dogs react differently to their owners and have a mind of their own. I learned that I shouldn’t have to hide my dog, and I didn’t feel quite so alone anymore.

While I was there, the vet gave me a special food to feed my dog to help calm him down. It made me feel insufficient at first, because what was wrong with the way I handled him? But I learned that there was nothing wrong with me, he just needed some external nutrients to balance his behavior. The side effects of this new food affected him greatly though, which in turn affected me. At first, it made his eyes glaze over and his mind remain blank. He acted like an emotionless zombie. So, I changed his food, which then made him hyperactive, whether he was happy or upset. It took a while to find the combination of foods to get him where I wanted to him to be. When we finally balanced it, I was so excited. He had calmed down enough to where I wasn’t constantly distracted by him. The combination of verbal training and a balance of food has really helped to improve his behavior.

Today, my dog still remains my constant companion. I have accepted that he is my dog and that he will be with me for a while. Nevertheless, I know that my dog isn’t me, and doesn’t have control over me. I have learned that I can’t completely control my dog; he has a mind of his own. But, I can control how I respond to his behavior. He still barks and growls sometimes, but he isn’t as needy as he used to be. I only see him misbehave on rare occasions when I forget to feed him or if he craves my attention. My closest friends have met my dog, and they now know how to get him under control when I can’t myself. I don’t try to hide him anymore. I learned that nearly everyone has a dog of some sorts, whether it’s a giant wolf or small puppy. I’m not ashamed to be out with my dog, because everyone else is out with theirs too.

Love,

Another Dog Owner