A Boy and His Dog, Rather a Man and his Small Fluffball

A Boy and his dog, a classic American tale depicting the famous mantra “a dog is man’s best friend”. Relatable to nearly every American man, but not AJ. He held no sentiment or feelings toward dogs. In fact, he used to be afraid of them as a child, but now a grown man, he felt childish to admit that he was afraid of dogs. His childhood fear turned into a manly apathy for a creature that is supposed to be “his best friend”. Convinced there was no dog that he liked, AJ avoided dogs at all costs. He did not stop to pet and coo the dogwalker’s furry friends on the city streets, he skipped over Facebook videos of cute puppies playing with their owners. No, he would have nothing to do with any dog, ever. That all changed when he met Traci. A mix rescued from a pound, but acted like she was a princess born in a palace. Part Pomeranian, part Corgi, she was the cutest, smallest fluff ball AJ had ever seen. Traci had her own family, she was adopted and pampered like pup royalty for quite some time. A family friend owned her, and the Man and Dog first met while AJ was visiting their home while traveling on business. It did not take him long to realize that Traci was above the reproach of most dogs, she was like a puppy angel compared to any other dog he had previously met. Poised, tame, smelling of lavender shampoo and not of mud or puppy breath, loving, loyal and friendly, she was absolutely perfect. Traci was truly the only dog AJ had ever met that he not only could tolerate, but that he loved. She did not obnoxiously jump all over him, nor did she beg for scraps from the kitchen. If there were a royal standard for a dog’s behavior, Traci was the epitome and definition, setting the bar for this standard very high. AJ found his best (furry) friend. During their short few days spent together while AJ was visiting Traci’s family, the Man and Dog spent all their time possible together. Strolling city streets, dining al fresco on urban restaurant patios, watching Sports Center on the couch together, the pair could not seem happier spending time together. But alas, AJ’s business trip was short in length, and his return flight home that afternoon was quickly approaching after only having a few days time with his new furry best friend. A heartfelt and long goodbye left AJ feeling lonely, sad and empty. His wrist felt naked from not holding her small leash and his hand missed petting her head and giving her belly rubs. As soon as his plane landed, his wife picked him up from the airport, and asked how his trip was. AJ immediately told her all about Traci. He failed to mention any details about his business trip, the main intent and focus of his travel. No, he only spoke of Traci, of their adventures and how much he missed her. Over the following weeks, he asked his friends, Traci’s owners, for pictures and videos of Traci doing her favorite things; wearing her pink princess sweater on car rides, drinking Puppuccinos on afternoon Starbucks runs, and anything else that would remind AJ of his favorite furry friend. However, not long after returning home from his business trip, AJ received a call from the family friend, revealing sadly that Traci had passed away from an uncommon and fatal virus that she contracted at a dog park. Crushed, AJ was near tears, since he never got to say a true and sincere goodbye to the first dog he ever loved. Months passed, and nearly every day AJ would reminisce stories about Traci to his wife. A sorrowful smile appeared on his face every time he would tell a story about Traci, missing her cute smile and her small bark. With his 30th birthday soon approaching, AJ’s wife (who is also known as me, Ella, your story teller), did some research on Traci’s unique mixed breed. After a few google searches and hours of doggy research later, a breeder popped up, who specialized in Pomeranian-Corgi mixes. Setting out on the errand, I went to the breeder to choose a dog to surprise AJ on his birthday. The 8-week old puppies, small and very furry, all looked different. Some with darker fur, others who looked nothing like Traci at all, none of them looked quite like her. Except one, the runt of the litter, a female pup quite smaller than her brothers and sisters, but yet she looked as though she was Traci’s clone. I asked the breeder what her name was, and she replied that she did not name any of the dogs, except that one (since she assumed no one would want the runt due to her smaller size compared to the rest of the litter). The breeder promptly told me that she was still for sale if I was interested, and that her nickname was Maci. From the way she looked to her rhyming nickname to her look-alike Traci, I knew she was the dog for AJ. Signing the paperwork, handing over my credit card and reading the owner’s guide and manual for training and raising a dog, I left with a file folder of documents, eight-hundred dollars less in my bank account, and a small crate with a barking but adorable fluffy puppy. It was the eve of AJ’s birthday, his last day of being twenty-nine. I quickly drove to my best friend’s house (who is known in our social circle as a dog-whisperer), to watch our new puppy Maci for the night so I could surprise him the morning of his birthday. I received a phone call while driving the last few miles to my friend’s house, my iPhone ringing with a call from none other than AJ. Asking standard questions like “how was your day at work honey?”, “Ella did you call the restaurant to make the reservation for my birthday dinner tomorrow night?” and “do you need me to go to the store for anything for dinner before I come home?”, I quickly replied and hung up as soon as I possibly could, terrified he would hear Maci’s puppy barks and that the surprise would be ruined. After dropping her off with her new bed and toys for her “sleepover”, I pet her head and rubbed her belly before leaving, and rushed home to not make AJ suspicious of any kind of birthday surprise. The night passed slowly and I wondered how Maci was doing, being extremely careful to not mention anything about my errand that day. I set my alarm early to pick Maci up, anxious to introduce the pup to AJ, anticipating the friendship to form between Man and Dog. I quickly drive to pick Maci up, and rush back home to greet AJ on his birthday with balloons, a breakfast-for-two in bed and the biggest surprise of all, a puppy just like Traci (named Maci), that AJ could call his own. I slowly open the master bedroom door and wake AJ, gently placing Maci on the bedspread by his side. Slowly opening his eyes, AJ realized there was a dog who looked just like Traci, sitting right before him that he could call his own. Overjoyed, AJ turns to hug me and immediately bonds with the smiling and excited puppy. In his grief of missing Traci, he finally had a dog that looked just like her be his new furry friend. Later that night after work on the drive his birthday celebration with all our friends, I received a call from the breeder. She called to tell me about how Maci, our brand new puppy, was actually related to Traci. Shocked and in disbelief, I shared the news with AJ, in which he immediately smiles, realizing that his first furry friend will always be with him in the form of his new puppy called Maci. A boy and his dog, or rather a Man and his small fluffball, Maci was born to be AJ’s own furry friend.