Have you ever felt your heart drop? Your hands clam up, your mouth drys out and you lose all the words at the tip of your tongue.

From a puppy, Koda has given us many of those moments. I can look back and laugh now, knowing that he’s curled up at my feet and dozing off. But those times where he’s ran, chasing everything and absolutely anything, have been horribly worrying.

I remember a day when my sister came back from taking Koda for a walk with a couple of friends and their dogs, she was out of breath, her eyes were wide and her cheeks red…

‘I can’t believe him! Chasing a bird out of the park! A bird, seriously! It flew up and he carried on running across the road and towards the shops. He scared us. I’m so mad!’

Thankfully there were no cars about and Koda just decided that actually, laying outside the shops was exactly what he wanted to do. So, panic over! Koda was fine, my sister and her friend however, were not.

It’s funny really, he now won’t step a foot outside of the park until we say it’s time to go. Still keen to chase birds though, but improvements are there nonetheless.

There have also been other times where he’s wiggled out of his harness, ran out of the front door at the first opportunity, ran out the garage door and into next doors garden (stealing one of their dogs toys while he was at it), chasing a squirrel but not quite making it up the tree, and of course, trying to chase motorbikes. But never once batting an eyelid.

I have this thought that Koda imagines himself to be invincible.

Wouldn’t that be great?

There is nothing truer in this world than the love of a good dog – Mira Grant

Getting a new puppy is exciting, right? Of course. There’s the cuddles and the carrying everywhere, their tiny paws and their little yaps, and just about everything they do you end up ‘awwing’ at. And let’s not forget the following you everywhere, wanting to play and craving attention (which you give willingly because they’re just so darn cute), and the looks at adoration you get when you’re out on your first walks because everyone loves a tiny pup.

But puppies are hard work. They’re constant and they need you to be both their teacher and companion. They rely on your for just about everything and that’s a responsibility I knew I never would have been able to handle when I was younger.

I could never understand why my mum wouldn’t let my sisters and I have a dog. I thought she was being unfair and cruel. But my mum, who never grew up with animals and didn’t ever take a particular liking to them, would always be the first to shut us down if we even breathed the word dog.

There came a time where she caved slightly and allowed my sister, who at the time was sixteen, to have a hamster. Three hamsters to be precise. And gradually three hamsters became two rabbits. Then, after my neighbours got a puppy and we puppy-sat on occasion, my mum fell in love and within weeks we were choosing our own.

To say we were surprised would be an understatement.

But now I can understand and fully appreciate the reasoning behind not allowing us as children to have a dog. As much as we would have cared and loved it, the sole responsibility would have landed on my mum and at that time, she wasn’t ready.

We always say that we waited for Koda. He was meant to be for us.

And since Koda, we’ve adopted two more rabbits. So, I guess you could say that we’re all very much animal people now.

Puppies are constantly inventing new ways to be bad. It’s fascinating. You come into a room they’ve been in and see pieces of debris and try to figure out what you had that was made from wicker or what had been stuffed with fluff.  – Julie Klam

We have been considerably lucky with Koda where the destruction of furniture is concerned. If we’ve ever had to worry about anything, it’s food. Most recently being what a lot of people crave, chocolate. Though that’s a long and worrying tale for another time and another post.

At the beginning, there were occasions where he would start to tear at the carpet, mainly when our bedroom doors were shut and he wanted to get in, but just through gasping and saying (quite loudly) ‘What have you done?’ He was able to pick up relatively quickly that chewing the carpet wasn’t the best decision.

And so his love of toys and chewing them until the stuffing spills out begins.

I’d say around one hundred small bears, hard balls, soft balls and funny shaped food and animals, have been destroyed in the past three years. We may have also lost a few socks and a couple of pairs of slippers along the way but I can see how they may be confused for toys.

Besides, how can you deny this sweet face of an odd sock every now and again?

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

Hello. If you’ve made it here then I can only assume you have a soft spot in your heart for dogs. And if you’re anything like me, then your spot is more the size of a gaping hole and for all animals, both small and large. 

I suppose I should start with a few details that involve myself…

I’m currently twenty-three, living at home, working but still searching for my dream job, and most importantly enjoying adventures and cuddles with Koda. 

And now for the more important part…

Koda is a mix between a Pomeranian and a Shihtzu, also known as a Pom-Tzu or a Shiranian, whichever you think is cooler. He turned three in November and has only just grown out of his puppy-like ways. Well, most of them anyway. He still enjoys chasing motorbikes and hasn’t yet grasped onto the concept of rabbits not being dogs. 

For the past three years, many of my family who have never been ‘animal people’, have loved and cared for Koda in a way I never thought imaginable. And in return, Koda has become an irreplaceable part of all of our lives. He has helped us to grow as not only a family, but individually. 

There have been moments where life has been fragile for many of us and each time it seems Koda is the glue that keeps us from breaking.

Whoever said dogs may not be there for our whole lives but they make our lives whole, could not have been more accurate.