The moment Jackson asked me, “Do you want to get a dog?” I fell a little more in love.
I was out for a run, and he was beside me on the bike keeping me company. Normally on excursions like this he talks a lot while I huff and puff my way through the miles. I mostly just grunt or nod my responses to his questions. But that morning, I couldn’t believe my ears.
“YES!”
“Well, it’d be your dog, but I’d like, take it out sometimes,” he amended.
“YES!” I repeated.
You see, when I graduated college I had every intention of bringing my dog, Bear, to live with me. I paid a several hundred dollar pet fee at the apartment I was going to move into so that I could have him. However, my dad had grown very attached and decided he wanted to keep Bear. So, I started talking about getting a dog, a puppy.
Jackson wasn’t sure I should go through with this. He worried that I didn’t realize how much work a puppy would be, especially while settling into a new city.
Now, Jackson is my partner, but he’s also my boss. I didn’t need his permission, but I certainly wanted his approval in adopting because I wanted to be able to bring my pup to work. I wanted his help with the dog. I wanted his ‘okay.’ So I decided to give it some time. I didn’t bring it up anymore.
I did think about it though. A lot. I thought about how much fun it would be to take a dog to the park, to the lake, to hike. I thought about how cool it would be to have a shop dog like most Gearhead stores, even though the one we managed at the time was in a traditional mall.
When Jackson caught up to me in the way of thoughts on getting a dog, I looked up adoptable puppies that very day.
I found a litter of Australian Shepherd mix puppies that would be available for adoption soon; their mom was rescued and they were born into foster care, ready to find new homes within a few weeks. Jackson suggested looking for an older dog. He said “I want a dog that will lay around and not do much. A dog I can just sit and drink a beer with.” But I was bent on getting a puppy.
I messaged the rescue asking about the pups and a few weeks later we drove up to Kansas City to pick up our Kona Bean.
When they handed her to me, she peed all over me. I held her close, cooing and telling her it was okay. Jackson couldn’t stop laughing.
She slept in my lap most of the way home and spent about thirty minutes crying before sleeping calmly through the night, too.
Kona quickly adapted to store life. We didn’t tell the mall that we had her, instead we waited to see what they’d say if they found out. One by one the management team did find out, and as time passed they would stop in just to see her.
“Is Kona here?” If not, they’d say “Oh, okay!” Then they’d keep walking. Shoppers sometimes did the same. “Is the dog here?” If so, they’d poke in and say hello. If not, they’d likely keep on going. Kona quickly became famous.
She’s pretty indifferent towards people but loves other dogs. She’s never chewed up anything at the store that we didn’t give her. And she may have left to go visit the stores next door without us noticing (in the early days).
Somehow we got what I wanted; a puppy, and what Jackson wanted; a dog that lays around a lot. Unless we go outside. When Kona gets to an open space she can run like the wind. She’s fearless on a trail. And she loves every kind of water (river, lake, creek, puddle) except, of course, the bath.
Nearly a year after bringing her into our little family, it’s hard to remember what our life was like without her. Kona goes to work, to social events, to dinner and on vacations. We include her in almost every part of our life; going out for a drink, attending a yoga class, out for a run. Jackson even bought her a trailer so she can ride behind our bikes.
Kona Bean is our adventure companion, intruder alerter, co-worker and best friend.
I’ve said this is a blog about that in-between stage of life; that feeling where you’re not really sure what’s next. Uncertainty can clog your thoughts and cause worry to infest your decisions. While I decided to start this blog because I think that’s a super common feeling, I doubt dogs have that feeling.
Kona is completely happy, content, overjoyed to be right where she’s at. She’s not worried about what’s next. She reminds us to live in the moment, to be happy about the smallest things, to love unconditionally, and to explore the unknown. Kona Bean knows that it’s okay to be in-between.