For today, I’ve decided to share how Ashley and I met. She is a Maltese Spitz (crossbreed of Maltese and Japanese Spitz).

![IMG_20170818_154026.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmNSqNag2uYJutjXWarRd8qyEEMi3xtjqwiqPCkvgV7D2h/IMG_20170818_154026.jpg)

We always have dogs in our house but mainly as guards. For this, we only had Askal (asong kalye). Askal is a local dog in the Philippines and you usually see them in the streets. We never bought expensive dogs because we felt they are high maintenance.

**_THE REQUEST_**

One day, my mom decided to ask for a grandchild, I mean an actual baby. I have a sister but I am the eldest. I am in a relationship but too busy to plan for a child so I just ignored her. But every time I call, she would nag me about it, telling me I am not getting any younger. We would have a long conversation about it and I would end up saying “soon” to her so the conversation would end.

A few weeks before Christmas of 2015, our company had a marketing event. It was a Dog’s Day Out – an event for our homeowners with dogs. It was during this event that I had the brilliant idea of getting a dog in lieu of a baby. My mom loves dogs, and she always wanted to have a small dog of breed. During the event, I tried asking for the participants if they had dogs for sale at a reasonable price. I met someone who sells dogs but doesn’t have any available as of that moment so we just exchanged numbers.

A couple of days later, she called me and said she found a dog that I might be interested in. She already sold the dog to a friend but found out that he was neglecting her so she decided to buy her back. If I want her, I can have her for a price. She brought her to me later that day, and I just fell in love. I can see that she was afraid of almost anything – the sound of the cars passing by, my touch, the umbrella I was holding. She had an ash colored hair, and thought of the name Ashley.

![IMG_2521.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmYA7Y2UkLA39HNMRoUwjUjpjdkCrqVaWmVAVTkA1VASWb/IMG_2521.JPG) *She had a different name then but I just named her Ashley because of her color.*

I wanted to bring her with me right away, but my current living arrangement does not allow me to bring in pets. I made a few arrangements to transfer her to our province where my parents reside. After a week, I had her. She had to stay with me for a night, so I just sneaked her into my place. I was surprised of how quite she was. We played the whole night and she never barked. I was relieved because our building has very strict rules when it comes to pets. I almost did not let her go. I just wanted her to stay with me, but I had to.

I initially wanted to tell my mom that I will be bringing my baby for Christmas but I did not want her to expect and be disappointed. I might suffer her wrath afterwards so I just told her that for the meantime, Ashley will be her grandchild. Until now, she is a spoiled dog and wants all the attention to herself. She respects my space when I’m sleeping and eating, but almost always, she asks for my attention.

**_ASHLEY & ME_** ![IMG_3328.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmTdSv5dpDePVn985v85vre8hnV9fyRnyPYnSAUkaqAi1R/IMG_3328.JPG) *When I’m working, she sits in my lap. If she gets bored, she will disturb my work.* ![IMG_3341.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXKAHgYekqoxBt9jqgwYQpT18YCcrjnkgM1Pdeat5GYDV/IMG_3341.JPG) *When I wake up, she’s always there to greet me.* ![IMG_4295.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXM3M1CNR9TnhpqaML2hFJacSG6JbEHzm1SWubEUP5KmN/IMG_4295.JPG) *After a few months, she was already bored so we got her a pet named Bubbles.*

This year during my birthday, my mom asked for “another grandchild”, one that I will bear in my womb. I joked and said I will get another dog. Her answer? As long as he or she will come from my womb. I guess that’s her way of saying no to another dog. Lol!

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