My 7 Days as a Dog Owner

In the midst of practicing for the production of A Streetcar Named Desire, I met Nicole who volunteers at KAPS (The Korean Animal Protection Society). They even hold dog walks for the dogs in Daegu. Any who, I had mentioned I would be willing to babysit if need be, I didn’t think I was ready to be a full foster parent yet. It was a passing comment, but lo’ and behold, a few days later there is a dog that needs a home ASAP. A seven-year old yorkie had exceeded the age limit at the shelter and needed to find a home asap or else they would have to put him down. Umm what?! So of course I said yes, an uncertain yes, because of course I had the sudden realization of “Oh crap, I will have a dog living with me”.  

Nameless Yorkie appeared at my door….and wait…are you sure it isn’t a Chihuahua? Like the girl who’s never had a dog would know more than the woman who works there. He was groomed and thus looked like a rat. Put off initially by the creepy resemblance, I instantly melted when I finally got to know him within the first minutes he entered my house. 

In a span of a few days this is how a dog changed my life:

1. I never knew I had so much discipline. Whether to exercise (an uncommon fact in my life) or do things on a scheduled basis. Oh future children of mine, you will be fed! 
2. I was willing to actually explore my neighborhood (pics soon to follow), and actually felt like I was in a “real” Korea. I went beyond the new apartment complexes and went behind alleys and small streets that were peppered with traditional houses. 
3. Once a “mother”, I will have no problem wiping my baby’s butt. Yep, that’s right. I had to sometimes wipe. Wow. 
4. It is true that dogs offer unconditional love (you hear that Chumpi??)

I ended up calling him Wesito, a combo of Spanish and Korean. “Weh” is Korean for “Why” and “huesito” is “Little Bone”. This is appropriate because I would find myself asking him “Why?!” all the time. For instance, he would be super excited to see me, he would caress against me like a cat. I would tell him,  “Dog, you’re a dog!” in the hopes that he would get it. But to no avail. 

Sadly, I had to give him up as soon as the week before the show happened. I was never home and it was just cruel to leave him alone for so long. Chumpi did emotional back flips when he left. He kinda hated him, no surprise there, and I refused to let him out when Wesito was out for fear that Chumpi would hurt him. Yep, I was afraid my 1 pound hedgehog would harm the dog. He’s vicious, as seen in this clip taken a few days after Wesito left. I think he had some pent-up aggression:

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