It’s Day 10 of Shelter in Place and I’m posting my pet stories this week because our wonderful cats and dogs relieve stress, make us smile, and add generally to our health. Here’s the story of Waffles the Pug and how he’s added to our lives.

Three years ago, my husband and I drove up to the high desert and adopted this adorable creature our daughter named Waffles. At the time, she was going through anxiety and we felt this puppy’s unconditional love and enjoyment would benefit her. Some questioned whether a college student could handle a pup, but we did our best to train him for a few months before she took him to school. We did our research and learned that pugs are the perfect “apartment dogs” because they sleep all day when their owners are gone at work or school. 

Waffles at 12-weeks old.

I think we bit off more than we can chew! We thought it would be nice for our daughter to have a companion in the form of an animal. She’s out of state in college and busy with academics plus D1 swimming, and we thought a puppy would bring a lot of joy and fun into her daily life.

She asked permission of her landlord, and even though her lease says “no pets,” he agreed to a small dog. We decided the puppy would be a present for Christmas.

Waffles turned into a pancake when I tried to walk him.

Our daughter wanted a pug and thinks they are so cute. They are. I’ll agree to that. We looked into suitable breeds, and besides the two negatives of snoring and shedding, pugs appear to be an easy-going breed requiring very little care.

But the puppy thing. I’m on day five and I think puppy is winning the battle. It’s like having an infant again. I have to watch him constantly. He doesn’t sleep through the night, and when he’s crawling on his belly through the yard, I never know what is going to end up in his mouth. I knew we were in for trouble when we drove Waffles home for an hour and a half drive. He was squirming all the way, nipping and licking my neck and fingers. Finally, as we drove into town he fell asleep. That’s what my son would do in his car seat during long drives.

I’m crate training, potty training and my daily life suddenly got very busy and tiring. Why we think our daughter can handle this is beyond me. Of course, she does have youth on her side. And Waffles is so darn cute!

Olive the cat is not sure about any of this. What did we do???

Waffles was famous for a day on “We Rate Dogs” Twitter account in his doggles.

Graduation from College!

Waffles was enjoyed by the university marketing department.

I’m thrilled to say that prior to the shelter in place mandate in California, Waffles and my daughter drove eight hours from the Bay Area to home. Waffles is helping us all during these stressful times. I walk with him for two to three miles before I sit down to work each morning. He’s giving us all sorts of love and fun. I wish my daughter and Waff would stay forever, but they do need to get on with their lives….at some point.