Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Don't Judge: I Rescued a Dog and Gave It Back

Yes, you read it right, my husband and I rescued a dog from a No Kill Shelter and four months later returned it. We knew we were moving to a home with three acres and wanted a dog that could hang out on the land and grow up with our girls. At first my husband was looking at a really expensive breed that did not shed. This breed was adorable and cute, but really really obnoxiously expensive! Thankfully he had a friend tell him about a No Kill Shelter located in the city we lived in.

On the following Saturday we headed out to look at dogs at the No Kill Shelter. Normally we go to pet stores just to look, get ideas on the breed we like and to let the girls get used to dogs. The shelter was awesome, clean, and organized. As we started to look, they explained that the puppies were on the left and the big dogs were on the right; we went left.

Having previously had a small size breed and knowing we were going to live on acreage, we knew that we wanted a dog that was a middle size breed and we definitely wanted a no shed dog. There were a lot of options at the shelter but of course every dog was a 'shedder', but we kept looking.

We found the cutest dog; it was white with black spots. They called her 'Dot'. We decided to see how she would act when we held her. She was so calm and relaxed.


Yep, we adopted her. She won us over in 15 minutes. I'll admit it, we are weak. 


We had good times and she had good qualities, unfortunately, over time, too many 'issues' started to arise. Our new house did not have a proper gate to hold an animal, so we would have Lola returned to us by neighbors. (SN- our neighbors are not in arm's reach) When the UPS man would drop off     packages, if I did not have time or an opportunity to restrain Lola, she would literally chase the UPS truck down the road. 

(WARNING-- THIS PART IS GROSS) Disgustingly, the straw that broke the camel's back was when Lola started to throw up huge piles of yuck all over the house and yard. At first we thought she got into something or ate too fast but it kept happening at least 2 times a day (that we knew of). One day my husband decided to 'examine' her yuck and almost made a yuck of his own. I will not say what he discovered but I will provide a link:


So with that said, we had to begin leaving her outside until bedtime and hope she did not run off. Then when she was inside we had to keep more eyes on her than we did on our own kids. After a few weeks of this we decided it was time to contact the shelter and ask if we could return her. 

THANK, GOD, THEY SAID 'YES'! 

I think I have come to the conclusion and acceptance that I am not a dog person. Even though I grew up with a lot of dogs, I think that motherhood changed me and made me not have patience for dogs. 

My husband, notice I did not say 'me', had a twinge of guilt for returning her, but it was quite a sight to see the deer, squirrels, birds, and country cats come out and celebrate when they realized that crazy dog was gone.

YES, THAT'S A DEER LEG! 

Written by: Aimee Fauci

8 comments:

  1. No judgement here. We have 2 dogs and both came as package deal with my husband when we started dating. I am not a dog lover. At all. Both are very old, like 17+ years each and the day we don't have to give pet meds to our elderly dog is going to be a happy day in my world. Just sayin'!

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  2. Thank you for your honesty. You did the right thing in my opinion.

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  3. I am pretty sure I would have done the same thing. And I wouldn't usually do that, ha. That is just sooooo bad. I am soooooo sorry that happened. :/

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  4. That sounds like a tough decision, but it sounds like you made the right one. I think adopting a pet into your family has to work for EVERYONE, and it doesn't seem like Lola was the right fit!

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  5. That's what I love about no kill shelters -- they aren't just out to get unwanted pets adopted, but they want to be sure that their little four legged clients go to homes where they are loved unconditionally. Returning her was the best thing you could do for her :) Obviously your family and her just weren't a good match!

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  6. Sometimes it's not the best fit. I'm far from judging, I'm agreeing.

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  7. You did the right thing. It has to be a good match for everyone in the family and for the dog as well. There is a place for this little one - just not with your family and that is OK. We tried fostering a dog for about 36 hours when it attacked my daughter and I made the rescue come get him. The rescue group never spoke to me again because I had "failed" them - but I couldn't have a dog in my house that attacked my daughter! It was crazy!

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  8. Great information! Your blog is the first one I look for in my inbox everyday. Love this new series.I'm glad you'll have a dog to run with and that they are starting to adjust to each other.

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