• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Pregnancy Logo 2018

Pregnancy Magazine

Pregnancy and infancy news, tips, and reviews

“Great
  • Pregnancy
  • Labor & Delivery
  • Baby
  • Breastfeeding
  • Buyer’s Guide
  • mom

Puppy Love

by Abra Annes Leave a Comment

I recently saw the movie “Marley and Me.” In it, a writer loves his insane, scraggly, difficult dog for more than a decade in spite of all his faults. To most, the movie is sad. To me? It is devastating.

This is not because it is not schmaltzy. It is. This is also not because it is particularly well-done. It isn’t. It is because I relate so much to the Jennifer Aniston character (named Jenny, oddly enough).

There is a scene where she is screaming at her husband after their incorrigable dog has woken their youngest, possibly colicky baby from a nap prior to wrecking the house. “He needs to get out,” she screams.

I wept.

Because I think I said the same thing a few nights ago. Every morning I wake up and have to clean up pee. I once slipped and fell in it while pregnant with Alan. We can’t use our downstairs because our dog keeps marking it as his and I don’t want our children in an unsanitary environment. Rocky (our dog) stinks, he barks, he has impossible-to-meet needs and always manages to bark at the most inopportune times.

Who am I kidding? He barks All. The. Time.

And yet we keep him. We keep him because we made a commitment. Because another family would have given him away a long time ago. Because we know a dog with needs as vast as Rocky’s would not be long for this world in a shelter.

He was put outside to die when he was just a puppy by an owner who did not know what to do with this high energy Chihuahua/mini pinscher mix. A year later, he was taken in by a Chihuahua rescue league that found him impossible to place due to his penchant for non-stop barking. And then we showed up on his foster family’s doorstep, took one look at the yapping, snarling caramel-colored bag of pure insanity and fell in love.

For the first three years of our marriage, he was our baby.

Curled up with his brother on Christmas:

 

Learning to swim:

Poor dog. He was not long for that place in our family. From the day our first child was born, he was dethroned, exiled to the land of kenneling and trunk time instead of sleeping in our bed and riding shotgun in the car.

But he is a member of our family just the same. Even when he drives me crazy, he is here to stay. I refuse to have it any other way. After all, he is Sam and Alan’s brother. And he ain’t heavy. Just 16 pounds of pure love.

 

Sasha Brown-Worsham is a freelance writer whose monthly column runs online at The Family Groove. Her work has appeared in Pregnancy, Runner’s World, Self and many other publications. She lives in Boston with her husband, daughter, son (and a cat and dog).

Filed Under: sasha-newborn-chronicles

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Peaceful Discipline by Sarah Moore

More to See

parent coaching

Parent Coaching: 3 Ways to Create a More Joyful Home

By Sarah Moore

The perfect workout for pregnant women (sponsored)

By Isa Herrera, MSPT CSCS

how to be a good mother

How to Be a Good Mother: 5 Ways To Raise Children with Love & Respect

By Sarah Moore

Aligned Parents webinar

By Paul Banas

Footer

Copyright 2023 Pregnancy Magazine Group

Emails powered by Wishpond: PregnancyWishpond

Dedicated WordPress hosting: PregnancyFlywheel

WordPress Theme: PregnancyTheme

This website provides information of a general nature and is designed for educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for an examination by your healthcare provider. If you have any concerns about your own health or the health of your child, you should always consult with a physician or other healthcare professional. Please review the Terms of Use before using this site. Your use of the site indicates your agreement to be bound by the Terms of Use.

 

Recent

  • A Beginner’s Guide to Gentle Parenting: 5 Ways to Lead with Love
  • How to Be a Good Mother: 5 Ways To Raise Children with Love & Respect
  • Best Parenting Books: 28 Books That Will Change Your Life for the Better
  • Aligned Parents webinar
  • How to make sure your home is ready for the new addition to your family

Search

© Copyright 2023 Pregnancy Magazine Group · All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
SAVE & ACCEPT