Growing Up With Dogs

Growing Up With Dogs

I love dogs. I think they are cute, regardless of their age, size, or breed. Every day, I spend about an hour watching videos of dog accounts I subscribe to on various social media platforms. I like that I feel better after seeing their fluffiness, derpy faces, and naughty antics.

Since I was a kid, we've had dogs in the house. If I remember correctly, we had 7 dogs all at the same time at one point. That's how much of a dog lover we were (and still are).

I think I was around 11 or 12 when we got our first dog. It was a cute, little brown aspin (“asong pinoy” or Filipino dog) puppy that we named Chief. I remember how playful and bitey he was, and how my siblings and I would run away from him and jump up our couch to escape his sharp baby teeth. Those were fun times.

When Chief was 2, we adopted another dog. It was a cute, white aspin puppy that we named Puppy. Yup, we called him Puppy. Unlike Chief, he was much calmer and gentler. I don't remember him chasing us around like a landshark. Instead, he chased tennis balls.

Our next dogs were Mike, Yoh, Mito, Miaka, Mako, Manta, Zsazsa, Ren, and Messi. They were all aspins too. I don't remember much about them because I moved to another city to study and work when my family adopted them. I got to meet them and spend time with them only when I would visit home once or twice a year for a week or two. Even though that was the case, they were always happy to see me and I felt like they knew that I was family too.

When I decided to move back home, we had Light. When we adopted her, she looked so  black, tiny, and scrawny. She was only a few weeks old when an acquaintance offered her to us. At first, she was quite timid. However, it didn't take long for her to cause chaos. One morning, we woke up to a pair of slippers completely destroyed.

Then we got Sano. He was a white, short-legged pup. I think he had some Spitz in him. He was the fluffiest fluffball we've ever had. He cried during his first few nights at home and stopped and fell asleep right away when carried. He grew up to be a very sweet dog that slept all day and only woke up to eat.

Two years ago, we got a black labrador puppy. We named it Gon. Out of all of our pups, he was the most hyper and difficult. His landshark stage was much much worse than Chief's. Before he turned 1, he always wanted to play and was constantly hungry. Now that he is almost 3, he has calmed down a little bit. However, he's still a food monster. As I am writing this, he is sound asleep. It has been two years, and I can say that all the stress and exhaustion were worth it. I can hear him snore. His feet are moving, probably dreaming about playing with the neighbor's cat. Gon has grown to be the goodest boi.