Cowboy & Wills by Monica Holloway
This post is part of the From Left to Write book club today and is inspired by the book Cowboy & Wills by Monica Holloway, a love story about a remarkable little boy and the puppy that changed his life.
My girls, especially Lily, are fairly obsessed these days with animals. Ava has to take an animal (or animals….the number is negotiable) with her wherever we go. “My pets!” she remembers as we are about the walk out the door.
Lily draws dogs and cats all day long on whatever project she is currently working on. At six-years-old, she is between the stages of Disney Princess and Hanna Montana and animals seems to be her thing.
It was Lily who, like Wills in the book Cowboy & Wills, asked for a puppy for Christmas last year. It came home in her kindergarten pile of artwork one day. A letter to Santa, clearly written in black and white that the one thing she wanted was a puppy.
As I mentioned, I resisted dog ownership for a long, long time. I am just…not a dog person. But the day after this Santa request for a puppy came home, Jeff called his mom to make plans for the Christmas holidays and, as luck would have it, she had 10 puppies. 10. Wow.
Jeff’s mom breeds King Charles Cavalier spaniels. They are adorable. I believe she sold one to Sylvester Stalone once (and all sorts of other famous people – she lives in LA). I love these dogs and they are really the only type of dog that I would ever imagine owning. I viewed them as SORT OF like cats. Quiet, lap-loving, small. I could deal with that. So I said…yes.
On Christmas morning, there was the puppy under the tree. Lily was not surprised at all. After all, she had been a good girl and had clearly asked Santa for what she wanted.
What surprised me was…how much I love this dog. Since I am home more than Jeff, I end up taking care her more than he does. Yes, this is true even though we agreed that HE would be the one cleaning up the poop and all of the messes. In reality, it is me. And I feed the dog – it is true that dogs think with their stomachs AND have unconditional love for their companions.
(Actually, I admit, that I feed the dog all kinds of treats and human food – I don’t mean that I make her bacon for breakfast, but I do spoil her….very much like I spoil my kids maybe a little more than my husband does).
About her name. You’ll notice that I haven’t mentioned our dog’s name. I’m a little embarassed (and bewildered?) that the name chosen doesn’t really fit. Lily named her Biscuit, after the kids book about the dog Biscuit. But we hardly ever call her Biscuit. We call her “Pup-pup.” I actually have NO idea why. When Lily was a baby, I called her “Lulu.” No idea. I guess I like these little nicknames. They come out of nowhere, I swear.
Last week I decided that once a week, every week, I would do something with one-on-one with one of my kids. This is a major feat for me to accomplish, believe it or not. For Lily, it has turned into a daily walk with Pup-Pup around our neighborhood.
I was really inspired by the way Monica and Wills took their dog Cowboy out EVERYWHERE. And, I mean everywhere. We really need to take our dog out of the house more. Pup-pup loves getting out and its good for us to get our in our neighborhood more. We meet all kinds of people and other dogs. Its really lovely. But we have been busy, nervous, not sure what to do, I don’t really know why we haven’t done it much. We just haven’t. This “date” with Lily and Pup-Pup is really nice. She gets her alone time away from the other kids, something she has been craving a lot lately, since her little sister Ava follows her around and copies her all the time (“me too!”). And Pup-Pup gets some training going around the block and socializing.
She is a part of our family now, that’s for sure. Right this second she is curled up in the kids room, amidst the dozens of other “animals.” She is happy and secure and cozy. And so are the kids. They have a bond with her. It results in their not being afraid of animals (although a little fear is good, I suppose).
As for me, I am also a little less afraid. I can reach down and pet a dog now and understand the connections that people feel. I’m still not a fan of big dogs and a lot of slobber, but I’m getting there. Puppy steps.
Disclosure: I received a free copy of Cowboy & Wills by Monica Holloway for the From Left to Write Book Club that I founded as a continuation of the SV Moms Group Book Club after founding that book club and serving as the book club editor for SV Moms Group for two years. I was not obligated to write about the book and all opinions are my own.
If you are interested in joining the virtual book club site From Left to Write, please contact me. From Left to Write holds regular book clubs, writing not book reviews, but our own stories that are inspired by the books we read.
