What’s the point of running a pet travel website if you don’t have a pet? That’s the question that’s plagued us since Ty and Buster passed away. But still, we just weren’t ready to take the leap.

Letting Go To Move On

Life moves in cycles and, by any measure, we’ve been in a period of loss. After 10 years of traveling full-time with our dogs, living our best lives together, and writing a book about our adventures, things took a turn.

First Ty passed in September. Then my grandma and Buster left us in January. In March a dear friend died of cancer. And finally, four weeks ago, this world-wide crisis took our very way of life.

Plans were cancelled and future trips were put on hold. The efforts I’d made to pick myself up were crushed. I was stuck. Continuing to sit in the grief was what was left.

But grief and I have been companions for a while now, and I’ve learned a bit. First it shakes you to your core – strips the joy and meaning from everything, including basics like eating. This is when most people bail out, desperately reaching for a way back their old life – or as close as they can get.

I don’t blame them.

However, if you stick with it, grief also bears gifts. In the grip of grief, we can see how little attention we’ve given the things that really matter to us. Times slows down, allowing us to reflect on the joys and heartaches of the past and be filled with appreciation for the blessings we still have. It’s an awakening, providing the pause we need to envision a new version of ourselves and different way of approaching life.

That’s where I was — just beginning to feel a shift in the weight I’d been under. After months of feeling all that was lost, I’d started contemplating the blank slate before me, ready to use these lessons and create a brighter future.

Unbelievable Timing

Just as I reached this conclusion the craziest thing happened! I looked up to see one of our neighbors walking his dogs.

He was right in front of our RV, dancing around like he was trying to keep another dog away from his two pups. I went out to see if I could help and found a stray puppy trying to play with his dogs. Scooping the little guy up, he quieted right down and laid his chin on my shoulder.

Since he wasn’t wearing a collar or tags, we took him to the vet to see if he had a microchip. He doesn’t. And he didn’t fit the description of any lost dog reports.

He had a pretty bad case of fleas, was a little skinny, and had worms, but otherwise he appeared healthy. So, we invited him to live with us. Of course, every dog needs a job! We’ve agreed that he’ll be our new Paw-blick Relations Specialist.

Dog Job Skills

So far, the little guy is getting high scores in all the areas you’d expect. He’s very good at entertaining his co-workers, excels at snacking in his cube, and leads the pack at sleeping on the job.

He has some big dog shoes to fill, but we’re confident he’ll be great and bring his own flare to his job and the business. Here’s to new beginnings!