How a Pug transformed the life of a retiree

I retired from my job when I was 60. I already had plans to have a dog, some hens, and goats, and spend the rest of my life on our farmhouse growing my own organic fruits and vegetables.

On my 61st birthday, while I had no idea, my grandchildren planned to celebrate it with a massive surprise for me. And when I cut the cake, my granddaughter handed over this Pug to me who was highly innocent and he rested his head on my arm. It looked like he admired me or accepted to be with me. I named my first-ever dog “Biscuit“.

“Biscuit” was an 11-week old male Pug puppy having a silver fawn coat and a super-cute face. His comic face could grab anyone’s heart at the first look. Due to his charming personality and cuddly nature, we had given him several nicknames such as “The Hugger”, Shadow, and Pupsicle.

Related: Benefits of Adopting a Dog

Till the age of around 18 weeks, he used to spend most of his time sleeping, eating, and exploring different corners of our farmhouse. By that time, we already had a couple of goats and hens, and Biscuit used to play with them a lot. He loved to be in our lap. Either I am taking dinner or my wife is reading a book, Biscuit would be there in our lap asking for full attention.

Luckily, I managed some time to do a quick research on the breed and tried to learn their personality and requirements for living. They are very intelligent and graceful dogs. The Pugs are said to be the dog clowns and they know it. They cleverly use their wrinkly short-muzzled face that would let you fall in love with them within a second. And yes, they are low-maintenance dogs and can easily adapt to your lifestyle.

Read Hanging Tree Dog Breed Info

How did we spend our lives together?

I needed another dog because the hens, goats, and other farming animals were increasing gradually and a guard dog was the need of the day. So, after a little bit of research, I adopted a 2-year-old Australian Shepherd from a local shelter in Ontario. “Ronnie” was a Merle-patterned Australian Shepherd that was given up by his previous owner at the shelter.

Despite their different sizes, Ronnie and Biscuit developed a strong bond and it looked like they were made for each other. Both of these were lovely dogs but Biscuit was exceptional. During our daily walks, he used to grab everyone’s attention. Interestingly, he knew that he is the center of attention and he used to enjoy it.

How have my dogs changed my life?

There was a span of 8 months between my retirement day and the arrival of Biscuit in my life. During these 8 months, I spent my life full of depression and anxiety due to several reasons, especially, since I had nothing to do and I could not spend my time sitting on a couch. But as soon as I met this little cute creature, it totally changed my life. I started all of my activities again such as daily walks, golf, visits to parks, and much more.

On the other side, Ronnie, the Australian Shepherd was a mature dog that instantly accepted us as his new forever family. Herding the cattle is in the Australian Shepherd’s genes, so it wasn’t a problem for us to train him to be a guard dog for our cattle.

Both the dogs had shown us the other side of the picture and made our life full of happiness and joy.

Read Most Popular Australian Shepherd Names

What did I learn from my dogs?

Biscuit, the Pug taught me how to be happy and how to please others with no special efforts. He had a specialty, he used to treat every single person as a friend. I would say he was a big dog in a small package.

Ronnie, the Australian Shepherd taught me how to be responsible and friendly at the same time. He was friends with every single animal on our farmhouse but he used to become trained military personnel when he sensed danger.

Final words:

Now, after 7 years, I have countless cattle, hens, horses, cows, and 6 dogs on my farmhouse. After rescuing Ronnie, I felt that he silently admire me with his thank-you-eyes which motivated me to adopt some more dogs. And in the following years, I ended up adopting a Boston Terrier, Poodle, Catahoula Leopard Dog, and a Dachshund.

If you want to live your life to the fullest, adopt a dog from a shelter and you won’t regret it.

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