As some of you may know, I have an adorable little Maltese named Eva. She is turning 4 at the end of this month & I am completely obsessed with her.
Now technically Eva isn’t my dog. She was given to my boyfriend as a Christmas present 4 years ago so she is mine by association. I have to admit, when Alex told me he was getting a dog part of me was dreading it. I grew up only ever being around my grandmother’s cat Nike, so I never had that “pet connection” or need to have a pet. I also was deathly afraid of dogs because of one bad experience as a kid. I was under the impression that all dogs smelled, made a mess & were a lot of work to take care. So on the inside, I was kind of freaking out that he was getting a dog. But we weren’t living together at the time, so I figured I would never have to actually take care of the dog- only help on the weekends when I visited (we did long distance dating for a while).
So my first encounter with Eva was terrifying to say the least.
Alex was working nights so I typically drove down to his house in NJ when I was finished with work on Friday & would wait for him to come home. He called me on my way down & told me to take Eva out of her crate & take her outside to the bathroom (she was 8 weeks old at the time). I have never taken a dog outside, or have even been alone with a dog. I was SOOO nervous!
When I got to his house & let her out of her crate, I could not believe how tiny and cute she was. Of course since I know nothing about dogs, I took my time marveling at her little tiny paws & tried to take selfies with her instead of hauling ass to take her outside. She peed on the floor (oops!) and then I proceeded to take her outside without a leash. As soon as I put her on the grass, she started running. Immediately I started to panic, this dog was not about to run away on my watch. I started to chase her & accidentally stepped on her which caused her to let out this high pitched whine. My first thought was “OMG I’m going to be the worst mom ever!” I immediately scooped her up & stayed inside with her until Alex got home.
After playing with all her toys, she curled up on my lap and feel asleep. I immediately fell in love. She hasn’t left my side ever since. I started to “volunteer” to babysit Eva and take her for a week or two at a time. She started to sleep in bed with me instead of in her crate (totally all my fault why this dog is untrainable). I even took her to work with me a few times. Alex went away to dive school in Seattle (he is a commercial diver) for 7 months so Eva moved in with me. Seven whole months alone with my little girl was heaven. Coming home from work every night to endless puppy kisses was the best!!
Experiencing the unconditional love that I have for Eva & that she has for me has totally changed my outlook on pets.
I couldn’t imagine my life without Eva. She is the sweetest, sassiest little pup I know. She has helped a few of our family members through health issues (I swear she would make a great therapy dog if she didn’t bark so much), she was the perfect companion for me when Alex lived in Seattle & she amazes me everyday with something new she’s learned. I really feel that she understands what I’m saying to her & always knows when I need extra cuddles or kisses. My favorite thing she does is at night, we look at her and say “Eva want to go to bed?” and she runs up the stairs and into our bedroom. It’s the cutest thing ever. Now if only we could control her incessant barking, she would be the perfect dog!! Anyone have any tips?
