How I started having my first dog, GORO

Lately, keeping a small dog is quite popular in Japan. It’s totally understandable that small dogs are easier to keep especially when you’re living in a tiny apartment. Besides, people usually keep only one dog regardless of its size. You might think that having more than two dogs would be too much and out of the question.

However, in my case, I now have four dogs including three large ones at my normal-sized house.

I started having my first dog in August last year. It was my youngest daughter who began to talk about this very cute dog sold at a pet shop one day. She asked me if I would get it. Until then I’d never thought about keeping a dog because I knew that dogs need walking, and it seemed to be just troublesome to me. Even when my daughter told me about the dog, getting a dog never was my choice. So I just laughed at her idea and ignored it.

Then one day, totally unexpectedly, I found myself being in the pet shop to see how the puppy was doing. To be honest, for the past few days prior to that, the thought of the dog had grown bigger and bigger.

↑This is my first dog, GORO, when he was still 3 months old at a pet shop.

Though being a puppy, he seemed to be quite himself in the showcase, and it somehow made him look hilarious but it looked charming to us. Plus, he had a very unique pattern and a pretty face. Before I knew, I fell in love with him. At the same time, to my surprise, the price of the dog suddenly got marked down to half, which made me think, “What a timing!” And before long, the dog became a member of the family.

↑ He seemed to be bored every time my daughter and I visited the pet shop to see how he was doing.

↑　This is his very charming face that knocked me out.

Life with him changed my life completely.

Until then, I’d had a lot of sleeping problems. I’d be feeling pretty empty with my daughters all grown up. I’d had a lot of freedom, but it’d also made me feel very lonely. When I was a child, my family used to keep a dog, but I never was the one who was responsible. By taking care of him myself this time, I realized how fun keeping a dog was and how rewarding having a good relationship with a dog could be.

↑　This is GORO after one year when he’s gown up. Oh, he’s a big boy now!

This experience made me more confident as a person, and before I was aware, it let me end up keeping three more dogs in just six months.

No… I ended up having two more dogs in another 2 months which made the number of all my dogs 6!! I’m not joking lol

↑ My cuddle-some dogs are relaxing and cuddling for warmth with each other in the living room. I hear dogs can get lonely easily, but I’m sure my dogs would never feel that way.

Since all of my dogs are different breeds, people are often curious to know what made me want to keep them. The reason being that I’m not particular about dog breeds, and they were still not sold with the discounted price. I just couldn’t see them being left unsold in a small cage, uninterested for a long time. As I kept watching them there, I couldn’t help but feel sympathetic to them. They even made me feel as if they were myself, and want to rescue them immediately.

Well, that’s basically how I got them.

Though having a hard time from time to time, I enjoy keeping company with my dogs, and it gives me a sense of fulfillment. I’m very grateful for that.  

Here are my videos where you can see my first 4 dogs.
Hope you enjoy!

I’ll introduce all of my 6 dogs one by one in my future blog entries, so please look forward to it!

※ This essay was originally written in May, 2018 for my essay course. Future modifications can be added later.