While raising pets is nowhere near as difficult as raising children, it still brings a level of enjoyment and pride that is truly unmatched. Getting to see them grow from puppies into adolescent teenagers to fully grown and responsible family members is quite amazing. You go from getting scratched and bitten by sharp baby teeth every second of the day to miraculously leaving them alone for multiple hours at a time and coming back to no collateral damage. 

Nala and Sasha are officially entering their grown dog eras, and it’s been so cool to see their development over the last three years. Long gone are the days where they have to be closely supervised to prevent accidents or wrestling matches that get too intense. Now, they have full roam around the house and even get to be left loose if Kris and I have to run errands. 

They enjoy laying in the open space of our dining room since there’s no furniture there yet. There’s also two large windows that look out to the front yard and let in lots of sunlight so they can sunbathe. The window ledge is low enough where the dogs can jump up to get a better vantage point but because of this, they have broken quite a number of blinds trying to be nosy. Instead of buying new blinds every time they see someone walking in our neighborhood, we just keep the blinds pulled up so they aren’t able to reach them. 

The best part of our solution against broken blinds is that we’re usually able to see them looking out the window when we leave. It’s the cutest thing ever. They rest their heads on the ledge to watch us instead of standing up on the window sill. Sometimes we can see them when we come home too, but usually we see them run towards the window just to see who is coming and then they sprint to the garage door to greet us. 

While we don’t have a camera set up to watch them, I’m pretty sure they usually just sleep when we’re gone. There’s never any evidence that they’ve gone through any trash or damaged anything. Honestly, I don’t think they even go upstairs when we’re not home. 

When Nala was still healing from her surgery, I was pretty anxious to leave her loose at first. I was worried that we’d come back and she’d be re-injured or limping again. I definitely didn’t want her roughhousing with her sister unsupervised or sprinting the stairs before she got her full strength back. With each passing week, my mind is eased that she’s healed for good. 

Kris and I have noticed just how smart they are and how they think through things on a daily basis. One time in particular happened last Thursday morning when I was working from home. When I head upstairs to take my shower, the dogs stay downstairs while Kris is finishing up his breakfast, putting on his shoes, and leaving for work. Most days they curl up next to the couch and go back to sleep. That day, they did something I hadn’t seen them do before. They walked upstairs, into our bedroom, and laid on their blankets to go back to bed. They know that’s where they sleep every night and I would imagine it helps them feel safe with everyone in the same room. 

They understand the rules of our house and follow them almost perfectly now. They know they are supposed to sit and wait before eating their food. They understand not to chew things that aren’t their dog toys. They have even correlated both Kris’ ringtone and the opening YouTube TV noise to someone coming to see them since they bark and run to the front windows almost every time they hear it. 

Sasha is the best at picking up on social cues and reading the room. Of the two, she’s usually the first to tell if Kris gets upset. No matter why he’s upset, she always offers him her Pitbull smile, even if she hasn’t done anything to warrant getting in trouble. Similarly, if either of us seem to be struggling during our nightly workouts, Nala will come and lay right beside our yoga mat to make sure we’re okay. If we get hurt or start crying for some reason, they both are concerned and want to comfort us. 

They’ve become two really great dogs. After the long nights of them yelling at 3 AM, countless accidents cleaned up, health concerns including surgeries, and many scratches, bites, and scars, I can say we’ve made it to the stage of seeing all of our hard work paying off. They both have different personalities, which always makes things interesting, but I enjoy seeing how they love each other and us. Who knew the two puppies from Dublin would have such an impact on everyone around them? 

If you enjoyed this episode, let me know by giving this video a thumbs up, leaving a comment, and subscribing to my channel. I’ll see you in the next episode! 

Signed, 

Jessica Marie