Toby and Margot Ahlquist traveling to Martha’s Vineyard two years after the adoption.
Photo via dogster.com
When you bring a new dog into your home, you’d like to think that you fall in love with him or her immediately. But, as Margot Ahlquist admits in a compelling essay on dogster.com, things don’t always turn out that way:
I methodically cared for this dog for five straight days, feeling guilt that I wasn’t swept away yet by the love ocean that I had experienced with my family pets. He didn’t feel like mine yet, and I became preoccupied with his previous life and why someone gave him up. Also, I hoped for his fur to grow in quickly.
It took a little time, but now Ahlquist can’t imagine life without Toby. Her honesty is refreshing, and it speaks to the fact the relationships between people and dogs are really complex.