INTRODUCING OUR PET

This is our beagle called Cookie. We decided on her name before we even saw her. We have always been excellent with names. It took us 10 minutes to decide we wanted her to be called Cookie, and with Alessia, we knew her name before she was even in the making.

We got her when she was 12 weeks old. In this photo, she was actually waiting for daddy to call her. She was so small when we got her she couldn’t climb on the couch on her own, and she was terrified of the stairs. So we had to carry her around like a purse.

Both Bryan and I always wanted a beagle; for some reason, they are the sweetest bred for us. So after we found out we were going to have a baby, we decided to move and to get a beagle.

She is not a typical beagle, she doesn’t really bark, and she doesn’t lick at all. I cannot stress how happy I am about that. I don’t particularly appreciate having my face licked after a well-deserved self-cleaning or after enjoying a load of poo.

That being said, her recall is terrible. We tried with chicken, cheese, all the treats she loves, and nothing worked. She loves to play with other dogs; she will bolt to it and forget all about us if she sees one. Otherwise, if there are no dogs in sight, she will stay around us, playing, running.

She is also a lockdown baby, so we couldn’t take her to puppy classes. Neither Bryan nor I have owned a dog before, so we didn’t quite know how to train her. It was tough, but we did teach her basic obedience tricks.

The teething stage is brutal, very similar to babies. They chew on you like you are the best piece of chicken in the world. I am so happy she is two years old, and the puppy stage is now over.

She is chilled out and finally loves to sleep. She adores Alessia, and Alessia loves her like a sister; they have already started to play together. Alessia is definitely her partner in crime; they do so many naughty things together, you wouldn’t think they are human and dog.

She is more than a pet; she is our first baby, adored part of our family.

Before we had her, we didn’t understand why people were crying for their pets and why they loved them so much. Surely, it had to be an exaggeration or projection of some sort.

Now I completely understand. Pets are not just pets; they are our family.