I’m writing in the blog because I need to take a break from studying (I have 3 exams this week – yuck). Anyway, this last week has not been fun. We had to give Tobey away 🙁 He was a great dog with people but he was too aggressive with strange dogs and actually bit my sister & brother-in-law’s little dog, Kaiser, a few weeks back.
So, we took out an ad in the paper. We got a few calls, but 1 guy in particular was really interested. He met me & Tobey one evening, and the next day we called & told him that he could have Tobey. He told us that he wouldn’t be able to take him till the following Wednesday, so Chris & I were prepared to have a few more days with him. However, he ended up calling on Monday & asking if he could pick him up that evening. Let me just say here that Chris & I really loved Tobey. Chris said that Tobey was probably his favorite dog ever, and I am coming to agree with him on that. It was very hard to give him up, and I don’t think I would have gone through with it if Chris had not kept reminding me that it was for the best.
I keep asking myself if it is OK to be so torn up about giving away a dog, but I haven’t figured out the answer to that question. At least we still have Bear, but I am having a hard time not comparing him to Tobey. Bear is kind of a lazy dog and, as my sister describes it, an “old woman’s dog”. He likes to just sit on laps & lie in the sun. Rarely does he get excited enough to play, and when he does he usually gets scared within a few moments & runs to hide under the bed! Tobey, on the other hand, was fearless and
loved to wrestle with Chris. He was very spunky and had a lot of personality. Unfortunately, he had too much testosterone. Silly puppy.For those of you who are wondering why we couldn’t just keep Tobey away from other dogs, here are some things to consider.
We visit my family a lot and each time we went, Tobey was miserable because he had to stay in a cage – my parents have a big dog and Tobey would literally attack her unprovoked. Also, whenever we visited Chris’ family in Georgia he would attack their dogs (another Westie & a Siberian Husky). One time, he was going after their Husky and she bit him pretty badly. On top of that, we live in an apartment complex with a lot of other dogs. Every time he saw them he would lunge for them. Finally, he attacked my sister’s little dog and bit him hard enough so that he was bleeding for awhile.Considering all of those things, I was really concerned that he would attack a stranger’s dog at some point and we would have to put him down. Chris & I both thought that it would be better if Tobey could live with someone who does not have other dogs, has space for Tobey to run, and doesn’t have dogs in their extended family. We found a great guy who was injured in a motorcycle accident a year ago and is in a wheelchair. As soon as I met this guy and he started playing with Tobey, I felt good about giving him away (even though it was hard). I realized that maybe God wanted us to do all of the training and preparing with Tobey so that we could give him to this guy and bring some joy into his life. I’m sure Tobey will be happy in his new home 🙂 
Kate Ellis said…
Its okay to be that torn up about giving a dog away. Its like losing a member of your family. I am curious, though, why you couldn’t just keep Tobey away from other dogs? (I’m not questioning your decision. I am sure you guys made the best decision, especially because I think it was probably the hardest choice!) Some dogs are just meant to be only with people, it seems. At least he gets along with humans! 🙂