The Worst Week and Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 6
This is the story of how a dream was killed. This may be hard for me to write as I'm still in pain over it, but I'll clarify in the end. On Saturday, January 6th, an adoption event was being held at a Petsmart in another town. My mom and I had been looking at dogs for months, mostly visiting the shelter, one in our city, and once at and the OC Animal Care Center. We even got to check out a few dogs to see what they were like, but didn't make any decisions. This adoption event was an opportunity to see more dogs. We got there and they had many dogs available to adopt. My mom told me how she felt so overwhelmed, she felt like crying. All I could think was this was mostly puppies. That should have been my warning sign right there. We always wanted to adopt an adult dog, young, maybe one or two years old, but not a puppy. As we checked out all the different dogs, my mom zeroed in on this one who seemed calmer than the rest. She wound up picking him up and he was so cute and calm in her arms.
This event was really disorganized though. Not all the dog's had cards out on their kennels with the information about them. The dog we picked up was actually a five month old puppy named Berlioz. The card said he was a terrier/poodle mix, but I didn't see any poodle in him. Maybe chihuahua? We also were wanting a small dog too. My mom kept holding him. It was clear she had fallen in love with the little guy. She had asked me what I thought, if she should put him back. I couldn't say no. Then the decision was made right then and there (if only I could go back and change things...). We got in the adoption line. It was a really long wait, like 45 minutes to an hour before we got to the people to pay for him and go through the paperwork. And then it was done, he was adopted. We shopped at the store to get him the things he needed: food, a crate, food and water bowl, a toy, and treats. Then we got in the car and drove home and I held on to him in the back seat. I was happy.
When we got home we brought him to the backyard, and he started running around doing the “zoomies” as they say. It was when watching him do this that might heart sunk because I began to realize we made a terrible mistake. This was no calm puppy we just adopted (I know, probably an oxymoron), this was a hyperactive puppy with seemingly endless energy. And that's when the nightmare truly began. Suddenly our lives were completely disrupted by this terror of a pup who wanted to bite you and chew on everything. He had to be watched constantly. There would be no peace. What had we done? My mom and I both had lost our appetites over the stress. I began feeling depressed and anxious. This is not how adopting a dog should feel. Apparently it's a thing. It's called the “puppy blues.” But we knew this wasn't just the blues, this was a mistake.
The next morning my mom told me that she thinks we should return him, and I started crying because I knew she was right, and we made a bad decision. She called the rescue organization. Unfortunately, their next visit was all the way in Santa Clarita, which is far from where we live. And it was that day. We never would have made it there in time anyway. Beyond that, they were also going to be in Oregon (out of state) or we'd just have to wait until they came to a Petsmart nearby, which was in a week. We had no choice. We had to keep the puppy for the rest of the week. How were we going to get through the rest of the week? I thought. This was going to be a nightmare.
We put the puppy in the crate at night to sleep and he cried most of the night those first few nights. Eventually he got more used to it. He'd just cry a little and then be quiet. During the day, he would get random bursts of energy and you couldn't do anything. He'd interrupt our TV watching and we'd have to play with him and wear him out so he could calm down. He was super fast and could easily trip you up. And good luck sitting on the couch with him because if he was in the playful mood he would use you as his own personal chew toy. Even trying to distract him with toys or a bully stick didn't always work well because he'd lose interest. I had a number of nicknames for him: piranha, hell beast, demon dog, monster. He was a monster with a cute face. Incredibly deceptive. We never actually gave him a real name or get him his vaccination or get him licensed because we knew we were going to take him back.
He was way way too much. He did have a few accidents in the house, but for the most part he went to the bathroom outside when my mom would take him out there. Oh, and you can't not watch him outside either because then he would start to dig. He could very quickly dig under the fence and escape if you let him. There was no relaxing with this terror running around. My mom kept asking me if it was Saturday yet (the day we'd take him back). I feel kind of guilty, but my mom was the one watching him most of the time. I did watch him a couple of times for brief periods. He just wanted to chew on me with those sharp puppy teeth. Eventually he'd settle though and lay in my lap. He would also beg too at meal times. Pawing at you and trying to chew at your leg or slipper and whine. It did sound cute, but very rude lol.
Yeah, I'll admit that there were a couple endearing traits about him. He would bark, but not too much. He'd bark at other dogs, and if he saw a dog on the TV he'd run up and start barking at it. He was interested in the TV. Luke never was, so it was kind of funny. Unfortunately, that would get him all worked up though and he'd go into that puppy berserk mode. He'd also bark at himself in reflections, which was funny.
None of these traits outweighed all the stress and demand for attention he brought though. Our minds were not going to be changed, and there was no mellowing out for him. It's possible he may not have changed with age either. He was a terrier after all. We never should have jumped the gun and adopted a puppy. I thought that maybe since he was five months old, he wouldn't be too crazy. After all, Luke was six months when we adopted him and he was well behaved even as a puppy. We really must have gotten lucky with him. We learned a hard lesson with this puppy though.
We just took him back yesterday. Lots of cute puppies were there again. Don't dare be tempted. We got to return his supplies and hopefully my mom's going to get some of her money back. She's supposed to, but hasn't gotten a hold of the owner of the rescue yet. Hmm. The puppy was put back in a play pen with other puppies up for adoption. And of course he seemed pretty calm again. I'm sure he'll have no trouble getting adopted. I just hope whoever adopts him, knows what they're in for. He will need a lot of training.
So, how do I feel now? I admit I did feel kind of sad, and it feels wrong to be giving him back. Despite everything, I do kind of miss him for his cute and funny side. He was just over-the-top and really difficult to handle. You can't do anything except watch him. But the absolute worst feeling for me, and what causes me the pain the most for me is the experience has killed the desire to adopt a dog. My emotions are so all over the place. I've had flashes of anger because I feel like we essentially killed our dream all because of one mistake. I was bawling last night over it. This is going to take time to move past. It's almost like going through grief. I don't know if our minds will be changed in time, but right now getting a dog doesn't seem to be in the cards for us. If we do, we have to be smarter. This was like reality smacking us in the face. It was an extremely difficult week, but hopefully we've learned something from this experience. I'm just still feeling so crushed at the moment.
There is one more thing I wanted to talk about though. I recently finished season six of TNG. Only one season left to go. Going to be sad when it's over, but of course I'll be rewatching it in the near future with my parents. Some thoughts about the season: this one had the Scotty episode and I was looking forward to it. I loved the Scotty episode. Then there are two great Q episodes. “True Q” and “Tapestry.” I liked how “True Q” kind of showed the joy of being a Q and then “Tapestry” has been my favorite Q episode thus far. I could be wrong, but I think there might be just one Q episode left, which would be the series finale. But “Tapestry” was interesting because it was like Picard and Q were almost getting along and they left the ending ambiguous. Was it all Picard's dream or NDE or was it really Q? I lean towards the latter simply because after watching Picard Q does a similar thing to Picard and that was real. He does have the ability to go inside your mind, which is probably what he did. So yeah, I'd like to believe it really was Q's doing rather than just a dream.
Some other good episodes here and there like “Frame of Mind,” the twisted Riker mindscrew episode, and then Lore's return again in “Descent.” It hurt to see Data act the way he did, even though he was being controlled. This season also had one of my least favorite episodes: “Second Chances.” The Riker clone. No. That was just weird. One season left to go. This has been a highly enjoyable ride.
This event was really disorganized though. Not all the dog's had cards out on their kennels with the information about them. The dog we picked up was actually a five month old puppy named Berlioz. The card said he was a terrier/poodle mix, but I didn't see any poodle in him. Maybe chihuahua? We also were wanting a small dog too. My mom kept holding him. It was clear she had fallen in love with the little guy. She had asked me what I thought, if she should put him back. I couldn't say no. Then the decision was made right then and there (if only I could go back and change things...). We got in the adoption line. It was a really long wait, like 45 minutes to an hour before we got to the people to pay for him and go through the paperwork. And then it was done, he was adopted. We shopped at the store to get him the things he needed: food, a crate, food and water bowl, a toy, and treats. Then we got in the car and drove home and I held on to him in the back seat. I was happy.
When we got home we brought him to the backyard, and he started running around doing the “zoomies” as they say. It was when watching him do this that might heart sunk because I began to realize we made a terrible mistake. This was no calm puppy we just adopted (I know, probably an oxymoron), this was a hyperactive puppy with seemingly endless energy. And that's when the nightmare truly began. Suddenly our lives were completely disrupted by this terror of a pup who wanted to bite you and chew on everything. He had to be watched constantly. There would be no peace. What had we done? My mom and I both had lost our appetites over the stress. I began feeling depressed and anxious. This is not how adopting a dog should feel. Apparently it's a thing. It's called the “puppy blues.” But we knew this wasn't just the blues, this was a mistake.
The next morning my mom told me that she thinks we should return him, and I started crying because I knew she was right, and we made a bad decision. She called the rescue organization. Unfortunately, their next visit was all the way in Santa Clarita, which is far from where we live. And it was that day. We never would have made it there in time anyway. Beyond that, they were also going to be in Oregon (out of state) or we'd just have to wait until they came to a Petsmart nearby, which was in a week. We had no choice. We had to keep the puppy for the rest of the week. How were we going to get through the rest of the week? I thought. This was going to be a nightmare.
We put the puppy in the crate at night to sleep and he cried most of the night those first few nights. Eventually he got more used to it. He'd just cry a little and then be quiet. During the day, he would get random bursts of energy and you couldn't do anything. He'd interrupt our TV watching and we'd have to play with him and wear him out so he could calm down. He was super fast and could easily trip you up. And good luck sitting on the couch with him because if he was in the playful mood he would use you as his own personal chew toy. Even trying to distract him with toys or a bully stick didn't always work well because he'd lose interest. I had a number of nicknames for him: piranha, hell beast, demon dog, monster. He was a monster with a cute face. Incredibly deceptive. We never actually gave him a real name or get him his vaccination or get him licensed because we knew we were going to take him back.
He was way way too much. He did have a few accidents in the house, but for the most part he went to the bathroom outside when my mom would take him out there. Oh, and you can't not watch him outside either because then he would start to dig. He could very quickly dig under the fence and escape if you let him. There was no relaxing with this terror running around. My mom kept asking me if it was Saturday yet (the day we'd take him back). I feel kind of guilty, but my mom was the one watching him most of the time. I did watch him a couple of times for brief periods. He just wanted to chew on me with those sharp puppy teeth. Eventually he'd settle though and lay in my lap. He would also beg too at meal times. Pawing at you and trying to chew at your leg or slipper and whine. It did sound cute, but very rude lol.
Yeah, I'll admit that there were a couple endearing traits about him. He would bark, but not too much. He'd bark at other dogs, and if he saw a dog on the TV he'd run up and start barking at it. He was interested in the TV. Luke never was, so it was kind of funny. Unfortunately, that would get him all worked up though and he'd go into that puppy berserk mode. He'd also bark at himself in reflections, which was funny.
None of these traits outweighed all the stress and demand for attention he brought though. Our minds were not going to be changed, and there was no mellowing out for him. It's possible he may not have changed with age either. He was a terrier after all. We never should have jumped the gun and adopted a puppy. I thought that maybe since he was five months old, he wouldn't be too crazy. After all, Luke was six months when we adopted him and he was well behaved even as a puppy. We really must have gotten lucky with him. We learned a hard lesson with this puppy though.
We just took him back yesterday. Lots of cute puppies were there again. Don't dare be tempted. We got to return his supplies and hopefully my mom's going to get some of her money back. She's supposed to, but hasn't gotten a hold of the owner of the rescue yet. Hmm. The puppy was put back in a play pen with other puppies up for adoption. And of course he seemed pretty calm again. I'm sure he'll have no trouble getting adopted. I just hope whoever adopts him, knows what they're in for. He will need a lot of training.
So, how do I feel now? I admit I did feel kind of sad, and it feels wrong to be giving him back. Despite everything, I do kind of miss him for his cute and funny side. He was just over-the-top and really difficult to handle. You can't do anything except watch him. But the absolute worst feeling for me, and what causes me the pain the most for me is the experience has killed the desire to adopt a dog. My emotions are so all over the place. I've had flashes of anger because I feel like we essentially killed our dream all because of one mistake. I was bawling last night over it. This is going to take time to move past. It's almost like going through grief. I don't know if our minds will be changed in time, but right now getting a dog doesn't seem to be in the cards for us. If we do, we have to be smarter. This was like reality smacking us in the face. It was an extremely difficult week, but hopefully we've learned something from this experience. I'm just still feeling so crushed at the moment.
There is one more thing I wanted to talk about though. I recently finished season six of TNG. Only one season left to go. Going to be sad when it's over, but of course I'll be rewatching it in the near future with my parents. Some thoughts about the season: this one had the Scotty episode and I was looking forward to it. I loved the Scotty episode. Then there are two great Q episodes. “True Q” and “Tapestry.” I liked how “True Q” kind of showed the joy of being a Q and then “Tapestry” has been my favorite Q episode thus far. I could be wrong, but I think there might be just one Q episode left, which would be the series finale. But “Tapestry” was interesting because it was like Picard and Q were almost getting along and they left the ending ambiguous. Was it all Picard's dream or NDE or was it really Q? I lean towards the latter simply because after watching Picard Q does a similar thing to Picard and that was real. He does have the ability to go inside your mind, which is probably what he did. So yeah, I'd like to believe it really was Q's doing rather than just a dream.
Some other good episodes here and there like “Frame of Mind,” the twisted Riker mindscrew episode, and then Lore's return again in “Descent.” It hurt to see Data act the way he did, even though he was being controlled. This season also had one of my least favorite episodes: “Second Chances.” The Riker clone. No. That was just weird. One season left to go. This has been a highly enjoyable ride.