I’m going to be honest, this might be one of the most inspiring pruppet submissions I’ve ever gotten. It’s a sort about a pug, but it’s also a story about so, so, so much more. I cried while reading the submission and when I spoke with our listener, Annalise who submitted this story, and while I was preparing this segment. So, be warned…
A few years ago, Annalise found herself in an abusive relationship with a guy I’m just going to call The Jerk. As we see so often, he started out really sweet and doting towards Annalise, but soon became controlling and manipulative. He would take her money and not repay her, degraded her in front of people with no regards to her, fed her lies about her family, made her text him every 2 hours to keep track of her whereabouts. And this will make you spiral with rage, but he especially utilized his faith to manipulate Annalise to be more obedient and submissive to him. The Jerk was…very much not a good dude. And Annalise was struggling. She was lonely because he had isolated her, she was so depressed and saw no way out. She had even contemplated taking her own life just to escape her situation. She knew that these thoughts were dangerous, and they terrified her. But Annalise decided there was one thing that might help her, at least with her loneliness, and that was getting a dog.
So, Annalise and the Jerk go off to an adoption event. And all the dogs there were getting all the pets, cuddles, and attention. All of the dogs, that is, except for Arthur. Arthur was a 12-year-old pug who was completely deaf, had hair loss, due to a wheat allergy, and basically no teeth. He looked like he was rounding the bend to the rainbow bridge. Even though she had wanted a young dog she could spend years and years with, The Jerk actually pushed Annalise towards Arthur, saying things like, “Just take him, no one wants him anyway.” In hindsight, Annalise believes he did that expecting Arthur not to live long, and Annalise would turn to him for comfort. Using this poor geriatric dog as just another tool of manipulation hanging over Annalise’s head.
However, Arthur outlasted The Jerk! Arthur brought Annalise the joy that ruled her confidence to leave, the companionship that showed her what real love looks like. Since he looked and acted a bit like a cantankerous old man, Arthur taught Annalise to laugh again, but he never manipulated or belittled her when she need a cry. Annalise got out of her abusive relationship and Arthur helped her do it. When she was ready, he helped her in forging the relationship with her now husband, Trent, who bonded with Arthur and loved him immensely.
Trent and Annalise gave Arthur his best and most amazing life until Arthur passed peacefully in his sleep last year at the age of 17. Annalise said that though they grieved Arthur more than they ever thought would be possible, she knows he left her with a brand-new life and she’ll always be grateful to him for being her friend when she desperately needed one.
Annalise adopted Arthur from the Pacific Pug Rescue. Evidently, he had been adopted out and returned to the rescue THREE TIMES before Annalise met him. Which is just wild to me, because one, Arthur seems perfect, and two, wow, talk about fate, right?
Okay, deep breaths now…
On top of this amazing story of a girl and her cranky old pug, Annalise now works at a non-profit dedicated to helping women heal from the damage of domestic violence! The organization is called Abuse Recovery Ministry Services, and she is incredibly passionate about not only helping others recover from situations of domestic violence but raising awareness that domestic homicides are domestic violence cases and there IS help out there.
