Couple Celebrates Each Anniversary With A New Dog And The Internet Has Opinions

Getting a new dog for their anniversary inadvertently became a tradition

For the first few years, most married couples at least glance in the direction of traditional anniversary gifts. But paper, leather, and wood have nothing on floppy ears, wet noses, and fur. So this ingenious pair went another way.

Carlos and Neydi Romero live in Texas with their three dogs. They’ve been married for three years, and according to Neydi’s sister, those threes aren’t a coincidence.

That tweet has almost 9,000 retweets and 24,000 likes. Because people are looking at the pics of the couple’s adorable canine companions and thinking one thing: #goals.

The dog-loving couple spoke to Buzzfeed about their tradition.

“For our first anniversary Carlos brought in Captain without telling me,” Neydi shares. “Then for the second anniversary, we brought in Teddy. Me and Carlos were talking about how we get a dog every single year and we were talking about continuing with the tradition.”

Their third anniversary just passed, and along came Chewy. But this time, Neydi wasn’t 100 percent on board. “I didn’t want the last one,” she admits. But after seeing Chewy’s rough living conditions at the shelter, she didn’t have the heart to turn him away. “He wasn’t very safe, so we decided to bring him in,” she says.

The inspiration behind their doggie-filled household has to do with Neydi’s childhood desire for a dog she was never allowed to have. “We’ve always liked dogs, but my mom never let me have them,” she explains. “As soon as I moved out and started my new life with Carlos, we knew we wanted a dog.”

And dogs they got.

As much as they love all their canine companions and the unique tradition that brings the pups into their home, the couple understands their annual dog-adopting can’t continue indefinitely.

“We’re going to try to push till our fifth anniversary, and from there we’re going to stop,” says Neydi.

This being the internet, the couple is getting a lot of love – and a lot of envy – from people online.

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Of course, this being the internet, not everyone is a fan of their furry gift-giving.

They don’t entirely disagree with the naysayers.

“It makes more sense. If we keep going, it’s going to be pretty wild. In a perfect world we would be getting dogs every year … but it’s the real world,” says Neydi.

Neydi also wants to get the message out about adopting dogs with a realistic idea of what life with a pet will be like. “A lot of people look at dogs like presents,” she explains. “Each dog I got, I knew the responsibilities I was getting into. All dogs have a capability of living a long life. I don’t think some people — at least some younger people — realize they’re living things.”

And with that in mind, they’re considering something that goes beyond a simple tradition: turning their home into a foundation for foster dogs. The gift that keeps giving.