Three Dogs and Me!
OK, well instead of being the crazy cat lady I am the crazy dog lover. But I didn’t start with three dogs right away. The first dog I ever got on my own back in 2011 was Necia. She is a Maltese terrier mix and she is currently 13 years old. I adopted her when my cousin who was working at an apartment complex found her roaming around with long hair and nails starving. Necia was 4 years old when found. She had no collar or ID and after months of putting up found dog signs no one claimed her. And since my cousin couldn’t keep her, I decided to take her.
She wasn’t trained but she was supper needy and from the start had separation anxiety. I only knew she was 4 when I took her to the vet, they were able to guess her age by looking at her teeth. Then since I was living with my grandmother in Leesburg at the time, that was where I began to work with her and train her.
Potty training was the first thing and once she got that down we began with more training. Since she didn’t have a name, I decided to say a bunch of names to see if she would listen. She didn’t like anything I was saying.
Then one day while I was training her, I got frustrated and in Spanish I said to her “Porque eres tan Necia?!” Which means why are you so stubborn? And right there at the moment when I said Necia, she looked me dead in the eyes and perked her ears. She chose her name to be Necia aka stubborn.
Over the years it’s just been me and Necia taking road trips (because she hates flying) and meeting new people along the way. Everyone I knew always asks about Necia because she is my ride or die fur baby. She was there when things with my ex-fiancé didn’t work out. She was there when I was sick and felt like death. When I had my wisdom teeth pulled out. She has been there through thick and thin. We are inseparable. That is also why she has separation anxiety and hates it when I drop her off at the groomers in PetSmart. But we have been going there for years and I trust the groomers every time and she always comes out looking and smelling fabulous!
In August 2021 I finally got my bachelor’s degree in digital marketing. I then decided since I hated my job as a medical receptionist for Kaiser Permanente I decided to quit and move to Austin, TX. In October I packed all my stuff in a PODS container to be shipped and stuffed my car with mine and Necias valuables. We drove for 22 hours from Northern Virginia to Austin. Of course, we did stop in Memphis Tennessee to sleep over night. But once we arrived I realized that the apartments we will be living in wasn’t in a “safe” area. Rundberg was the name of the area we were staying. And since I already paid my deposit first and last months rent, we were going to stay put for a while.
The next month November I started a new job which meant I had to leave Necia home alone. We both felt uneasy about that so that weekend I went to the animal shelter. As I walked around looking for a pup, I saw online I ended finding out the pup I saw online was already taken. So I began to walk around looking for a new pup to take home with me. I found three that I absolutely adored, but obviously I couldn’t take all three with me to a one-bedroom apartment. So, I narrowed it down to one. And that was Mr. T who is a German Shepherd mix. He was only 2 years old and rehomed twice. Apparently, he was aggressive toward everyone and everything. But when I walked by him we locked eye’s and he gave these adorable puppy eye’s I fell in love. Once I made up my mind, I wanted to take him home the shelter set up a meet and greet so I can go get Necia and we both can meet Mr. T outside. At first, I was a bit nervous because Necia is a tiny pup and Mr. T wasn’t. So, if things were to go south I would’ve been devastated.
There we were me and Necia on one side of a metal fence and Mr. T with two employees from the shelter on the other side. Right away Necia began to bark letting everyone know she has arrived lol. And Mr. T wasn’t even fazed by her! He was just happy to be outside and sniffing the area. Once Necia settled down we then joined Mr. T on the other side of the fence. Right away Mr. T began to approach Necia, but his tail was wagging and he was extremely gentle with her. Once they sniffed each other they then began to walk away from each other to explore the area. And just like that I signed all the appropriate paperwork and took Mr. T home with me. What was hilarious was when we got to the apartment he was afraid of the stairs! So the first two days I had to carry this huge ass dog up the stairs because I lived on the second floor. Necia just watched and later taught him how to do it.
There we were just the three of us in a one-bedroom apartment in Rundberg cuddling and enjoying each other’s companies. Although when we did go on walks Mr. T began to show his aggression by lunging at people, kids, and other dog’s. Obviously living in an apartment setting this needed to be corrected. Right away I contacted a doggy boot camp where Mr. T can join a few other dogs to learn how to behave and to correct his behavior. Our dog trainer Tina was an absolute angel. She worked with Mr. T for three weeks and he was a changed pup. He still get’s defensive when people get too close to me or Necia but it’s a lot better than before.
We lived happily for four months until I met Charlie. I met Charlie online and we began dating. As things began to get more serious I then introduced him to the pup’s. Right away Mr. T got jealous and didn’t trust him just yet. Necia on the other had loved Charlie and wanted him to pet her and hold her every time he came to visit lol. Slowly over time Mr. T started to trust Charlie and would sniff his butt and poke his crotch to let him know don’t piss me off or hurt mommy. Then three months after that Necia, Mr. T and I moved in with Charlie. That meant no more one bedroom apartment and no more sleeping in bed with mommy.
The first night both Necia and Mr. T cried and barked for me to let them out of their crates. I honestly gave in around midnight and slept downstairs on the couch with them. And since Charlie wanted me to sleep upstairs with him that night, we all slept together in the bed. It was a very uncomfortable night since I was getting smothered by my then boyfriend and two fur-babies. The next few nights both pups slept in their crates and Charlie and I upstairs in our room. We all adjusted and were living happily.
In September Charlie and I got married. We were all doing well but part of me felt bad for Mr. T because since Necia is thirteen all she does is sleep. And I wanted Mr. T to have a playmate or a new sibling to play with. Two months later right as I was getting my nails done by my nail lady Anna, she was telling me that she needed to rehome her 2-year-old Australian Shepherd! I told my dog trainer Tina for her advice on how to introduce them since Mr. T can still be headstrong at first. But she said to let the new pup smell the whole backyard and to slowly introduce them.
Aries was her name but my husband decided to change her name to Sky because of her light blue eyes. She was a very shy pup exploring her new home. Necia was the first one to come out to say hello. It was a quick hello because she wanted to get back to her nap next to daddy. Charlie then came out and was a little mad and shocked that I brough home a new pup without discussing it with him. But I already knew his answer would’ve been a no so, surprise! Mr. T then came out and immediately body slammed her up against the wall being all defensive. I had to jump on him to pull him back and let him know that she comes in peace. As we all went inside Sky kept exploring and I had Mr. T on the down position to let her roam around freely. Then two weeks later they are best of friend running and sharing their toys and food with one another as if they have been friends for years. Now a few months in and there is not one day Charlie and I are ever bored. We are constantly on our toes keeping up with all three pups and making sure they are nice and healthy.