Responsibility

As if I did not have enough responsibility on my plate...

Between trying to change the lives of the youth of America in the classroom and on the field I am now the proud owner of a puppy.

I was at Soccer practice on Wednesday when I heard some growling outside the fence on the adjacent street. I looked over and saw a big dog attacking a little puppy! I ran outside and the puppy ran to me. It was love at first sight. I asked the neighbors if it was their dog or if they knew whose it was, and had no luck. My family has been in the business of "saving puppies" for as long as I can remember. However, saving puppies meant scooping up lost dogs and finding their owners and returning them. This is not how it went down...

I picked him up and brought him inside the gated soccer field. I did not know what to do with him. He was kind of dirty, but not too bad and was very mild tempered, not biting or anything. He started to cry so I decided to put him down, he ran to the soccer players who were mid game, straight at the ball. Now, I was really in love. I ran to go get him and picked him up again. He was really little and would be able to get through the gates, I didn't want him to get attacked again, or worse, hit by a car. Now, I seriously did not know what to do. He was SO cute. He didn't have any tags. When some little girls came up to me and asked to pet "my puppy" I saw us growing old together. (Ha.) They asked me what his name was and without hesitation I answered, "Riggins." I've been a dog lover my whole life and knew that eventually I would like to get a dog of my own. Eventually being the key word here. But, knowing I eventually wanted to get a dog, naturally, I had been thinking of names, naturally.

My family's dog's name is Cocoa. She is a chocolate lab, original, right? Give me a break I was 8- the creativity in me had not started swirling around in my head yet. In college I thought naming a dog Chief would be cute (Chief Illiniwek), but I got over that pretty quickly. Then I was introduced to the Television show Friday Night Lights. Tim Riggins is one of the main characters. He's pretty much a bad-ass with a huge heart and a love for football. My perfect man. My love for Tim Riggins was so apparent that this year for my birthday, my roommates got me a Riggins sweatshirt which I wear constantly. This puppy just looked like a Riggins.

So, as you see, a response to the question of "what's its name?" was so simple. Riggins is a bad-ass with a big heart- and he even has a love for football!

I carried him around soccer practice for another hour. He was so sweet. I texted my roommates: "I'm bringing a puppy home. His name is Riggins." At this point I wasn't sure if I was joking or not. Then soccer practice was over and I was pretty sure I was bringing him home. I wasn't sure if I was going to keep him, but I wanted to at least take him to the vet and see if anyone was missing a puppy. I took him to Petsmart after practice where they checked for a chip and called the non-emergency police to see if anyone was looking for a lost puppy. The woman said to me "If you're not going to take him home I will." And then, as he sat next to me on the bench at petsmart, resting his head on my leg, I knew I was taking him home. It was up to the roomies whether or not we were keeping him, because I loved this dog already.

Needless to say, Lauryn and Maria love him too. He is really hard not to love.

The question remains will he have a good, fair life if we keep him? I keep thinking about what his life was like before I took him home. There is the option that he was in a home where he was loved. There are also many more horrible situations he could have been, and mostly likely was, in. The families in the community around Deady do not live in the best conditions. They have a lot of kids and little income. When you bring dogs into that mix it's hard to see how they can be properly cared for if these kids aren't even being properly cared for. A lot of families have so many dogs because they can not afford to get them fixed and they just have puppies galore.

I would obviously like to think that I saved him, and he will have a better life, but in the back of my mind I can't help but think that I stole a puppy from a small child. So far, this has not been the case, no calls from Petsmart/non-emergency police, and no lost dog signs around Deady.

He is so loved here. Financially, it's not going to be easy, but he has food, toys, treats, and a crate so far. The responsibility is huge but I am willing to take it on right now, Riggins is so worth it! He's good with people- so mild mannered and passive. I've taken him to happy hour at West Alabama Ice House and brunch at Barnaby's so far. He is just so chill! He barks at other dogs sometimes but then he gets over it. At West Alabama he sat on the table and hung out, watched us play horse shoes, and basketball too.

At Barnaby's he sat in a chair for a little bit but then took a nap under the table.

He sleeps a lot but also runs around a ton. He's just so fun! I figured out that he is probably a black lab pitbull mix. From what I've heard they seem to be very good, loyal dogs- and so far Riggins is living up to that! Day 5 of life with puppy has been great, I hope it stays that way!

Texas for Life.

Care