What I Learned From a Street Pug
Life lessons learned from a dog fostering experience
Last year, my wife asked me if we could foster a rescue pug. I was hesitant to say yes, because I thought that having one dog was enough of a commitment when living in a high-rise apartment. But she was insistent, and so eventually I relented and said yes.
Little did I know what we were in store for.
Bowser was a three or four year old pug being rescued from a bad situation: he was simply being kept on a very short leash, 24/7, directly next to the road, exposed to all the elements. Since Korea’s climate can range to extreme highs & lows, and since pugs are a fairly specialized breed with their own specific needs, this was particularly cruel and neglectful.
When we got Bowser, it was immediately clear that his body had been badly affected by this mistreatment: he was bow-legged and while the front part of his body was normal, his hips and back-legs were clearly undersized and didn’t seem to match the rest of him, kind of like a doggy version of Johnny Bravo. It was difficult going on impossible for him to sit and when he lay down, his legs often splayed up at angles that would make you wince.
Despite his physical condition and history of neglect, from the outset Bowser was just an incredibly sweet and good-natured dog. The kind of dog to lick your hand and wag his tail, even when he didn’t know you at all. If you sit down on the couch, Bowser will be in there shortly with a little *dook* sound as he puts his chin on your thigh/foot and looks up deeply into your eyes with his chocolate-brown ones.
But Bowser was not always easy to have around. He was incredibly noisy, not house-trained and had trouble sleeping, breathing, walking, eating and drinking. I’m not exaggerating. There were times when he woke us up several times in one night. Several times in one night, when we were dealing with our individual work stresses, our other dog, family issues, our own marital relationship, you name it. I felt like we had had a baby, without the 9 months of mental preparation. And I didn’t always react in the best way. I got frustrated. I didn’t stay calm like I should have. And I could have, and should have, been nicer to my wife.
There was a time when he lifted his leg and relieved himself right into the air cleaner unit, which went through the filter and got carried up into the extractor fan. I just wanted to cry. Have you ever cleaned pug pee out of a Korean air cleaner? It’s not fun, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. 0 stars on TripAdvisor Korea with only 1 rating.
More than anything else, I had this feeling that this was something I hadn’t signed up for. You know what I mean? “Wah wah, I didn’t sign up for this, why should I have to do this”. And it took me months to get over that feeling. Months. Half a year even. It showed up a huge point of immaturity in my psyche. Until at some point, I finally realized, There are tons of things in your life that you don’t sign up for: Your DNA, your parents, your family, your surroundings and most of your childhood experiences to name just a few.
So here’s what I’m saying: What is the point of getting overly hung up on why or how, or how unfair it is, that something has happened, when you could be focusing on how you could make it better. Or how it’s actually not that bad. Or how even maybe, it has some great parts to it. Now, I’m not saying that we should accept mistreatment at work or something like that, I’m just saying, in certain circumstances, you can save yourself pain if you get yourself into a positive state of mind sooner.
For someone like me, who has a 8th-dan black belt in feeling sorry for himself and a PhD. in wallowing in self-righteousness, that was a deeply important lesson for me to learn. I could have probably learned it from my parents, my teachers, an endless list of self-improvement books, possibly anyone over the age of 10 really, but sometimes an 8 kilogram, black & tan chubby furball is the best teacher. Take it from me.
Bowser has now undergone surgery for his severe-grade hip displasia and is well on his way to recovery. I’m very grateful to all the people who donated money to help pay for the surgery and the staff at the veterinary hospital who took such good care of him. I’m also grateful to my wife, for forcing me to do something selfless. Something I’m proud of. After all, I’m not going to be lying on my death bed croaking out “I’m so glad I rode that jetski in the Maldiiiiivessssssss *ergh*”. (Although I did do that and it was pretty awesome, this definitely ranks higher).
But most of all, I’m grateful to Bowser, for all the experiences, good and bad, that he has brought into our lives. Thank you, Bowser.
