Tiny Riley, and the Start of Something

One of my favorite images of Riley, a couple days after I brought him home in 2020. He’s a rescue, from Rescue Rovers out of Salt Lake City, Utah. He was neutered the same day that I picked him up, and was also the last of his litter to leave. He whined the entire way home. I had him in a crate I got for him for the car, and then I remembered reading somewhere that puppies sometimes feel more comfortable on the floor behind the passenger or driver’s side. They sometimes feel more safe in that small space closer to the human who is now reponsible for them.

I put him there, and he still whined.

Looking back on it, kind of silly to move him, and not the smartest thing. But I could reach back and hold my hand down to him.

That night, man. The night I brought him home. I had no idea what I was getting into. My roommate at the time had a dog, but his dog was older. Five or maybe six at the time. Full grown, adult dog. I had looked after her often. An adult dog who is owned by someone else and just shares space with you is one thing. An 8-week old puppy you are responible for is another.

Figuring we’d be up through the night to potty, I pulled my pillows and blankets off my bed and spread them out on the floor. I laid down, and instantly, he came to me, curled up, and fell asleep. My whole world changed for the better that night.

Struggles, sure. Raising a puppy is hard. Raising a puppy during a pandemic is hard. My roommate at the time remarked once that Riley was like a new video game on an unfamiliar console. You don’t know what the game is, the story, the characters, nothing. And you don’t know how the controls work. And the only setting for the game is the hardest play mode so you have the least amount of everything.

I think about that all the time, and marvel at how far my dog and I have come since I picked him up that day in 2020. The trips, the adventures, moving. All the training, the trying of new things.

I think about how instantly my life changed that night. The chatter in my brain ceased. All the things that seemed important, weren’t. I had this tiny life now. I was responsible for this four-legged creature, teaching it how to function in this world, this world that was undergoing its own kind of change.