Wallace the Brave Dog Part 1: You Had Me At Hello

It began with an email.

Aug 11, 2018, 5:13 PM

Hi Lucy,

I came across your post on rescuekorea.org and just wondering if he’s still available for adoption. There is no date on the post, please let me know. If yes, could you provide some more pictures of how big he is (maybe one taken with a person) and the details of his medical history + vaccination? I live in Seoul, Thank you so much :)

Best regards, Kwan.

This came after a long, careful contemplation that it was time we made the decision to adopt a dog in Seoul. I was researching to adopt a dog from a few shelters and emails were sent, Lucy was the first one to contact me back.

Aug 13, 2018, 10:52 PM

Sam is still available though I am talking to a family about possibly adopting. However, nothing is set in stone just yet. Sam was rescued from Gwangju Animal Shelter back in March and was suffering from parvo, but has since been clear of it. He has had all of his shots and vaccinations, including rabies and coronavirus, I can provide his medical papers for you if need be. He has monthly heartworm prevention treatments and has been recently neutered as well. Sam is 3 years old. If I had to say, he's about the size of a cat and he won't get any bigger.

He is potty trained to go outside and is crate trained as well. He can be by himself without barking or destroying anything, most of the time he just spends it napping. He needs two walks a day at a minimum, If Sam needs to go to the bathroom, he will whine to let you know. He sometimes gets along with other dogs, and he sometimes makes friends on walks and has not been too nice at other times. I think it's best if he's an only dog.

Sam isn't cat-friendly as he likes to chase them any time he sees one. He's not a fan of loud noises, especially motorcycles if one passes him, he will bark, but just picking him up calms him down immediately. He sometimes feels this way about bikes too, I feel like at one point in his life he was maybe hit by a bike causing trauma about them.

Sam can be super sweet and really good but he is also sometimes possessive and may require some training for his jealousy. Currently, I'm doing this for him and am seeing results as he stayed a week with a friend and was very playful and good to her, is that something you will be able to continue if need be?

I'm sending you pictures of him as well as a video my friend took of him when he stayed with her so you can see how he acts with people other than myself.

Thank you. Lucy.

Aug 14, 2018, 10:32 AM

Hi Lucy,

Would it be possible for me to meet you and Sam? Any day this week, and at any time. Please let me know when and where would it be convenient for you.

Thank you. Kwan.

Aug 16, 2018, 09:17 AM

Yes! I will actually be in Seoul with Sam this Saturday. A girl is also interested in meeting Sam and I will be seeing her earlier in the day. If you are available sometime after 1 pm that would be great for me. Where could I meet you? Is there a park you know of? I'd like to take Sam for a walk since he will have been on a train for a while.

Thanks. Lucy.

We were supposed to meet on Saturday the 18th at the park nearby, at 3 pm. I was so looking forward to meeting Sam and hopefully by next week we would welcome him to our home. I was so ready to love this dog.

But that meeting never happened.

At around noon, Lucy texted to tell me that the morning meeting with the girl went well, and wanted to adopt him.

My heart sank. I stood there on the sidewalk trying to process the pain. I was so looking forward to bonding with this dog, I looked at his pictures and video a hundred times ready to make him our new family member– and just like that, fucking Lucy stood me up.

Long story and hard feelings aside, later on that afternoon I found Wallie in a cab with me on our way home, stumbling in a carton box full of shredded paper. It wasn't the way I imagined a new member of our family to arrive, but that's how it was; and here's what happened.

After I got the text, I was lost (as I wasn't in my best psychological shape, disappointed and confused, to the point I couldn't bear the pain), and somehow found myself again in an area called Chungmuro Pet Street. As the name suggests, it was clear I was embarking on the unthinkable mission I vowed never to do– buying a puppy.

It felt like I had just gotten dumped and gone out to get totally wasted, and about to do something terrible I would regret after.

We've all been there.

I was unconscious (meaning, unaware of the urges that brought me to that decision), I was disappointed, and the only thing I knew was "Today I won't go home without a dog!"

Impulsive purchase– a behavior brought on by my old psychological pattern that occurs when I need to soothe my soul and recover from the uncomfortable feeling I am experiencing. Only when I'm not aware (conscious) of my presence.

The good thing about this bad behavior is that you've recognized a consistent way of thinking, feeling, or behaving that you've experienced in the past. It's a way of acknowledging that you've noticed certain tendencies within yourself that you may want to understand, address, or change.

A good measure of the first step to self-improvement is self-awareness.

Buying a pet was never a choice I would prefer to make, I don't condemn people who do, but it just wasn't my intention. And I let it slip away because I was unconscious of my actions for the pain and disappointment. I felt it was that big of a deal.

I browsed through the first shop nervously. I was a pet-buyer virgin, nor ever thought I would be. I knew I wanted a Whippet (a smaller version of a Greyhound, a long nose with a thin, muscular body) but they were so unbelievably expensive. My second option was either a Minpin or Boston Terrier, and oh was I lucky I didn't get a Boston Terrier as they are one of the breeds that many airlines won't allow to be transported as cargo.

The second shop was less intimidating; with fewer choices of pups and people, I immediately felt at ease. As my eyes were fixed on the glass box of this sleeping Boston Terrier puppy, thinking hard to make a move, then at the corner of my eye, I saw something. A moving thing jumping up and down making little whining noises in the box next to my sleeping princess, it looked to me like a big rat.

Succeeding in getting my attention, I turned to look at this tiny puppy; a male, Dachshund, five weeks old. He looked emaciated, his head was showing the shape of his skull only covered with a thin layer of a black and grey coat and super long nail claws.

This poor thing was a mess.

As much as he didn't have any physical attributes that caught my eye, something about his energy; the desperation of pleading, and urgency– he needed to get out.

To me.

There it was, somewhere in the fifth dimension of indescribable space and time, I connected with him.

I asked the shopkeeper if I could have him out to take a good look. Little did I know that this would be the first video I took of him then; the first of the thousands to come later.

And in that moment, I knew I crossed the threshold, and our journey had begun.