Puppy Love

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When did you get G? Can you tell us about your history together and has he affected your recovery in any way or is he just a great sidekick?

Whoever asked this just scored MAJOR points in my book, because G. is very special to me and I'm touched that someone showed interest in him!!!

I got G. in the summer of 2005, just before starting college. He came from a breed rescue group, and was pulled from a shelter the same day he was scheduled to be euthanized. He had been terribly beaten, starved, and otherwise mistreated, in addition to being adopted out and returned 2 or 3 times. In other words, he was a fixer-upper. He had severe anxiety issues, and I debated with myself over whether I could handle his problems. For some reason, though, I just had to have him. I looked at other dogs that were healthier and had less "baggage", but G. was the one that I connected with, and so G. became mine (and vice versa).

He is the BEST thing that has ever happened to me. There were some challenging times in the first few months, but his anxiety issues have improved by orders of magnitude. He just needed to learn some trust. He was very afraid of people at one point, but now he is a total ham. He lets kids climb all over him, and meets guests at the door with a ball in his mouth. He is still clingy: I call him my "velcro dog" because he's rarely more than about 3 feet away from me. His personality is a perfect fit for me. He is a largish breed with high energy demands, but he is actually very calm. He's perfectly happy to be quiet and still for hours while I study, as long as he can be next to me.

How G has affected my recovery: getting G. was a big milestone for me, because suddenly there was something that totally depended on me being healthy and functional enough to take care of him. I got him the first week after I moved out of my parents' house, so it was also a time of major transition. My family had a dog, but it was different than the one-on-one partnership that you develop with a pet when you live on your own. Also, I lived in an apartment without a yard, so he was dependent on me walking him around town to get his exercise. This definitely prompted me into the habit of fueling myself better. At that point I was eating *very* few calories a day, and starting the new lifestyle with G. spurred me to slowly start increasing the size and frequency of my food intake. Getting out with him was also a great icebreaker for meeting people in my new neighborhood, and we quickly became pretty recognizable around town (he is a very handsome, striking dog!).

I will admit that I have definitely used him, at times, to facilitate my overexercise habits. I absolutely enjoy his walks, but they're also part of my ritualized exercise "requirement" every day. There have been times when it was really too hot, cold, rainy, etc for us to be out, but I still did the forced march with him. I feel terrible about that, thinking back, because I know he trusts me and would do whatever I ask, even if it's harmful to him.

But if I didn't have G., I would just have found some other exercise routine in place of those walks, of course.

Overall he has DEFINITELY affected my recovery in a positive way. I can think of so many times when I would have gone entire days without smiling if it weren't for his goofy antics. He is a very dignified looking breed, but inside he is a total clown. He is very perceptive about my emotions, and definitely sticks even closer when I'm upset or stressed. Petting and talking to him really calms me down when I'm anxious about something. There were times when I was going through VERY dark periods and really just not wanting to be around any more, but being responsible for him was a big factor that held me back from doing anything drastic. He had been abandoned and mistreated so many times in his past, and I didn't want to be just another person to disappear from his life.

One of the best things about getting healthier has been having more energy to play spontaneous games with G, race him to and from the mailbox, etc. I remember about a year and a half ago, still in the early stages of my therapy/weight gain, a song came on the radio and I just randomly danced around the house with him. He was surprised and so happy to be having fun, he always gets excited when I laugh. It was definitely a rewarding episode that has stuck with me as motivation to this day. (Ok, just went back and dug up the post that originally mentioned that event. It's so weird to read my thoughts from that long ago).

It is INCREDIBLY tempting to post pictures to show off my boy, I promise you he is gorgeous! But since he is virtually always with me, and he is rather striking, showing him off is almost the same as putting pix of myself, it would definitely be identifiable...those of you that have me on Facebook, I encourage you to go admire G. photos in honor of this Q&A. ;)