Biggie

After the decline and death of my beloved German Shepherd, Caesar, I honestly thought I was done with pets. While I missed Caesar, I didn’t miss the muddy pawprints, the constant shedding, or the way that 110 pound German Shepherd thought he was a lap dog whenever it rained. I didn’t miss making arrangements for him every time we went out of town or planned to be out for a while. I relished the freedom and spontaneity of a pet-free lifestyle and told myself that just like with parenting toddlers, I was done with dogs.

I was wrong.

In a series of what can only be classified as synchronistic events, I’ve opened both my heart and my home and adopted a dog.

Meet Biggie!

He’s a (mostly) gentle giant who enjoys nature walks, eating ice, systematically relieving his toys of their appendages, getting all the love and pets from his people, chasing squirrels from his yard, and chilling out on his place bed.

Biggie is a Dogo Argentino and Belgian Malinois mix, which means he’s smart and highly active. Even though he’s tall and weighs 92 pounds, in many ways he’s still a baby (he’ll turn 2 in June). He gets the zoomies a few times a day and forgets how huge he is (if he even knows that?), which is hilarious and reminds me a bit of a velociraptor in the best way. So, yeah. I’m kind of parenting a toddler again. They say when the student is ready, the teacher appears and Biggie has definitely illuminated and initiated some growth points for me already, not the least of which is embracing and stretching my capacity for love (even after heart-wrenching loss). We’re still getting acclimated to each other, but are having a great time together so far and I’m glad that I was wrong. Here’s to changing our minds and opening our hearts to new possibilities!