Have you ever had to make one of those really important decisions? One of those decisions that espera yes the kids from the adults? One you know will affect you for the rest of your life? One that although you know it’s the best option if there was any other option you’d try it instead?
Today, we made the hardest decision we’ve ever had to make. For us, it was not the decision whether or not to have kids. Nor was it the decision where we wanted to live & raise those kids when they come.
Today, Charlie & Smokey found a new home.
You see, it all started about 3 weeks ago. A few days before we were leaving for a weekend trip. We’ve left for weekend trips before at the old house and everything was fine. Why would anything change for the new house?
This is a long story and there’s not really a way to make it short. You should grab your coffee/tea/”drug of choice” now. I’ll wait.
Back? Comfortable? Good.
So about 3 days before we were supposed to leave Charlie broke the chain that he was tied with in the backyard. We put him in one of the small runs for a quick temporary solution as we were running out the door for work. He dug out, about 1′ down & 1′ out. We put him in a small wire crate for just a few hours. He pulled back the wire on the bottom of the crate & dug out again. We realized that for our weekend trip he was going to have to stay in the small pin. So we made some modifications. We a small tree stump in the ground filled dirt around it, laid down half a sheet of plywood right next to the edge, put things on top of the plywood so it wasn’t easily moved, etc. That run was like Fort Knox. We put Charlie in it and left for the weekend like we always would on Friday morning. We’d be back Sunday night, it’s just over 48 hours, it’ll be fine, we thought.
Saturday afternoon while we are 300+ miles away from home we got a call from our neighbor. Charlie & Smokey are loose. They’ve been loose for a while & the other neighbor is threatening to call animal control. I’ve never felt so helpless. What could we do when we were 300 miles away? We couldn’t end our vacation & come home.
So we called in a favor to a friend who is good with dogs. Asked him to go by the house and see what he could do. Turns out our dogs aren’t stupid in the least our friend was at a loss for what to do. He and the neighbor were able to tie up both dogs with new collars the neighbor had on hand & some pieced together chain for Smokey. They made sure they had food & water and kept checking on them for the rest of our vacation.
Sunday night we were unsure what we were coming home to. We didn’t know what the neighbors had done at the time. We were exhausted & just happy to see both dogs in the back yard. We went straight to bed, even though it was only 9, there wasn’t much we could do for the dogs in the dark.
Monday afternoon Charlie broke the collar from the neighbor and was loose again.
I can’t remember how many times he got loose that week, but the day that made all the difference was Thursday night. We had gone to meeting, like we always do, stopped at Mickey D’s for a quick dinner & went to Walmart to pick up a few things. When we were at Walmart our neighbor called. Charlie was loose. We came straight home to find our neighbor outside with Charlie on a leash. They told us that he’d gotten in a fight with their dogs and that in trying to split them up they almost got bitten.
It was then that we knew. We knew Charlie needed a new home. He was not only a danger to himself, but also to our neighbor & their dogs.
Charlie & Smokey have been together since they were 2 months old. The brief time they’ve been seperated, a few days when Charlie went to my in-laws, they both barely did anything & were so bored. So we knew they had to stay together, the only way we’d separate them was if it was the only option.
So we looked for a new home for them. Although there were a couple of families interested, it didn’t work out with either of them. I spent Saturday morning reaching out to dog clubs and rescues, even if it was just for more places to reach out to any help would’ve been fantastic. Of the half dozen or so clubs that I reached out to, only 1 replied with a suggestion of reaching out to another place.
I didn’t know what we were going to do. Of course, this whole time Charlie was being on his best behavior. Making us second guess our decision in the first place. Then Tuesday afternoon I got a call from a rescue 45 minutes away. They would take them, together, & then adopt them out to a good home. They don’t adopt out their dogs if they know they’ll be outdoor dogs. They’d be inside & spoiled rotten. They’ll microchip them & make sure they are ok for the rest of their lives. So we arranged a day to meet to give Charlie & Smokey a new home.
Today’s the day. Today is the day our family of four turned into a family of two. Today is the day that we made the hardest decision of our lives, so that Charlie & Smokey would have a better home & a better life.
For some you may judge us. And I’m ok with that because I know we are making the best choice. We are putting their interest before ours.
So today is a sad day. And tonight when I lie in bed at knowing that Charlie & Smokey aren’t there, I’ll feel a little less safe, but a little happier knowing they are going to be taken care of.
**Update – I will not apologize for this post. If you don’t agree with it, that’s fine I understand, but please leave it at that. My mama taught me if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all. I’m asking you to follow the same guideline. I will apologize of any spelling errors or type o’s in the post. I can’t bring myself to reread it to check for those things.**
2400 Oakridge 