That Time I... Gave My Dog Away

If you were here two weeks ago, you would have read about That Time I... Got A Dog! Today, as promised (possibly a week late..), I'm going to tell you about the time I gave that beautiful dog away.

Oh hey, I'm adorable

If you read the first post (and if you didn't, go ahead and read now. It's okay. I'll wait), you may have noticed that I said Andrew had picked me up after class to look at a dog. That's right, I was still in school when Andrew and I made the decision to get a dog (so was he!). I was also working and almost never home. To top it off, Andrew and I didn't live together at that point.

So who was Misty staying with? Me. In my bachelor apartment. Where I lived, alone.

Your apartment? Pfft. This is my apartment.

Now, I had been warned that puppies are a lot of work. But, I had absolutely no idea just how much work they were.

Wait, I can't sleep on my pee pad?

As adorable as Misty is, she was a pain in the butt! Just like a child, all she wanted to do was play. She didn't want to listen either. This sounds like lots of fun, I'm sure. However, when you just got home from work, you still haven't had dinner and you need to write a ten-page essay and study for an exam, the last thing you want to do is play with a puppy who has more energy than the Energizer Bunny.

I'm just going to dig a large hole here. You don't mind, right?

Andrew and I were taking shifts taking care of Misty. When I say shifts, I mean some kind of disorganized way of sharing responsibilities that really didn't work out very well. So, here I was, stressed out from school, work and now I'm taking a little puppy to the park, who is such a trouble maker, she's managed to get out of her collar (for the billionth time) and she's playing Frogger in the street. Meanwhile, Andrew was out doing his own thing. So, I picked up the phone, swore like a crazy lady had a civilized conversation with Andrew and told him he had to take Misty home with him. He lived with his mom and siblings. There was almost always someone available at his home to take care of her.

The next day, when I came home from work, her crate was gone. Her toys were gone. Her tiny little food bowl was gone. Andrew had done as I asked.

Forget the crate. I want the bed!

All I could do was sit at the edge of my bed and cry. I loved that dog (and still do) and it was extremely hard to let her go. At that moment I realised Misty may never be mine again.

I was right.

Andrew's mom fell in love with Misty and she became hers. As much as I wanted to fight for Misty to be mine, I knew I couldn't. It wouldn't be fair to Misty. A dog needs to be in a home with someone who is around to take care of them.

Treat please!

Now that we've finished school, and Andrew and I live together, the topic of a dog has come up a few times. When you consider that with work, spending time with friends and traveling, we're rarely home, a dog isn't the right decision for us at the moment. Maybe sometime in the future.

Until then, I'm happy that we still get to see Misty whenever we want!

Don't forget to head over to the lovely Emily's blog to read her That Time I post!