Oliver And Me

My dog story

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His Life’s Purpose

I don’t know if this may sound a bit cliché. And I really don’t care if you believe it. But slowly by slowly I was truly convinced that Oliver was in my life for a reason. If you read my first post you would remember that a student called me out of nowhere telling me that she had found a puppy which had been abandoned. Out of all the people she could have called— she called me. And it also turns out that her best friend wanted to keep Oliver but she ended up giving him to me. I just can’t explain why.

I also already told you that Oliver doesn’t like to stay home alone. He doesn’t like to be alone period. But what I haven’t told you is that neither do I.

I guess we can all say that we got some childhood issues. We can thank our lovely parents for that. I know they meant no harm and they didn’t intend to traumatize us.

Oh well. They did. As an adult and searching for meaning, (my life’s purpose), why am I here and so on. I started realizing why I did certain things and why I couldn’t stick with a project that I had started or why I got tired of being with the same person for more than two years.

—-Something I haven’t told you is that my mom abandoned me when I was very young and it has been traumatizing me ever since. Now that I am aware I’ve realized that I always abandon things before it is done to me. (We’ll talk about this topic later.)

So turns out, my biggest fear was to be left alone and well I started realizing that it was Oliver’s biggest fear, too. He didn’t like to be left alone because he was afraid that he might get abandoned, too. He howls when he is lonely.

I don’t blame him, he was abandoned when he was little. He is scared I might do the same to him. But being with Oliver has made me become aware of what I feared the most. I started noticing that one of the reason why he chose me as his mom was to allow me to face my fear. Allow me to stick to something or even be able to be with someone. To be honest, I haven’t done it yet but at least I know it’s there. I don’t know if I ever will but I am working on it.

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Hurricane Oliver. 

(Read the last post) 

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Hurricane Oliver

Oliver is the first pet I’ve ever had. I had NO idea he was going to be so much!

I mean everything you see in movies is just so picture perfect. The cute little puppy that you just have to potty train and learn so quickly and you also get to play with them. It is just the best thing ever. BUT let me be honest. IT IS NOT ALL THAT! I mean yes! you do play with them, you do get a lot of cuddles and kisses. However, there is something behind that! There are the damages.

Oh lord! The damages.

I think I can say 99% of pet owners know what I am talking about. Know that… the damages are something else. Well, I’ve heard some crazy stories like dogs bitting the dinning room table and the owners have to buy a new one because it is really wobbly. Also, dogs making a mess out of the sofa, ruining shoes, eating walls and literally, just about everything they can chew on.

Oliver was NO different. First of all, he couldn’t be left alone remember? And when he was left alone. I had to pray that he wouldn’t ruin anything important. But, he sure did.

For the first couple of years, I didn’t know what a nice Christmas tree looked like cause Oliver used to play with the decorations and eat them, of course. I also stopped having books cause he managed to ruin them all. I lost count of how many shoes he chewed on and how many plants had been eaten. He sure made a mess.

But what can I say… It is all part of the process. And what would our life be without getting home and having to clean their mess up? I’d say extremely boring.

So, don’t get mad at your furry pet after they have destroyed your house and you are left with no furniture. Just be grateful, they didn’t eat your savings.

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As I mentioned on my last post, he literally started becoming my everything. I took him everywhere ( I still do). I only go to pet-friendly restaurant and places. That is how he became my ride of die. Since, I started working… every second spent with him was precious. I don’t know if you can relate or if I need some sort of psychiatric help but I started feeling guilty when I went out on weekends to places where I couldn’t take him. Therefore, I just stayed home and my life started changing. I felt like I had a kid. (Oliver sure acted like one, too)

He loved his toys and played with them constantly. This is the positive side of having a pet but the worst part was potty training him. It took him a year pee outside!!!

Let me tell you! That was the worst!!

It turned out he always peed when he was happy or saw someone he hadn’t seen for a very long time. I’m kidding! He peed even if he hadn’t seen someone for a few hours. I called it the JOY PEE. So I would walk in after a long day of work and he would see me and just pee. AND I called it the best part of the day. I mean who doesn’t like to clean up some stinky pee.

Oh! And his morning pee. Right when he saw me in the morning. -Just imagine cleaning pee when you are half asleep- Till one day, I got tired of it. I started sleeping in my gym clothes and right when he woke up I carried him straight away to the park. That way he didn’t have time to JOY PEE but sometimes… It just wasn’t enough.

Yeah, just as you imagined it… He peed on me several times. I don’t blame him. He was just happy to see me, to start a new day, and to begin his new adventure. So, I tried to teach him to pee on a newspaper and it didn’t work. I looked for ways to help me train him online but none of them worked. I even bought a pee spray that smelled horrible and of course it didn’t work. The only thing that worked was walking him 4-5 times a day and carrying him till he peed outside.

After a year, he learned that he had to do his necessities outside and he still does. But I remember that year and it was torturous. Having a pet means having a lot of patience, love, dedication, and time. And this is something I learned in the long run. Not right away. But either way, it’s the best experience ever.

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His First day of School

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He started becoming my everything.

When I got Oliver I was on vacation. I had a lot more time for him and I literally spent it ALL with him. I started getting to know him. When he had to go to the bathroom, when he wanted to play, or even when it was just time to spy on the neighbors. He has always been very expressive and has always shown me what he wanted. And that's how we started creating a bond. We started to become one.

Oh.. I also started to spoil him--- if I may add.

He became this spoiled little puppy that had to go with me wherever I went. He went to pet friendly places, he went to the mall (just cause he could fit in my purse), and he even went to visit my parents every time I did.

He was my companion, my best friend, and my puppy.

But it was not all fun and games.

The first time I had to leave Oliver alone cause I couldn't take him with me WAS ABSOLUTELY MADNESS.

A normal puppy barks here and there but he just howled the whole time he was left alone.

He cried as if something or someone were killing him.

Oliver suffered (and suffers if you would really like to know) from separation anxiety.

--I know that it was my fault-- but he was my first puppy. I had no idea this was going to happen.

If I had known I couldn't take him anywhere and I had to train him.. I would have done it.

But I didn't. Oliver started growing up and he thought he was going to go with me everywhere and it wasn't possible.

So leaving him alone was torture. (Literally).

I just couldn't leave him in the apartment because our neighbors started complaining and the landlord wanted to kick us out.

So we had to look for solutions.

Turns out there are a lot of dogs out there that suffer from separation anxiety and there are a lot of articles in the internet. Just that, they were all kinda like the same and well Oliver wasn't falling for any of those tricks. He was really too attached to me.

So.. I started looking for doggy schools-places where Oliver could get picked up- play all day and they would take him home.

OH DEAR LORD!

The first day they took him to school was my nightmare come true.

Turns out I have separation anxiety, too.

I felt like a mom leaving her baby at school for the first time.

It was so hard. Especially because Oliver doesn't speak. So I don't know if he liked it or not.

So, the bus picked him up the first day and he was so nervous. He didn't know what was going on. Just got on the bus and left.

And of course - I cried.

I texted the person who was in charge of the school over 2,000 times and he wasn't very nice. But I needed to know how he was. They sent me videos of Oliver playing and that calmed me down a little but it wasn't easy either way.

The first day was over and Oliver got home safe and sound.

I decided to give day 2 a try.

But Oliver wasn't having it. He didn't want to get on the bus. I thought it was just a normal tantrum but ... it was true. He just didn't like it.

As a mom- I didn't know what to do. I had to go to work and if he stayed home he would have cried all day-- So he had to get on the bus and he did.

He went to that school for a week but it was torture to him.

After the week was over my ex husband was driving and he saw a bus that said Happy doggies. It was another school bus and he decided to call them.

This school was a little more expensive but we decided to give it a try.

And it was the best decision we had ever made.

Oliver was the happiest puppy on this bus.

He waited anxiously every day to get to school.

Sometimes he just wouldn't eat cause he thought the bus might leave him.

(It was soo funny)

But I was just glad he had a place to go and I could go to work.

Oliver's first day of school

Thanks for reading,

Love, V

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First couple of days.. 

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The first couple of days

The first couple of days were not easy at all. They were NOT what I thought they were going to be. Honestly, I didn't expect the worst. I thought that having a dog was going to be fun. Well, I wasn't 100% wrong.. but I was 90% wrong. There was more to just walking Oliver. There was the potty training, the bitting, the destroying everything he could get his little teeth on and there was the hyperness!! The vet had told me that Oliver couldn't go outside or be with any dogs until he had gotten all his shots and since I was a first time mom, I did exactly what he told me to. Oliver stayed in the house all day just looking out the balcony and peeing and pooping everywhere. (Boy, was that a mistake) Oliver was going nuts in the house! He started jumping on the couch, running all over the place, and destroying the whole apartment. It was terrible!!! He was a little white hurricane (He still is by the way but not as much). My ex husband and I were about to give him back. We couldn't handle it. He was too much wayyy too much and when I say too much it was because HE WAS TOO MUCH!!! So, I decided to take him to the park. -That dog needed some fresh air- And he got it. He was able to run in the park, roll all over the grass, and pee and poop everywhere. He was the happiest dog outside and he was A LOT calmer inside but he was still a lot to handle. That's where we learned our lesson. Oliver needed the park. He needed to play even though he didn't have all his shots. He needed to be out of the house. And that's what we did. But getting used to Oliver wasn't so easy. It was much harder than I had thought. I mean.. movies lie. Taking Oliver out to the park was 20-30 minutes that I didn't have anymore and.I had to walk Oliver four or more times a day so you do the math. It was time I definitely missed. I couldn't sleep in anymore cause if I did he would just pee inside and that apartment and it wasn't smelling so good. It was having patience and lots but I mean lots of cleaning. It was telling him not to eat everything he saw on the floor and not to nibble on the wall. It was a challenge and it was a change. Changes are not easy and this one wasn't. It wasn't all bad though. Oliver did make us laugh. ( A LOT) He was and is a huge dork. But most importantly, Oliver brought my ex husband and I together. He made us a family. He made us look after someone and in this case him. He united us and made us feel again. He made us feel angry, sad, happy, and he even allowed us to love. He changed our lives.

Thanks for reading

Love, V 

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Oliver’s first day

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Oliver and Me

I don't know if any of you have ever had a pet before. I know I haven't. And now that I have one, I can't describe what I feel about him. I got Oliver Alejandro Casanova on November 5, 2016. He was approximately 3 months old. A person I knew had found him in a box next to a garbage can in the middle of nowhere. Oliver was full very dirty and was full of ticks. He really didn't want anyone to touch him or to hold him. But my friend kindly picked him up and took him to a vet near her house. I hadn't talked to my friend in a very long time. She wasn't even my friend. She had been my student a while back. (Don't ask me why she called me) So, she took him to the vet and called me. She told me that she had found a dog, he was a puppy and that he was going to be small (which he wasn't). So, I decided to see the dog. (If only you could have seen him, too. He was so tiny and cute. He had a black patch in his eye, just like a pirate. He didn't want to get near me, though. He only wanted to be with my ex husband, but we'll talk about that later) I saw him, I saw Oliver. His name was supposed to be Ragnar, just like the Viking but it wasn't possible. People in Colombia just couldn't pronounce his name. They were calling him Batman or Frog. (Anyways this really doesn't matter). But when I saw him, I fell in love. It was as though we were supposed to be together. As though, destiny had wanted us to be together in this lifetime. It might sound tacky. It might sound unrealistic. You might even think I am crazy but it's true. He had chosen me as his dog mom in this moment. Then the vet bathed him and prescribed some medicine. We (my ex husband and I) went to buy a bed -which he never used- and other things we thought he might need. When we picked him up, he got in our car and he was so happy to be in it. He behaved so well and sat on my lap with the wind blowing on his face. After that, we got home and he started sniffing the place. He didn't cry at night or he didn't do anything he wasn't supposed to. Like I said before, he was meant to be there and to be with me. So why am I writing about this 3 years later? I felt like I had to share the way I felt about my four-legged son. He changed my life in some unimaginable ways. I just can't imagine my life without him.