How Taking Care of a Dog Influences Our Marriage

I’ve always wanted a dog since I was a kid, but wasn’t allowed to have one because of allergies in the family. Still, that remained one of the things that I consistently wanted throughout my childhood and adult life.

When the pandemic happened and we were all stuck at home, I decided to get one and named him Milo. With no permission, but an FYI to my family that it was happening. My mom wasn’t happy, but it finally happened. I got my own dog. Dane was onboard as he knew I wanted a dog since I was young.

As Milo grew up, it became so much harder. But once he was about 8 or 9 months old, it became a bit more manageable. And as he grew even older, he became a huge part of our daily routine and we have fondly become attached to him, including my mother who has repeatedly said before that she didn’t like dogs.

Of course, when Dane and I got married, part of the package is him becoming a furparent to Milo as well. We waited around 3 weeks before taking Milo from my family and bringing him to our new home. By this time, he was already 2.5 years old. Of course, having a dog added responsibilities to our everyday lives and influences our marriage. That includes:

The need to wake up early

Ever since we moved in together, Milo has learned to do his business outdoors. Which means that we’ll have to take him out at certain times of day, every day, so he doesn’t end up making a mess in our condo unit.

There were times that we’ll ignore his whines or think he’s just looking for attention, only to realize after he pees that it was his call to take him out. Oops.

Since there are days that we report to the office, he got used to peeing and pooing at the times before we leave for work at 7am. So now, he has gotten accustomed to waking us up at around 6:30am to let us know that he needs to go. That includes weekends.

It’s both a blessing and a curse because we couldn’t really sleep in. But it also means we get to start our day early. Sometimes we’ll be surprised that we’ve finished the laundry, eaten our breakfast, and cleaned our home and it’s only 8:30 in the morning.

Getting exercise

In relation to the point before, taking our dog out for his nature’s call requires us to take him out at least twice a day, every day. The park near our place has been our go-to for Milo to take care of his business and to get this beagle some much needed exercise as an active hunting dog that he is. It’s also Dane and I’s time to bond and it has become an exercise and date routine for us daily.

Without Milo, I doubt we’ll be going out for walks for the sole reason of exercise alone.

We’re not hitting 10k steps per day by taking Milo out, but if our dog wasn’t around, we probably won’t even hit 1k!

Socializing

Our dog has also been a great icebreaker when meeting other people—particularly other dog owners. There’s a dog community in our area and we have gotten to know some of the other dogs and engage in conversations with other owners.

Truth be told, I’m having trouble remembering most of the dogs’ names because there’s just so many! Good thing Dane’s memory is better than mine!

Financial impact

Having a dog definitely requires some budget allotment for his daily needs as well as emergency care. Owning a pet is a huge responsibility and it doesn’t end when they get sick or old. His food, treats, and vitamins cost a few thousands per month. Milo also had a few minor health concerns and we’ve spent a couple thousands each time to make sure he’s getting the care he needs.

Getting him into daycare or transporting him when needed are also costs that are associated with caring for a dog. But we love him a lot so setting aside money for these expenses is something we’ve accounted for in our marriage.

More cleaning

I asked Dane for his opinion on this blog post and this is the first that came to his mind (lmao). Aside from the accidents that had happened a few times because we ignored Milo’s pleas to go out, a beagle apparently sheds quite a bit. His fur is everywhere you look so it requires cleaning regularly, especially with our floors being a shade of white.

However, we refuse to also lock him up in his fenced area all day so he can walk around a little bit and interact with us even if our unit is small.

We’re a little OC when it comes to keeping our space tidy. But having a dog around keeps our cleaning routines in check because we couldn’t ignore clumps of his fur gathering in the corners of our home.

Parenting practice

It might be rude to compare taking care of a dog with a human baby, but there are definitely overlaps in terms of the amount of dedication, effort, and time. Dane and I have no plans to have a kid yet any time soon, but having Milo around is definitely a form of practice on how we can work together as a team.

Surprisingly, Dane is the strict dad and I’m the fun mom (he’s enumerating down stuff that makes me the chill mom as I write this post as I initially wrote it as vice versa. He’s right, I’m the one who lets Milo on our bed or gives him human food lol).

But there are times that we also need to be responsible dog furparents by making sure that Milo’s puppy eyes can only get him a responsible amount of treats and cheat food, teach him not to bite our stuff at home, and that we clean up after him when we’re out.

Daily dose of entertainment

Milo is also a huge entertainment for Dane and I, however mean that sounds. I mean come on, look at these!

Having a dog is such a huge responsibility. But the joy he brings us outweighs that a hundred-fold. He’s an important part of our family and we have grown attached to him. We can’t imagine our lives without having this potato head of a beagle annoy us daily.

Here’s additional dog tax to end this post.