Here is another weekly installment. It is about, you may have guessed, my dog. It is off the topic of the blog, I know, but things are not going as well as planned, and this is my only place to vent.
Having this dog so far has not been easy. No dog is easy. They need to be cared for, walked, fed properly, taken to the vet, trained. There has been the usual things you would expect: he’s terrified of thunder storms and that was a hard night, he has already had one expensive vet bill and it was routine!, he jumps way too much and needs to be trained not to do that, and it is still taking some thought to figure out what to do with all of his little bags of poop. Where the problem lies, and it is truly unfortunate, is that this dog has negatively impacted two of my family members.
- My husband. The peace of his home has been disturbed. Cort barks and runs away afraid of him every single time he comes into the room. It’s not my husbands fault. It’s not Cort’s, either. My husband is doing great work with him, it warms my heart so much to see it, but it is stressing him out.
- My cat. My first baby. She stays upstairs because I’m pretty sure this dog wants to eat her.
The terrifying thing is, especially due to the second on the above list, I may need to give Cort back. Before that ever happens, I’m putting in the work. I’m working with a trainer. I’m also giving him time to settle in.
Rescue dogs need people to have patience and time and need someone who knows what they are doing and is going to work really hard with them.
I thought I would know what I was doing but I was wrong.
I’m damn sure going to learn. And I have a great resource.
I had this tear filled discussion with my husband last night. This is tough! I feel bad for him and for my cat. And I made some mistakes in this dog getting process that I will share, but in another post. Admitting I made some mistakes doesn’t change the fact that I made them.
Then I sat with Cort on the couch watching Netflix and he fell asleep near my leg. As always, his feet start twitching and this time I hear the low sounds he is making in his sleep. I see the anxiety this dog has and I woke him from his nightmare and stroked his face and made him feel safe, I hope.
I’m not giving up. Not yet. Not easily. If I do it is because of the impact on my family and if it isn’t the best place for him.
My best hope for my Monday blogs about Cort is a little bit of cautionary tale with a happily ever after ending. If that ends up being the case, I plan to share tips and training advice and dos and don’ts as this first time dog owner learns them. Hopefully there will be a long post about acclimating a dog and cat with a strategy that works!
Worst case scenario, this set of posts will be simply a cautionary tale about getting a dog at the right time and in consideration of others in your family.
transcribingmemory 
Our house was filled with dogs as a child and as an adult I don’t have dogs, I have 5 kids instead. I think dogs take the same amount of care and attention as children and it was a case of either or. I don’t think I could have coped with both lol x
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Haha, thanks. Yes. I always said how much work they were and thought I knew what I was getting into. This post was written a few days ago and already things are going much better.
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I do hope things work out for you with Cort. It’s not easy to take on a dog and a rescue dog comes with a whole extra set of issues. It sounds like you are doing all the right things. Your husband sounds like he wants it to work out and the cat may adjust in time providing there are safe places but in the end if you feel that it is better for all concerned that Cort be returned try not to feel too badly. I am sure you won’t do that till all avenues have been exhausted.
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Thank you so much! Yes my cat has a whole finished attic to herself so she is safe. I wrote this a few days ago and things are already going better. Sometimes I just don’t give enough time for new things to adjust before panic. Still much work to do, though!
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oh no! Rescue dogs do often have special needs. Best wishes my dear, I go straight by the “dog whisperer for training. It has worked perfectly for us. Do not feel guilty for trying-even if this is no t successful.
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Thanks for the encouragement. This post was written a few days ago and things are already going better. 🙂 I think we have dog.
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so glad-I am sure you were quite torn. Does Babu like the dog?
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She does, but she keeps wanting to feed him her food and wondering how he goes to the bathroom! Hahah, oh Babu!
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goodness-We had to watch grandmama, when she lived with me. She would try feeding the dogs non-food items!
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It sounds to me like you have an enormous heart and will absolutely do all you can to make this work. It’s hard. I’ll say that again. It’s hard. My daughter and son in law have a puppy that was high spirited when they got him from a rescue organization and now he’s an 80-pound high spirited puppy that has no idea how big and strong he is. I watched them go through the same doubts and concerns as you. They got a fabulous trainer and have put in lots of work and continue to do so. I can see great changes for the better. It takes time. If you happen by my place you’ll see my daughter brought a puppy home from college. We have three dogs, a cat, and two horses already. Tomorrow, our college age son (her triplet brother) is bringing home a cat from his girlfriends house. And so it goes. Not what we planned but we will work with it and get through it until they take their dog and cat back to school with them for apartment living. (no more dorm) I wish you the best and all the patience in the world. Hang in there.
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We are already getting there! Thank you so very, very much for your words of encouragement.
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it’s hard at first, and I used to wonder why we were so stupid as to take on another dog… but then they start to grow and respond. Now I wonder what we would do without him… So glad you are giving this dog another chance. ❤
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Thanks. Me, too.
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