I don’t know how I slept through the news. I had no idea that the Pembroke Welsh Corgi got bumped out of the top 10 most popular dog breeds for 2020 by Dachshunds. I barely paid attention to this annual list, outside of knowing Labrador Retrievers were undefeated for decades. As a professional dog walker for the past two years, I’ve walked 84 different dogs and almost cleared 500 walks (as of the date of this publication). I have no favorites. Everybody’s dog is cool with me. But I knew something was different after I decided to adopt a dog, and I was a bit puzzled by all of the attention.
How I accidentally ended up adopting a top-10 dog breed
I’ve been working from home as a full-time freelance writer and editor for three years straight. Social isolation was oddly normal for me, minus the fact that my dog-walking jobs did a nosedive. Everyone was home all of a sudden, and no one really needed outside help. So my second-year drought of dog walking versus walking three to four dogs a day in 2019 made me go back to pondering on owning my own dog. (I previously owned a Lab for 13 years and a German Shepherd for nine years in my childhood home.)
Although this goes against everything I encourage other potential dog adopters to do, I didn’t really pay much attention to Dachshunds or their characteristics. On Juneteenth, I walked a Greyhound (one of my regular four-legged clients) and watched a documentary on the history of June 19, 1865. This was the 11th year I’d celebrated what is now a national holiday.
But some time during that day, I decided to peruse sites for pet adoption options again. I’d put the idea off after a request from another pet adoption company got me nowhere after a month, even with my laundry list of dog walking, dog boarding, and dog ownership proof.
The first dog I saw while browsing on another pet adoption site was “Ducky.” I kept staring at her. But from the pics, this unidentified breed looked like she’d get too big for my condominium. So I inquired about four other dogs. But I just kept staring at Ducky’s pic and mentioned that she was at the top of my list if her adult weight was under 50 lbs.
To my absolute surprise, Ducky was the only one left of my selections and had just arrived a couple of days before from Alabama. I walked right out the door that same day and to that nearby Chicago pet adoption agency. Thirty minutes later, I had one of the top 10 breeds hanging over my neck like a shawl. (She refused to walk, as is common with puppies.) I renamed her Junee, a cutesy homage to Juneteenth.
How social isolation made me more socially awkward
After a year and a half of hawk-eyeing anyone who was less than 6 feet away from me, wearing masks, and focusing more on my condo board activities rather than visiting places with strangers, I’d gotten used to not really being around people. Sure, I talked to condo board members, owners, and contractors as the then-condo association president, but the idea of dating and flirting went right out of the window. I had zero interest in being near anyone romantically, although I admit to smizing at one particular plumber and a bank teller on a few occasions.
However, anyone who has been within the vicinity of a dog understands why FetchaDate calls them WingPets. Pets are easy conversation starters, especially with fellow pet lovers. But after adopting Junee, I was still in social isolation mode—groggily waking up to wipe sleep out of my eyes, put on glasses, flip my hood on to cover the wrap cap I sleep in, and covering my pajamas up with a lightweight coat. If this puppy was going to wake me up at God awful hours of the morning, I was going to get through it with a night owl’s aesthetic defiance. I even made sure to wear headphones to avoid anyone talking to me pre-coffee.
(Side note: Dachshunds are amazingly easy to crate train. By day three, my Dachshund connected treats to peeing and pooping outside, and that was that. I’ve had her for almost three weeks, and 98% of the time she barks to go outside. After I wipe her paws upon return, she marches straight to the kitchen and sits underneath the cabinet where treats are.)
Dating and dogs
For someone who has bare minimum interest in dating after a worldwide health pandemic, Dachshunds are the kinds of WingPets that really get results. I was not prepared. I’ve grown comfortably antisocial. Meanwhile, I’ve had: 1) a man hold up a green light to ask me how my dog and I were doing; 2) a gardener stop working on his lawn to ask if my dog’s “master has a husband”; 3) stopped counting the number of men making kissy faces at my dog; 4) was startled when a car swerved into a parking spot to stare at my dog and ask about the breed; 5) observed a man completely stop washing his car to walk over and ask me, “Is that a hot dog?”
Everywhere I go, this dog is getting me more attention than my camouflage pajama pants wearing, wrap cap fitting, the bespectacled face is used to.
Should I use this WingPet to my advantage?
I suppose if I’m single and ready to mingle, I should dress the part. But the night owl in me just won’t humor “getting cute” to walk a dog at 7 a.m., especially when she barks to go outside two more times between midnight and walking time. I’m taking full advantage of Drake’s “Best I Ever Had” lyrics, “Sweatpants, hair tied, chillin’ with no makeup on, that’s when you’re the prettiest, I hope that you don’t take it wrong.”
Truth be told, I don’t dress up for the noon walk either. For some odd reason, this Dachshund is getting me more play than I ever got as a dog walker. My face didn’t change. I put on social isolation weight. And my collection of sports bras, yoga pants, and T-shirts are undefeated. All those 3-inch and 4-inch heels, dresses, and pantyhose in my closets are imposters since December 2019. Eventually, I’ll get back to wearing them though. I’m in no rush, pet lovers.
FetchaDate.com is one of those pet-loving mobile apps that just makes sense. People are drawn to pets, and accidentally adopting one of the most popular breeds rearranged my social awkwardness in a way that I wasn’t expecting. Although dogs are supposed to be man’s best friend, they’re certainly doing quite the trick for women, too. So if you see me buried under a hood, blasting Drake, and walking this morning-bird dog, you know I’m out here having the “best days I’ve ever had.”
