Confessions of a Dog Lover: Part 1

“The journey of life is much sweeter when traveled with a dog.”- Unknown.

Let’s begin with introducing the face behind my new and hopefully one day franchised dog businesses. My name is Rachel, I am 29 years young, 5’0 short and a canine fanatic. Originally from New Orleans, LA growing up around animals was an everyday experience. From alligators to nutrias(basically an oversized rat) creatures surrounded and followed me-so I think. I found myself capturing and keeping frogs, butterflies, snails and even a neighborhood stray cat. All of them seemed to bring happiness, comfort and sense of purpose in my life even at a young age. However, compared to all of my captured insect, reptile and feline friends, nothing brought me to a state of attachment or euphoria like a dog did.Chewie was my first love when it came to dogs. She was a beagle who came into my life before I was born. My mom had gotten Chewie as a gift from my dad a couple Christmases before I was born- it was love at first sight. By the way, I am convinced the whole “love at first sight” came about because of dogs. Chewie stayed with me for 10 whole years growing up-from baby me, pulling her ears and probably booping her nose too hard, to my last year in elementary school going into 5th grade. It was always fun to grow up looking at pictures and home videos of Chewie and I. Even before I can remember what life was, I was already loving a dog. Chewie was definitely a hard loss, especially for my mom; she was her first dog of her own.Soon after, another beagle, Sophie, was chosen by us from a farm in Mississippi. I still can remember the drive there. I was so excited to be getting another dog to keep me company growing up. Sophie was the runt of the litter, so she was small, sweet and oh so cute! We brought her home and I immediately went into full dog sister mode. Sophie slept with me, kept me company while I did homework and even played around when my friends came over. She was a hit with everyone who came to our home and she really loved the attention. Sophie stayed with me through my hardest times, one in particular, moving to Florida in 2005. Hurricane Katrina had taken my childhood home and whole life away-what it seemed at the time. I was 16, starting my junior year of high school and really loving life as a busy teenager. Well, life throws you curveballs when you least expect them, and boy did I not expect that! Sophie, along with my ENTIRE family, evacuated to Florida not knowing it would be our new forever home. Sophie was with us until New Years 2013-she lived 13 long years and I cherished every moment with her. The last few years of Sophie’s life consisted of me graduating high school, working long hours at my first “real” job, moving into my first apartment and having a serious boyfriend. Let’s just say, my time with Sophie was not as simple as it was growing up. It was shortly after Sophie passed away that I knew I couldn’t be without a dog for very long. I lasted almost two years, and the day that came to an end my life hasn’t been the same since.