I've been waiting a while to write a post about my failure to adopt a dog. Having Jeb was a real challenge. It put quite a strain on the old marriage - me wanting a dog, mitch having to deal with a dog every day, and mitch being pretty darn happy about our decision not to keep a dog plus me being depressed about having to give up the dog.
The time really wasn't right. It is too hard to have to deal with anything extra when one of your kids is making sure you only get about 4 to 5 hours of sleep per night and that this sleep is broken into two separate periods. I think if you can only keep the absolutely perfect dog, then you probably shouldn't have a dog. My experience has been that all shelter dogs have some sort of quirk that needs to be worked out, whether that is chewing up your shoes (miya), or being afraid of everything (cleo) or various other endearing oddities.
I don't know what will happen long-term. I still would really like to have a dog. Not today, not tomorrow, not next month. Not until Josie is walking and sleeping better and the world is more deal-able (like in a year maybe?). But the fact that Mitch is home and I am not and that Mitch isn't too crazy about the dog idea and I am, those will continue to be challenging realities.
I'm glad I had the opportunity to foster Jeb and I'm extremely bummed that it worked out the way that it did. Even though it is easier to kill the fleas without Jeb as a refuge for them and even though it is easier to put Josie to sleep without Jeb's scratching and heavy breathing, and even though it is nice not to feel trapped in our house because we can't leave Jeb alone, I still miss the furry guy. I hope he gets the loving family that he deserves. And soon. He really is a great dog.
No comments:
Post a Comment