How Getting A Dog Helped Me #Adult

College can be one of those great places where a student can go to explore their interests and find themselves before heading in the adult world.

What a fabulous idea! Let’s send thousands of financially unstable young adults to a place with minimal time construction. Then, let's expect them to come out four years later with business casual attire figured out and paying for our own Netflix accounts instead of mooching off older siblings. Sounds like an automatic success story to me.

I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t recall taking a class in high school that taught me how to manage my daily schedule, or how to fill out my FAFSA, or how to get the most bang for my buck at the grocery store living paycheck to paycheck.

A lot of #adult skills can be learned from elders like parents or siblings. And don’t get me wrong, my family has done an above-average job preparing me for the adult world, but they cant teach me absolutely everything; they have their own careers to focus on. This is where college comes in.

In my college career I would agree that I explored my interests and found a career path to pursue as I mentioned earlier. However, with our generation’s lack of #adulting, college was also a place where I ate Flammin’ Hot Cheetos for breakfast and watched Netflix until my corneas burned.

So when are we supposed to stop making Cheetos fingerprints on our electronics and #adult? Is there a set time when your adult-ness kicks in? Is it supposed to be like when a boy gets his first armpit hair? Is it when you actually crave coffee in the morning? Is it when you buy your own Spotify membership instead of watching the advertisement for 30minutes of Ad free music?

When do we wake up with the urge to file our taxes before the deadline and catch up on laundry??

For me, the push to #adult resulted from getting a dog. Here are a few ways I found getting a dog helped me #adult:

1. I wake up earlier.

I used to be able to sleep 11+ hours as a form of procrastination from homework or cleaning. I was also guilty of sleeping in as late as possible before work and class. Showing up to class with a hat because it was easier than getting up an extra 10 minutes early to shower.

This changed when a potty-training puppy was depending on me to let her out at the crack of dawn, every morning.

Good morning yawn :)

Not only do I have to get up early enough to get myself ready, I also need to make sure my dog is fed and relieved herself before leaving her alone.

2. I manage my time more efficiently.

Now maybe this is just because I am a crazy dog person, but I am not much more organized with my tasks like cleaning and homework because I also need to attend to my dogs needs. Have you ever tried to do homework or binge watch a season on Netflix with a puppy that hasn’t been on a walk? Because let me stop you right there and tell you the odds are not in your favor.

Dogs need to eat and exercise everyday. Some dogs require intellectual stimulation on top of exercise to prevent anxiety and destructive behavior. If I want to get my own tasks done, I need to make sure my dog is occupied or tired which requires me to manage my time with much more care than previously.

Who doesn’t want to take that cute face on a walk?!

Instead of procrastinating on assignments or filling out things like my FAFSA, I make myself sit down and do them so I can have time to devote to my four-legged friend without interruption.

3. I follow a daily routine.

Remember what I said about watching Netflix until my corneas burned? Not so much these days!

Now, I am not sure if I conditioned my dog into a routine with me, or if my dog conditioned me into a routine with her, but I do know that Pavlov smiles every time I pick up my dog’s leash and she gets excited about a walk.

Since I am not in charge of my own and my dog’s needs, I find myself in a daily routine: wake up, take dog outside, feed dog, get myself ready, take dog outside again, make myself coffee…etc.

I would say this is a beneficial change from watching movies until dawn and sleeping until dusk. #superadulting

4. I spend more time outside.

I love the outdoors. Fishing, camping, or hiking? Sign me up!

But in college where there is so little time construction and so many Buzzfeed quizzes to take, I spent little time actually enjoying the outdoors and more time figuring out with house the sorting hat would have placed me in at Hogwarts School of Magic.

Have you ever seen the excitement in your dog’s eyes when you go on a hike, or see a squirrel, or chase leaves as they tumble down the sidewalk? Irreplaceable. Did you know that your dog looks cute in a lifejacket?

Since getting a dog, I find myself making time to enjoy the great outdoors with my dog and not feeling guilty about it.

5. I manage my money with more care.

I spend more time exploring with my dog than drinking at the bloody bar on Sundays. I would rather go for a hike in a state park than spend money at the mall. Now, I realize that most of these are because I am OBSESSED with my dog and hate leaving her in her kennel for my own pleasure, but hey, saving money is saving money.

I am also conscious of what money I need to set aside for things like dog food and vet bills. The cost of having a dog is not just the lump sum of the adoption fee or what your paid on the day you picked up your puppy. You are not buying an inanimate object. You have to be ready to pay for a dog’s living expenses, vaccinations, examinations, and food, OVER AND OVER AND OVER.

First visit to the vet!

From my experiences, the vet is just as greedy about money as bill collectors, loan services, and elementary kids selling fancy bread for their school fundraiser. Having a dog has taught me how to prioritize my spending to be ready for these expenses. Can you say #adult?

These are just some of the changes I have noticed in my life as I start my transition from college into the adult world. I am not sure when I will feel like a “real” adult, but I do know that getting a dog has helped me sort through some of the struggles of #adulting.