Everyone deals with grief differently and figuring out when to get another dog is not always easy. Especially when one person is ready and another is not. Cleo hasn’t been gone very long and I felt such a loss that I didn’t want to get another dog. Not yet. I knew that a few months down the road I’d probably be ready, but not now. I miss him too much.
My husband felt differently. The house is lonesome without a dog. It’s harder for him because he does not spend his days working with dogs. I still had playtime and companionship with the dogs I work with. He did not.
Everytime I went to the Maxfund Jamie would say, “You can come home with a dog. Any dog.” It felt disrespectful to me. Cleo had only been gone for a couple of days. I was mad when he said it. “Jeez, Jamie. Don’t let the dog bed get cold!” I snapped. I know for sure that he’s not being disrespectful to Cleo and Jamie misses him as much as I do, but it still stung. I’m not ready.
A Friends Advice
Recently, one of my friends was telling me about his experience losing a dog and how he waited for many months before he adopted another one. Looking back he wondered why he waited because having a dog made him so happy and why postpone happiness?
Bringing Home the Spaz
I still wasn’t sure but I thought maybe we could foster a dog. I’ll check out the larger dogs at the Maxfund to see if there is one that could use a little help. Of course there are plenty of dogs that could use a little help! I picked Boo Radley and I brought him home for an overnight visit. Jamie was thrilled to say the least, “I hear a four legged!” he said when I came in the door. With that, work was done for the rest of the night and he played with Boo Radley for hours. I still wasn’t sure. “He’s kind of a spaz.” I texted a friend.
Boo Radley really is kind of a spaz, but he’s super sweet too, and we had fun playing with him. Jamie was not happy when it was time to bring him back to the Maxfund. I was still torn. But then I realized that loving Cleo and missing him doesn’t mean I can’t open my heart to another dog. If we had two dogs I would have loved them both. So why am I waiting? For a time when I won’t miss Cleo? I don’t think that will ever happen.
We did bring Boo Radley back to the Maxfund because it was just an overnight visit and while we were there we filled out the paperwork to bring him home. But, instead of filling out the foster parent application, we adopted Boo Radley. He’s ours now, part of the family, our home is his forever home, and he’s pretty cozy in his new dog bed.
Here’s a photo of our new dog, Boo Radley.
It’s a boy!
© 2012 StinkDog Photos by Deanna Hurt All rights reserved.
