Gentle Giants
It’s insane that my fur babies are almost five years old. I remember the day we got them and I uttered the infamous words, “I’ve never had a brown dog before”, while holding Nala. I remember when Sasha would rest her head in the middle of my chest before bedtime, and I would rub the back of her neck to soothe her before making her go in her cage.
I don’t realize how fast time flies until I look through my Fur Babies photo album and pay attention to the dates. It’s crazy to look at the grown, well-behaved dogs living rent-free in my heart now and remember the wild twins who only wanted to wrestle and sleep. During those early days, especially when Sasha would scream at the top of her lungs to get out of her cage, I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.
There was a time when I couldn’t imagine leaving them loose together, but now I can’t remember how we survived with them cooped up all the time. Nala enjoyed her cage back then, but she loves laying in the sunlight on freshly vacuumed carpet way more. Sasha, on the other hand, has always despised her cage. The very first day we brought them home, we put them in a large Amazon box until their cages got delivered, but Sasha stuck her head through the little hand hole and almost met her maker. I should’ve known then that she was going to be a crazy one.
Without this blog chronicling the events, I could easily forget that Nala had a whole knee surgery a few years ago or the time we took Sasha to see an orthopedic specialist because her knee kept popping out of place. I was incredibly distraught during Nala’s recovery and I was a true stickler to her resting her knee to avoid any tears, accidents, or additional surgeries. The vet said 12 weeks minimum to heal and I refused to deviate from the plan.
I also remember that one bag of Beneful food we had to immediately toss because it broke them out, and the first time the vet recommended Royal Canin, which was so expensive for no reason. I even remember when my baby white dog was struggling to hold it until we made it outside of the garage and into the grass.
Nala and Sasha are the first two dogs I’ve raised as an adult, and I can honestly say they are so worth all of the effort. They’re incredibly smart and seem to understand every word I say even though I know most of the time they’re just happy I’m talking to them.
They make me laugh like no other. When I come home, I make sure to put my bags down and rub both of them because they’ve been waiting all day for me to walk through the door. The least I can do is give them some love and attention.
I always thought it was weird when my parents would bring up stories from when I was younger as if I hadn’t heard the story 5,000 times already and now, I get it. I know I sound like a broken record when I remind my husband of a memory as if he wasn’t there too! Certain topics instantly trigger me to pull up my photo album and scroll through the thousands of saved pictures of the dogs.
If I see a video of a dog crawling under a bed, I have to pull up the video of Sasha jumping on my head while I was trying to stop Nala from chewing on the bottom of a mattress. That video is too funny to me and I remember I was lowkey frustrated because I couldn’t get her out of there.
Over time, Sasha has learned how to gently nibble and jump on me to the point where I break out into a fit of giggles every time she does it. She literally does it on purpose and it just tickles my soul. I usually tell her to stop, but she thinks it’s a game since I can’t catch my breath in between my laughing. Eventually, I get serious so I can free my arm from her jaws. It’s amazing that my dog can literally have my fingers in her mouth but understands how to be gentle enough to not hurt me.
Dogs aren’t stupid. People who haven’t been around dogs a lot struggle to understand that they can pick up on the inflection in your voice and they can regulate themselves to not hurt you. Big dogs especially are gentle giants. Most of the dogs that you’d expect would bite your head off, are some of the biggest, scariest, gentlest, and cuddliest dogs in the world, but you’d never know it from their appearance.
Nala and Sasha are my babies. They are heavy, strong, muscular, and require space, time, money, and intentionality, but they are immensely loyal and an important part of our family. The people who look at a pet as “just an animal” clearly have never felt the unwavering, undeniable, and unshakable love from a fur baby.
If you enjoyed this episode, let me know by giving this video a thumbs up, leaving a comment, and subscribing to my channel. I’ll see you in the next episode!
Signed,
Jessica Marie
