There are some weekends around here where there is lots of joy and laughter and some weekends where there is lots of anger and tears. The latter was this past weekend. We decided to bring our wonderful border collie, Molly, back to the Dumb Friends League to be adopted by someone who could give her what she needs.
I had to accept this weekend that I can't do it all -- maybe part of it is simply laziness. But I just couldn't continue staying up at night and getting up before dawn to take care of what was supposed to be a family dog. In addition, my dh and granmere really didn't like having a dog and weren't overtly helpful. Brikhead is off at college and Kotch is either working or studying.
That leaves it on the littles ... LegoManiac (9), String Bean (almost 8) and BamBam (5). None of the three littles has ever had a pet -- they really didn't/don't understand the constant needs of a living animal dependent on others for exercise, food, daily maintenance. They tried, they just weren't successful.
So, we bid a very tearful goodbye to our beloved pet of 2 months -- we figured that taking her back when she is just 4 months old will assist in her quick re-adoption. And, in fact, she has already been adopted from the Denver Dumb Friends League!
We will miss her greatly but the family MUST come first. Kotch mentioned that I never minded getting up with one of them in the middle of the night and then getting up early again (well, I did, but ....). But a pet is not a person; a pet is a nice-to-have that we are responsible for maintaining and giving what we can ... we couldn't give Molly what she needed but our prayer today is that the person/family who has adopted her will.
... 
5 comments:
Oh, how I can relate these challenges! You are brave to admit that you can't do it all--puppies are just way too much work. And if your husband and granmere are not on board, then the responsibilty (physical and emotional) falls directly onto YOU.
My husband was strongly in favor of getting a dog, having had several growing up. Had it not been for his support, I wouldn't have made it past the first month. I was most stressed out.
All this to say that please know I understand, and will pray for the healing of all those tender emotions involved.
God bless you, Mary. :)
I did that once, Mary.Mike and I bought a puppy before we were married. Ten years later, he died and Mike was beyond distraught. Foolishly, I got him another puppy. His name was Seamus and he was a yellow lab. Mike wasn't really around all that much and I was home with four little ones and pregnant. The dog got bigger than Michael very quickly and he was really headstrong. But I was much more stubborn than you and it took me over a year to admit I'd made a mistake. Patrick's godmother adopted him and she actually made him behave. Six years later, we tried again with much, much better results.I know how hard the parting is but you are truly better for having done it. Prayers for you!
Well since you know my biases were with dh and granmere you may not believe how sad I am for you. Know that I AM truly sorry for the pain you guys are going through in making this tough decision. When our dear friends are hurting, we hurt too. I can only imagine how hard this is for you and the kids, and we will be praying for you and try to fill up the days with some happy times to help ease the sadness.
I know how hard this type of decision is - I've had to make it before as well. Thankfully we discovered that cats work a lot better for our family. :) They're clean and independent enough to be left alone for hours, but they're good "therapy" when you need someone to "cuddle" with. Of course, the litter box duty usually ends up falling on me, but the joy and lessons about responsibility my boys get from our cats makes it worth the hassle. :)
Oh, Mary, how hard. You made the right decision though.
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