I grew up with dogs and the day I left for college, I began to long for a dog of my own. Because I knew that my crazy busy pre-med schedule would not allow for me to adequately care for a dog, I decided to volunteer at my local humane society where I had the opportunity to play with the pups and take them on walks as long as I wanted! I also house sat for my aunts frequently, so I was able to stifle my desire for a dog at the time. However, when I got to medical school, I could not contain it anymore. While I was at school studying all day every day, I realized that I didn’t *have* to be. I was only “required” to be on campus for 4-6 hours a day (that is, if I chose to attend lecture). There was the occasional 8-9 hour day of mandatory class, but those were few and far between. I was starting to be miserable and felt like my life was so mundane. I woke up, got ready, went to school, studied, went home, ate dinner, and went to sleep. And that was 5-6 days a week. I started feeling sad all of the time and I just really needed a change.
I spent a lot of time on pet finder looking at local shelters because I planned on getting a dog that was a few years old. That was the smartest thing to do, but I ran into a problem—breed restrictions! The difficult thing about living in an apartment and not knowing where you are going to be living after medical school is that you have to plan for the future. Most apartments have restrictions (including the one I lived in at the time) so if you know that you won’t be settled into a house for a while, try to find a breed that is not on the typical breed restrictions list! This is SO important so you don’t have to end up rehoming your pup in the future.
The weekend I decided to get a dog, I went to two different shelters and could not find a dog that was not on the breed restrictions list, a dog that was able to socialize with other dogs well, or a dog that was not afraid of men. So instead of just waiting to see what else ended up coming through the shelters, I did the next most rational thing and got on Craigslist (can you hear my sarcasm?!). Instead of typing in DOGS, my dumbass typed in PUPPIES and my world was forever changed. Once I saw this thing, I knew that there was no going back. That was it. That was going to be the dog that I got. A golden retriever and husky mix. Look at him, guys. Would you have been able to just keep on scrolling?!
Having a puppy in medical school was (and sometimes still is) HARD and it didn’t immediately solve my problems of feeling lonely and sad. It actually made them worse before they got better. I quickly fell behind in school. My grades started to fall and so many times, I thought it was the worst decision ever. I thought about rehoming him multiple times. I had thought about getting a dog for so many years that I thought I was prepared, but I was not. To potty train him, I had to take him outside every 15-20 minutes. While he was teething, he bit me all of the time and put holes in every pair of leggings I owned and some of my favorite t-shirts. I felt guilty every time I left the house and heard him cry in his crate. I was constantly worried about something bad happening to him, so even when he was sleeping, I couldn't focus 100% on school because I kept checking on him to make sure he was breathing. I know, I was crazy. I felt isolated from my friends because after a long day of school, I felt like I couldn't leave my house because Arlo had been alone all day. So unless we made plans at my place, I didn't go. But, after a few months of adjustment, life finally started getting better. I was taking him on long walks, which was WAY more exercise than I had been getting. We went to a puppy training class and his behavior improved some. I learned how to be a lot more patient and responsible. I’ve been able to bond with my classmates who also have dogs. Parents of human children may disagree, but I feel like I got a little taste of what parenthood would be like (aka HARD). Getting a puppy instead of a dog definitely was not the best decision at the time, and I probably would not recommend it to anyone who is in the middle of medical school. BUT, having a dog in medical school has been really helpful for my mental health. He is a pain in my butt, he is probably the craziest dog I know, and I still have some training to do with him, but I can’t even remember what life was like without him. Please enjoy these adorable pictures of him! Thinking about getting a puppy or a dog while in professional school? I’ll have an article coming up soon with some things to think about. Stay tuned.
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