Wafflenugget

Photography and text by Kate Speer Fisher

Two and half years ago, I was blessed with the arrival of an eight-week-old Bernese mountain dog puppy. My boyfriend, Dave, and I lovingly named her Waffle after our favorite breakfast food. Given that she was the runt of the litter, we added “nugget” to her name. After all, she is pure hilarity so some part of her existence had to allude to her ever-present dorky demeanor.

Wafflenugget—who has since proven she is certainly not the runt or small in any aspect of her personality—has helped save my life as I deal with some intense emotional struggles. In that time, she has also amassed 70,000 followers on Instagram, who like me, have fallen in love with her unapologetic demeanor, unintentional hilarity, endless cuddles, and outdoor adventures. Wafflenugget is not only my best friend, loving confidante, teacher and adventure buddy, she is also my caretaker. Through two years of training, Waffle has become my trained psychiatric service dog. There are no words, truly, to describe the gratitude I feel for this incredible animal and all that she does for me.

My newest project stems from my eating disorder. My pup and I have launched Wafflenugget’s Test Kitchen, the culmination of my advocacy work, photography and recovery. Of course, this endeavor provides many a delicious meal for me and sweet Waffy. With Waffle’s sillies and never-ending drool to add humor and lightheartedness to a difficult subject, I am hopeful to inspire difficult conversations surrounding the challenges of mental health and eating disorders, in particular. I am also hopeful that with attentive effort and the focus of a creative project, my recovery will progress rapidly. At this point, with bacon burgers next on the menu and optimism in my outlook, well, I’d say, Wafflenugget and I have got ourselves something wonderful and we’re honored to have you following along.

@Wafflenugget