Sugar and Spice

The moment I met my dogs was the day that my whole life changed. During my second year of college, I found myself in a very depressed state. I was doing poorly in my classes and was on the verge of being place on academic suspension. My mother wasn't doing very well herself after experiencing a painful breakup on Thanksgiving. One day, my mom woke me up saying we were going to go look for a pet at the PetSmart adoption event that was going on.

We saw several dogs and cats for sale, but I wasn't sure what I was really looking for. I had definitely owned pets in the past, but I had never really adopted or rescued before. After a few minutes, I saw an employee bringing around a 4 month old Lab-retriever pup on a pink leash. What caught my eye was that unlike the rest of the dogs there, she was frightened. I asked if I could see the pup and she handed me the leash so I could spend some time walking her. As we were walking, the girl told me that this little one was terrified of cars, so we steered clear of the road and walked out the back to a patch of grass. The entire time the baby was staying close to me like I was her only defense from the outside world.

When I returned to my mom in the store, I told her that I had found my dog. As we were filling out the adoption forms, the little baby climbed into my lap and quickly drifted off into sleep as I caressed her head lovingly. She continued like that on our way home in the car and it became clear that this dog had become attached to me. When we got home, it had slipped my mind that I needed a name for the new addition. My aunt, who was visiting at the time, posed the name Sugar, after an old family dog. I loved the name and thus Sugar Arnold was added to our family.

Sugar was very quiet on her first day and seemed like she was adjusting to her new home. She did pick up on one little habit that would persist even in her later years and that was ensuring that no one touches her toys but her. She would gather the many toys we bought for her and would bring them back with her to her bed. It was one of the most adorable things I had ever seen. However, there was one thing I was not fully prepared for: the clean-up. When we had brought Sugar home, we were told not to get her wet for a week as she had just undergone spaying and the stitches were dissolvable. Well later that night it began to storm heavily meaning I couldn't take her out to go potty and thus had to clean up a lot of poop.

Eventually I housebroke her and she even picked up some nifty tricks like playing dead and rolling over. I could tell this baby had bonded with me because every morning she would barge into my room and leap on top of my bed (as well as my back) to wake me up and great me. Everywhere I went, Sugar would follow. In fact the most frequented room in the whole house by Sugar is my room, even when I'm not home.

Now you're probably wondering where the "Spice" that the title refers to factors into this story. Well it started 4 months after we had gotten Sugar. My third year of college was about to get underway and I thought that since I was going to be way for most of the day, that it would be best to get Sugar a playmate to keep her company. My mom agreed and we then hit the Fairmont Pet shelter as opposed to PetSmart to see what we could find.

Similar to our first trip, none of the dogs really caught our eye, they would act excited to see us, but the moment that we would go visit them, they would act very uninterested in us and just wanted to let out. However we came a across a very sad looking six month old German shepherd mix who, strangely enough, looked almost exactly like Sugar. When we visited the poor pup, she looked absolutely terrified and immediately ran up to my mom, cowered her face in her lap, and peed on the spot. I immediately felt for the baby and Mom agreed that this would be the one.

In filling out the paperwork, we learned that the dog's name was Estrellita and she had previously been owned by another family who gave her up for adoption. By the way the poor thing was acting, we suspected they must have mistreated, or even abused her. We had to introduce her to Sugar before we could finalize the process so we ran home and brought our other baby with us (it was a good thing the shelter wasn't but ten minutes from our home). The two hit it off very well and in a week (she needed to be spayed) we would be able to pick up our new baby (we had agreed beforehand that we would name her Spice).

I wasn't around for the first week of Spice's stay as I was visiting with my brother in Louisiana, so my mom had been caring for the dogs in the meantime. I heard that two were getting along just fine and that Mom had even taught Spice the same tricks Sugar had picked up. I was so excited to see the two upon my return home.

Something that became abundantly clear was that these two looked almost identical. I would get asked if the two were sisters or identical twins. I would answer honestly that they were both rescues from different places, but they were definitely the closest either had to a sister. Another thing I find so charming about my babies is how they admit to wrongdoings. If one of them tampers with my mom's garden and we ask who did it, the culprit, usually Spice will slowly walk to the corner of shame while the other will go about frolicking without a care in the world.

It's been four years since these special pups have entered my life, and I tell you, they have been some of the happiest years of my life. I could probably go on forever about how these babies bring me joy, but I think I'll end it by talking about their personalities. Don't let Sugar's name fool you, she grew into a fiercely protective guard dog who's number one priority is keeping me and my family safe. Spice is very timid and gentle soul who's only want is to be held and cuddled. She still gets nervous and pees every now and then in front of strangers, but here lately she's been able to suppress that urge. These dogs have given me some very fond memories and serve as a reminder to always adopt, not shop.