I want a dog

I’m a dog lover; I ask everyone I happen on if I can say hi to their pooch. We’ve got two great ones at home, a 13 yr Aussie and 2 yr rescue from Taiwan. Dogs are fantastic and inject unbelievable love and joy into your life.

BUT, it takes commitment and sacrifices. If your wife isn’t on board, it’s not going to go well. Resentment can build fast. You have to plan for your absences, no “let’s just GO!!”

You already know these things just want to remind you because if my wife wasn’t on board, I know it would be bad for the dog and my marriage.

Sorry for your loss.

 

The breeder of two of mine has often told me, you get the dog you are supposed to have. If you don't get this dog, it's OK, there's another one out there that is your dog.

I spent about a year talking to breeders about their litters. Twice I visited litters and came close to getting a puppy, but something held me back each time even though I knew the breeders wouldn't be happy about my decision. Then by accident I learned about a litter near Chicago with the same father as my now oldest dog. The sire has died and the litter was from frozen semen and likely the last Taylor litter. I had zero doubts that I wanted one of these puppies. I brought him home and four weeks later learned Gadget has kidney disease and will die in 2025. I turned down many wonderful puppies but ended up with Gadget's half brother, the puppy I was supposed to have.

My feeling is if your wife isn't ready, this isn't the dog for your family. But the dog that's supposed to be your dog is out there when she is, when you both are.

(Also, consider contacting your local beagle rescue organization when the time is right.)

 

Y'all are all good people. Thanks for these, and each answer. We're still considering and communicating, which is good.

 

We rescued a purebred Bichon and Yorkie from an older woman in July, 2022. I didn't think it was a great idea because our lives are already so hectic. I fell in love with both dogs but the Bichon was my favorite because she was just so damned happy and loving. We found a lump on her ribcage in September, was diagnosed as bone cancer in October and she trucked through until we lost her December 10th. I had hoped she would make it until the kids came home from college to say goodbye (they were really instrumental in begging us to take these dogs) but she couldn't.

I can't talk about this dog without starting to get emotional. I went and picked up her remains at the vets and just the finality of that wooden box on my passenger seat broke me up.

I'd do another Bichon in a heartbeat. They're needy as all hell but I wish I woke up as happy as they do -- or at least this one did.

 

If you get a male dog and it doesn't bark you should name it Sam.

 

Lump in my throat, BYM2.

Before we got back to our current 2-dog setup, we had a beagle mix that was 15-plus years old, and toward the end, he had no quality of life. He would be walking across the kitchen floor, and would start shitting without knowing it was happening. He'd stop and turn around, then look around like, "Who took a crap here?" He'd be walking and his legs would go out from under him without warning. But my God he was a sweet boy.

My wife and I were prepping to have the talk with our kids, who were something like 18 and 16 at the time. Before we could, our 16-year-old daughter came to us and said she thinks it's time to take him in. And she insisted on being the one to take him in (he was a gift for her when she was about 4 years old). We gave her a blank check to pay for it, and she went and held him in her lap when they gave him the injection.

Just thinking about that, and how that was a pretty big indicator of her maturity level, and level of compassion to know that was the best thing for him and wanting to be the one who was with him and comforting him in his final moments, leaves me in shambles.

I joke with her that she was just practicing for when she takes me in for the same appointment. At least that makes us laugh through the tears.

 

We were trying for a similar moment but ran out of time.

My wife was Snuggles favorite, which make sense since it was her that pulled the trigger and brought her to our house. They practically got up with the sunrise, and when it was my turn on the weekend to take them for a walk to let my wife sleep in, I’d unleash her and she would run right back up two flights of stairs and up right back in bed with her.

The night before she died was rough. She laid next to me in bed whimpering in pain all night while looking right at me. I stayed with her as much as I could and pet her but you feel so fucking hopeless. I nudged my wife, who was already awake and said, “I think it’s time to make the appointment.” She called the next day and scheduled it for a few days later.

The next night, Snuggles woke my wife up around 4 am just to be pet and then an hour later got anxious to go outside. She went outside and laid in the grass with a happy look on her face. When she brought her back in, she took her last breath as my wife was drying her off.

I hated losing our dog but was so glad it could happen in her favorite person with her. We had such huge fears she would die alone while we were at work, which is such a sad way to go for a dog who so loved when we got home and so hated when we were putting our shoes on to leave.

 

We just moved five months ago into a new house, and our first time really living in a neighborhood with sidewalks in more than 20 years. We had been off a country road.

Today a neighbor whom we've met a couple of times asked us if we could potentially watch their 14-year-old beagle for a weekend in our house next month. They know we had lost ours and that we always said hello with their boy on walks. My wife told me about it this evening with a smile and said, "How do we make this work with applying for the little guy?"

So, we applied for adoption. I had been I touch with the rescue org and had asked his approximate age and if he was still available, so there was a little familiarity. An hour after applying, I was added to a group text with the foster, who sent recent photos.

WE'RE MEETING HIM ON THURSDAY.

 

This warms my heart

 

My grandparents' cocker spaniel did something like that. She had to be 15 or so, and she was struggling again one day but held on to greet my grandpa once again when he came home for lunch. And all this is 50 years ago, but still an unforgettable story ...

She was ailing but sat in the yard and quietly waited for him, my grandma said.
Then, after he left to get back to the job, she laid down out in the sun and let it go.

My grandma said she watched it all from her kitchen window.
She said she could see their fur-girl just hanging on for that one last time with Gramps.

 

Last April our friends lost their 12 year old son in a freak accident. His dog had puppies a month earlier so they were close to the age where they could be sold.

We spent so much time with them, and one of the puppies was always by our side. Buy him, right? Wrong. We lived in a rented townhouse that didn’t allow pets.

So of course, we bought a house. And our friends in the meantime raised this puppy like it was their own, and two months later, turned over leash-trained, house-trained angel. Their son had named him Rex, and we kept it.

Best half million I’ll ever spend.