Today is a sad day.
We just re-homed Jake, formerly known as Jake, Phenni and Sir Pup.
I just couldn't take another toddler in our cramped living space and small garden anymore. I couldn't take the garden getting ruined bit by bit.
Being in the military, we move a lot. When we're renting, we have to leave things how we find them, and Jake has already altered some "established" landscape.
We knew he would. He's a puppy after all. And puppies need to chew, need lots of attention, and need to chew.
The boys are busy with football. The Hubby is working the strangest most erratic hours he's ever worked and has been assured it's for the entire summer -- at least. Miss Ky will drive me insane within the year. I couldn't be what Jake needed -- and it was left up to me.
He was growing into the most gorgeous dog. People would stop to comment on how beautiful he was.
He was also the most loving dog I have ever come across. His preference was to be where ever we were, touching us somehow. Which usually meant he laid on my feet when I cooked in my tiny kitchen. Miss Ky loved him. It was her job to feed him lunch (which she always did a little of the "one for you, two for me" with his kibble).
My quiet, sensitive A1 watched him drive away. I asked him if he was ok. His eyes told me "no" even though his mouth said "yes". "Are you sad?" He nodded and held back tears.
So tonight, the all of kids are in bed. The hubby is at work. The house is quiet and I'm really feeling it that he's not here.
I miss my dog in New Mexico even more now than I already did. I miss being able to put my arms around his neck, bury my face in his fur and have a good cry.
Tonight I'd be crying to him about how I hate the direction my life has gone that I can't enjoy a puppy.
OH, so sad for you. We faced possibly giving away our lab last winter (and he's insane!) and yet it was so terribly overwhelming. I'm mad at life, this minute, that it's so hard.
ReplyDeleteOh man. I'm so sorry. That is a really tough call. I know how hard that is. After Tommy was born my dog was just miserable with us. She went from being our #1 baby to #3 on the list. She really hated it. She loved my folks and we always had to drag her out of their house when we left. Finally my mom just said, "why don't you just let her stay here?" It was heartbreaking to me, but I knew it was the best for all of us.
ReplyDeleteStill. It sucks.
I'm sorry.
Oh that's a really tough one. And you gotta do, what you gotta do.
ReplyDelete*le sigh*
I am soooooo sorry. That is just heartbreaking. Here's a big cyber hug for you. {{{{hug}}}
ReplyDeleteIt's awful when you are no longer in control of things that must happen...it's even worse when you are forced to let go of something so precious to the heart.
ReplyDeleteWe contemplated find our dog a new home too, but I can't do it. I can't believe he still loves me with as little time I spend with him.
ReplyDeleteBig hugs. I can only imagine how hard it was.
awh sweetie ~
ReplyDeletethis is so sad. you made tears come to my eyes. i would gladly share my puppies with you.
((hugs)) beany
((more hugs))
PS. come back over to my blog and see. i posted a picture of the cuddly teddy bear i was talking about in that cuddly post. awh, my heart just goes out to you tonight. sending you puppy hugs tonight sweet jeri.
oh honey, that really sucks! bye Sir. Pup. If it makes you feel any better (which I'm sure it will not) I gave you an award today (which you can feel free to completely ignore :)) at http://tarasviewoftheworld.blogspot.com/2008/07/linky-love.html
ReplyDeleteOh J, I'm so sorry. I've been there with more than one pet and it's so hard. Cyber hugs to you, big time.
ReplyDeleteOh my ... selfishly, I arrived here for a laugh (or at least a snicker). But I can see you need an e-hug and a cuppa e-tea a whole lot more. I hope you got my email saying how sorry I was that I had not realized I needed to check my email as well as the comments on my blog (I know, I can write but sometimes I just don't think -- praise God my family loves me anyway). Your email languished but I picked it up at just the right moment for my heart -- I was sagging about the whole blogger thing. Thank you for reaching out But, enough about me ... I don't have fix-it-up platitudes, but I sure do feel for you. We once had an adorable pup (Guenevere) that grew from an armful to a pickup-truck-bedful in about 3 months. The Border Collie/Rotweiller mix caused her to herd the kids with gusto. Too many injuries to my 2-year-old caused me to tearfully part with my girl. I don't miss the muddy paw prints everywhere, but I still remember her snuggly ways and her soulful eyes asking "Why?" as she drove away to a truly wonderful family. Um, I'm crying now and my husband is looking at me like I just landed in a saucer. Hugs to you my blogger buddy. (p.s. I have a funny from my daughter on my blog if you need a laugh.)
ReplyDeleteWhile stationed at Loring AFB, our precious Mickey of 4 years snapped at my son (18 mos.) we had to re-home him. And we had already gotten thru the chewing of the wall in base housing! It's always extremely sad to lose a pet, especially when kids are involved!
ReplyDelete((Big hugs))
SO sad for you - a difficult decision - but probably the right one... hang in there. HUGS!
ReplyDeleteVery difficult decision to have to make, but sounds like the right one to me. Sorry for the sad times right now. I've had to make the decision to not keep a pet that we had already grown to love too, and I know how sad it can make you feel. Things will get better. You can be grateful for the joy that the puppy brought to you while he was there.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry to hear this...at least you know the puppy is going to a nice home. There will be time for another puppy down the line...
ReplyDeleteWah! We had to do the same thing a couple of times and it hurt like hell to do it. However, as time passed, we realized they had gone to homes that would do all those things with them that we never had time for. Still, I loved those dogs, even though I'm a real cat person deep down inside. Dogs need a lot of attention, training, and love. Like you, I had my hands full at the time with two babies in diapers. I was like "What dog?".
ReplyDeletea beautiful post about our furry friends. i too am an air force wife and we almost had to give our cat away but at the last minute our new landlords said okay...then our cat died 10 mos later...i called into work b/c i was such a mess. we do have our doggie still...fiona...we've been fortunate that we haven't had to give her up and if we did my parents said they'd take her.
ReplyDeletei just found your site...and will be back. i love finding other military wives that i can relate with.
Hugs out your way...so very, very sorry!
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry! It must be a hard day for your family.
ReplyDeletehi jeri,
ReplyDeletei'm still thinking about this, you, and your family since i read this last night.
i can relate to you in a big way about this. i didn't have the same situation but i know what it feels like to have to walk away from a dear loving pet who doesn't understand why the parting.
years ago, we adopted a puppy from an ad on a card. they were mutts and we really had no idea what kind of dog (huge) he would turn out to be. we were ignorant but hopeful and smitten with the big puppy from the litter. he came right up to hubby and me and clamored over his siblings to find his way into our hearts and our truck that night. for some reason, we called him "bullwinkle." we joked that he was the big bull moose of the whole lot of pups. he had part rot in him and something else, not sure. but all the pups were cute. they all are, i know. they were all soft short haired with fawn colored fur (like a deer baby color) and they each had this adorable black muzzle. but the rest of their bodies were all fawn colored.
he took to us immediately and slept on our bed at night, too. and he got bigger. he was so attached and loving to us. but he was freaky scary around others when we took him on walks. his presence scared people. we put a muzzle on him when out. he kept getting out. he wanted to be free, not kept inside or in our yard (fence). one time, when he was still young, he was excited and bit our neighbor's little girl in the face. we offered to pay for the medical bill of course but the neighbors didn't want anything. they immediately black balled us and wouldn't talk with us anymore (we were kinda new to that neighborhood, too, so that rotted even more because they all knew each other). and then the family sued us. they wouldn't accept any $ for the medical, but they sued us. not cool. so we lost (our insurance agreed to pay the girl something like $5K i think when she turned of age).
and our insurance company said we had to put the dog down or they would cancel us (we have been with the same insurance company forever, for 18 years now). and the dog did keep getting meaner and scarier around others outside of our family. but bullwinkle was such a sweet cuddly baby with us.
my husband couldn't do it. so i did it. i took our one year old doggie to our vet and held him in my arms on the examination floor while the doc gave him a shot to put him to sleep forever. i stroked his body and held on to him as he died in my arms. i am crying now writing about this. this was 06 nov 1995. i had never put a pet down before and it broke my heart and it still gets to me at times. so yea, my heart goes out to you. i can so relate to what you are talking about in your blog post here.
but our bullwinkle was a scary out of control dog that we didn't think would get any better. and we swore from that point on that if we ever had a big dog again, that we would take him to dog obedience school right from the start.
he was too scary to give away. we couldn't put that risk on anyone. and we couldn't keep him. and not only would our insurance have been canceled, we had two little girls and we couldn't risk also that he would attack them, too.
a horrible experience that still makes me cry to this day if i let myself think about it.
i am glad for you guys that you were able to give your pup away to another home instead of what i talked of.
big puppy hugs to you today, kathleen
((hugs))
it came to pass, it didn't come to stay
opps, sorry for the book comment, i just wanted to tell you a little more. i wanted to try to comfort you in any way if i could by sharing my experience.
Thank you K, and thank you everyone for your kind, thoughtful comments. I have been a soggy mess and most of it comes from feeling like such a jerk for giving away someone we promised to love and shelter. So thank you. Your comments have meant a lot.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry to hear that. I know how excited you were at his arrival, but I understand too. Vader had his days and we are lucky enough to have a home we can patch and rearrange to hide his puppy mistakes.
ReplyDeleteYou can "come over" and play with Vader anytime!!