Seven dogs have owned my heart. One at a time, these fur babies stole into my life, took up residence in my bed, got up on the furniture, snuck my sandwiches and left morning surprises behind the odd chair or sofa. They let the world know they were a part of my life by decorating every stitch of my clothing with hair the exact opposite darkness of what I was wearing. They destroyed shoes and doors, carpets and toys. They changed the way my house smelled and the way I looked at the world. They changed me…for the better. Eventually, they all made their way to the Rainbow Bridge to wait for me. And, they invariably took a piece of my heart with them when the left.

There were two dogs in my life that I had to find new homes for. One was a standard poodle who was gorgeous and well bred who came to me at a time in my life when I was building a business and going through a divorce. The dog was extremely high energy and surprisingly destructive. She needed to be in a home with another busy dog to wear off some of that energy instead of being cooped up in a needlework shop where there were just too many tempting things to chew on…like a customer’s custom hand painted needlepoint canvas from France. $700 later, Sadie lived quite happily on a farm where she was free to run and live out her days.

Zoey was a City Market box puppy who threw up the entire drive home. She was one of those fur babies you bring home because you made the mistake of taking your 12-year-old daughter to the store with you. Zoey and I had a difficult relationship from the beginning and it got exponentially worse after my second child was born. She became increasingly aggressive towards the baby. Messes I could clean up. Hurting my baby was unforgivable. So, Zoey ended up with another family without children. Unfortunately, she lived a short life when she was frightened by lightning and was hit by a car.

A friend of mine had to make a very difficult decision yesterday. She rescued a dog a couple of years ago who had a tendency to nip heels as his breed was wont to do. The dog was fine with my friend, and also with her room mate. But, if anyone came near the house, the dog became increasingly aggressive. She tried everything from shock collars to behavior modification to separation and isolation. She broke him of many things like chasing other animals but there was nothing short of muzzling and crating him to keep him from biting people who came too close…the last one fairly severely. That’s no way for a dog to live, and before he could hurt a child or do serious damage, she made the heartbreaking choice to euthanize him.

And loss of a fur baby is hard to take, but the guilt my friend is feeling is compounded by already grieving the loss of her husband. Our fur babies are family and sometimes we have to “adult up” and do the responsible, if undesirable, thing. We grieve our losses…any losses. And the loss of a fur baby is as big to some people as the loss of a human. My heart is with you, D. Please feel comfort in the fact that you gave your boy two really good years that he would not have had without your huge heart trying to rehabilitate his dangerous behaviors. Grieve as you need to. I’m here for you. ❤️

1 Corinthians 15:39 (KJV) “All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes,and another of birds.” Luke 3:6 (KJV) “And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”