The dog has been over half a year old, and I have been assisting in taking care of it for almost half a year. In fact, my wife is the one who spends more time and energy on it. This is also the first time I have raised a dog for such a long time. They have accompanied me for so long, so I decided to write an article to record the past six months of raising a dog.
I often mention these two dogs in my weekly. Now let me briefly introduce them. The black one is called Invincible (original name Blackie), and the gray one is called Excess (original name Grayie). I will explain the origin of their names later. They are both male dogs and are native dogs.
Background#
I don't have much experience in raising dogs. The last time I raised a dog was in elementary school. I forgot who gave me a puppy, but I only raised it for a few days. My parents didn't agree to continue raising it, so we gave it away. I still have a few memories of that little dog in my mind. 1. At that time, there was no dog food in the countryside, so I fed it whatever I ate. I only remember feeding it noodles (a type of Shaanxi pasta). I didn't know that dogs couldn't eat heavy seasonings and spicy peppers, but the dog seemed to enjoy it. Whenever I gave it a piece, it would slurp it up, leaving me with nothing to eat. 2. My dad didn't allow me to keep the dog, so I temporarily gave it to our neighbor's house. I didn't dare to resist and said it was okay. Later, my younger aunt wanted me to bring it back. When I went to pick up the dog, it was tied up and lying there obediently. When it saw me, it went crazy and greeted me. After I untied it, I brought it back home. 3. After that, the dog stayed at my aunt's house. One time when I went out from my aunt's house, I saw it tied up outside guarding the house. When it saw me, it barked like crazy. It didn't recognize me anymore. By then, the dog had grown up, but not too much. I saw that one of its legs was lame. My sister said it was because it went to the garbage dump to scavenge for food and someone broke its leg. It was quite sad. The sadness was not because it was injured, but because it had forgotten about me in just a few months. Later, I heard that it had died, but I forgot the reason. It definitely wasn't from natural causes.
Since then, we haven't had any pets at home, and I didn't want to raise any either. If I really had to, I would prefer to raise a cat 🐱. Cats don't need to be walked or require too much companionship. Even in the game "The Sims 4," I only raise cats.
I often dream of being chased and bitten by dogs, or seeing dogs in my dreams and being too scared to move. Dream interpretation says that someone around me wants to harm me, which is quite absurd. But after raising dogs, I haven't had those dreams anymore. I only dream about training dogs.
I was born in the Year of the Dog, and I was even given nicknames during school, "Lele Dog" and "Dog Lele." These were okay and didn't involve bullying. They were just nicknames given by my friends.
Process#
Adoption#
Last November, we moved into a new house, and a few weeks later, my wife wanted to raise a furry child. I was afraid that she was just impulsive and didn't think it through, so I suggested that we go to someone else's house to play with their dog first. But she didn't agree, and I couldn't persuade her, so I agreed. Then we considered adoption, buying, or picking up a dog. We followed a dog shelter's official account and looked on Xiaohongshu (a social media platform) for information. Most of the dogs available for adoption were free, but they required a deposit, personal information, monthly video updates, and home visits. I couldn't accept these conditions because it felt like we were just taking care of someone else's dog. I was afraid that we would bring the dog home and not take good care of it or even mistreat it.
Later, I found a free adoption post on Xiaohongshu. There were no requirements, and we only needed to pick up the dog in person. So we went to pick up the dog on a weekend. The blogger had posted a video in advance and asked us to make a reservation. There were nine puppies in total, and all the white ones had already been reserved. My wife had reserved a black one in advance (which is Invincible), and the night before, I said we should get another one as a companion. So we reserved a gray one (which is Excess). Excess was the one who ate the most and seemed a bit dull in the video. Since it was my idea to get another dog, I named it Excess. Coincidentally, my wife's last name is Wang, and there is a character named "Wang Duoyu" in the movie "Hello Mr. Billionaire." I thought this name was suitable. As for Invincible, it's the opposite of Excess. They both learn things quickly.
After picking them up, we went to my mom's place first. As parents, they naturally didn't agree with us raising dogs. They only wanted grandchildren and thought that raising dogs would have an impact on that. But I didn't care and brought the dogs home anyway. My wife is meticulous, so she took care of everything related to the dogs' food and supplies.
Puppy Problems#
When the puppies first came home, we needed to teach them to use the toilet. It was indeed a challenging task. Invincible learned relatively quickly, and both the small and big dogs would go to the toilet. However, Excess couldn't learn even after half a day and would pee and poop everywhere. We even considered if one toilet wasn't enough for the two dogs and bought another one. We separated them and let them live in different areas, but they didn't want to be apart and would cry to sleep together. At that time, Excess was three or four months old and still didn't know how to use the toilet properly. It would bark at night and kept eating. It was quite a headache. I thought maybe it was because I said something like "we need another companion" when Excess was born, so I named it Excess. Coincidentally, my wife's last name is Wang, and there is a character named "Wang Duoyu" in the movie "Hello Mr. Billionaire." I thought this name was suitable. As for Invincible, it's the opposite of Excess. They both learn things quickly.
Initially, we didn't use a cage and used a playpen for children. But when the dogs grew up, they could jump out of it. We thought it would be better to let them roam on the balcony since it would be more comfortable for them. However, Excess still didn't know how to use the toilet properly and would poop and pee on the balcony. One day, I got really frustrated because I had to clean up the mess on the balcony every time I came home from work. I thought about giving the dogs away, and my wife saw that I was angry. She couldn't do anything, so she posted an adoption notice on Xiaohongshu and Xianyu (a second-hand trading platform). I sat in a chair and looked at the dogs. They were actually quite well-behaved, and I felt a bit reluctant. I told my wife that it was just me venting my anger and we should continue raising them. So we bought a cage, and the problem of them pooping and peeing everywhere was solved.
Walking the Dogs#
The first time we walked the dogs was in winter last year. After a heavy snowfall, there was a thick layer of snow outside. We wanted them to go out and play, but they were too scared to leave the house. We told them that if they didn't want to go out now, they would be eager to go out every day in the future. I don't know when it started, but they stopped using the toilet inside the house and would hold it until they went outside. We tried to take them out once in the morning and once in the evening.
Quirks#
It has been six months, and the two dogs have been behaving well, except for the initial problem of pooping and peeing everywhere. Invincible has a habit of destroying things. One time, it chewed up a pillow. Excess likes to roll in its own poop. My wife has taken them for walks several times, and every time she lets Excess off the leash, it finds poop and rolls in it. It seems that dogs really enjoy that smell. It's quite strange.
Maybe I'm a bit biased, but I'm stricter with them, so they are both afraid of me. Whenever I get angry, they will roll over on their backs.
Expenses#
We are on a tight budget, so when they were two months old, we soaked their dog food in milk. We bought lactose-free dog food to prevent diarrhea. We bought large bags of dog food weighing around 40-50 pounds and have tried several different brands. The native dogs aren't picky eaters. Now we also feed them chicken legs and bones 🦴, eggs, and vegetables. In total, we spend around three hundred dollars a month, which isn't too much. Both dogs are in good health and haven't been sick. Taking them to the vet is too expensive.
Thoughts#
Spending these five to six months with the dogs feels similar to raising a child. They say one dog month is equivalent to seven human months, so it's like experiencing the feeling of raising a child in a fast-forward manner. From taking care of their food, drink, and toilet needs since they were young to gradually playing with them as they grow up (because I'm an introvert and don't need much companionship, so I don't feel lonely).
I don't talk much, but when I train the dogs, I can keep talking. I feel like a parent, and they rely on me. I can exercise my parental authority and scold them freely, even if it's not the dogs' fault. Sometimes, I use the dogs as a way to vent my frustrations. I have been reflecting on and examining myself, hoping to avoid these behaviors as much as possible, whether it's towards the dogs, people, or future children. I want to be fair and objective, not attacking the person but discussing the issue, and control my emotions. One thing I think I'm doing well is that when I train the dogs, for example, when Excess pees everywhere, I won't compare it to Invincible and say how much better Invincible is. I just think that Excess might be a slow learner and needs more time to learn.
After doing a lot of good things, as soon as I do something bad, everything good I did before is completely negated. It's a human flaw. I always tell Invincible that it's pretending to be good, acting like a person before, but now everything is exposed, and it's not good anymore.
Conclusion#
I have written this piece intermittently, writing down my thoughts as they come to me. There is still a lot I haven't written about. Although raising dogs comes with many challenges, if someone asked me to give the dogs away, I would probably find it hard to do. I want to take good care of them and my only hope is to raise them for more than ten years and then "truly let them go."
After finishing writing, I needed to find photos from my childhood to adulthood to include in the article. They witnessed every moment of the puppies growing up, and it feels really good 🐶.
Originally published on My Blog