Quitting Ain't Easy

 I am not a quitter. 

I do not quit things unless, well, there is a new dog in the house. A dog that needs lots of attention and training. 

In the past three weeks, let me tell you what I’ve quit. I’ve quit grocery shopping. I’ve quit cleaning. I’ve quit my regular bike rides. For a non-quitter, I sure made quite the list for myself. 

Our rescue dog turned out to be more than we could handle. There were some biting incidents, lots of house accidents and barking spells for no reason. There is hope for him but it won’t be because of us and that makes me sad. But coming from a newly established quitter, it was best for my family to quit this and move on. 

We really wanted this to work but after the first biting incident, which to clarify, was to protect something the dog thought was his, my kids kind of gave up. They didn’t want to be snapped at or bit and just eliminated themselves from the situation. This was hard for my youngest who wanted a buddy most of all. 

But guess what that meant? One person was taking care of the dog and that person was me. That is not what we agreed to when we first talked about this as a family.

I will be starting back to work in a few weeks, when school resumes, and everyone would be needed to help with Mac but with the new element of fear involved, that would be a hard sell. I knew what we had to do and unfortunately that was met with discontent from my husband who fell hard for the dog. 

I get it. The situation is disappointing but it is hard since my spouse and I don’t see eye to eye on this one. But I forget how much dogs mean to him. I mentioned before, growing up, he always had a dog in the house and it has been 5 years since we’ve had one. I think he was really counting on this dog being a permanent member of our family but unfortunately his couple hours of playtime at night weren’t enough to make it doable on my end. 

But here is the part I just can't wrap my head around. It seemed like this was meant to be. Everything worked out so well from the minute we saw Mac’s photo; the application process, then the meet and greet. It was going so smoothly and then his first day here was a disaster. Between the puppy accidents, and the thunderstorm barking and the countless things that were jumped on or went in his mouth. It was a long day for sure. 

The look on my youngest’s face said it all. “What is going on with this dog, Mom?” It was a shock for sure. Not the Normal Rockwell puppy moment we had all expected - the five of us sitting around the dog showering him with affection. Smiling and sharing looks of “Ahhh, this is what we’ve been missing.” By the end of the day, we were dazed and confused. That feeling has only lingered. 

For the past three weeks, we had been living in a bunker. The dog was quarantined to the kitchen and the rest of the place looked like an episode of Hoarders with everything you can imagine; totes, boxes, books piled up to keep Mac out. He is quite the jumper, coming from a trailer he shared with 93 other dogs scrounging for food. 

When we played with him in the yard, he got lots of air underneath him when he jumped for a toy, like one of those show dogs. Twice he made a run and jump for our dining room table and has made it to the top of both of our couches in seconds flat. (Hence the bunker.)

After thoughtful consideration, we decided Mac needs a family that is not us. We are always on the go and with school starting up in a couple weeks, he would be alone a lot more than he is now. He needs someone who can work with him to correct his bad behaviors and after meeting with a dog behavioral specialist, we know those are fixable but only with time. That is something this family doesn’t have much of as we approach a new school year. 

So as a “non-quitter” this experience doesn’t sit well with me but I know in my heart it is for the best. There will be an ah-ha moment I’m sure down the road but until then I will be thankful for the experience that was Mac and pray that he finds the perfect home. The adoption agency we’ve been working with has been very understanding and the dog went back to his foster mom for the time being. 

Even though we weren’t the right family for him, our hearts were in the right place and for a small moment in time, we took care of Mac the best that we could.