A Dog is Family

You don’t always have to give your dog up when you are expecting or planning for a baby.

“We just got married and moved into our brand new HDB, a place we called our own. A coincidental scroll of Facebook caught our eyes one day as we are enjoying the comfort of our home. A five months old mongrel is about to be homeless just before CNY, probably part of a “spring cleaning” process. A sense of duty overcame us and we decided to take in this white mongrel to give him the home he deserved. Peanut is his name. We never regretted the decision made.

For the next two years, we spent many good moments with Peanut. We trained together, understood each other, kept each other company, had seemingly endless fun at dog parks, swimming pools and open seas, chasing moving items, enjoying endless happiness. Peanut is our dearest boy.

Two years later, a missed period and a cross result of the pregnancy test kit are signs to many couples. For us, it meant that we have an addition to the family, an eventual phase of typical marriage life. We were excited about it and we believe Peanut was able to tell something was different. Peanut became gentler towards his mummy and often stood by her, giving her comfort and companion as much as he could. While on the flip side, playful and carefree play with daddy continued. The differences were obvious.

The eventful day came; we brought our newborn son home when he was two days old. Peanut’s first reaction was curiosity armed with wagging tail. We introduced our son to Peanut slowly. Peanut sniffed for a while and gave a light lick kiss on my son’s cheek. Peanut knows the baby is family, this small little human being that miraculously disappeared from mummy’s tummy and appeared in front of him!

Along the pregnancy and post-pregnancy, we were encouraged by many people to give up Peanut for the sake of our son’s health. We were undeterred by these recommendations. The day we took Peanut in is because we cannot bear to see him being abandoned. We promised to give him a loving home till his end of time. Peanut is family. Peanut is our son’s big brother. He will love our son, help to entertain our son and teach our son things that only a dog can teach us humans.

Two months have passed. The family is very happy and contented. We wake up at night together to attend to our son’s needs. Peanut followed us around the house all the time regardless the time of the day. At times when both of us are busy and our son is crying for attention, Peanut will go forward and gave our son kisses that calms him down.
A dog is human’s best friend. A dog is family. Never abandon your best friend for any reason. A dog will love you and your family unconditionally and is priceless.” – Johnny & Zaclynn (Peanut’s adopters)