Next we have Jodi, who I was lucky enough to find through blogging but has become a real-life friend, too, as she lives maybe ten miles away. The first time we met she told me she was an attorney who "basically I take people's kids away" which made me a little scared of her, but she's cool as long as you feed your kids from time to time and don't beat them in front of her (I kid!). She's mom to an adorable little preschooler named Michael who my kids want to adopt, and she's quite tolerant of going to Chuck E Cheese only to have me run off in search of my kids in the middle of every other sentence of a conversation. She's really a fan of short blog posts, so I'm flattered that this looks like one of the longest one's she's written. She really does love that dog.
The day I got home from my honeymoon I adopted a dog, Foster. Foster had been abused, and took a lot, a lot, of work. We almost gave him back many, many times. That first year he destroyed my house. Ripped up everything in sight. Left random things by the front door. He once dragged my queen size comforter down our stairs and left it right by our front door. How that happened I don't know, our stairs turn and it seemed like a lot of work for a 50 pound dog but he had all day to do it. He didn't destroy, just left it there for us to find.
When we first got him he would sit in the corner and shake He has seen a dog behaviorist (yes, that's a dog shrink), 3 times. He's been on paxil. We have gone through about 5 dog walkers, and he had a routine we went through before we left the house. We had to leave a ball of kibble and a treat wrapped in a t-shirt. Now, I'm lucky if I remember to feed him. I'm more relaxed about my child's schedule than I was about my dog's. He was the center of our lives before Michael arrived.
Poor, poor Foster. We pretty much remember to walk and feed him, and every once in a while he gets petted. Michael tortures this poor dog. He grabs him, pulls on him, hits him, throws things at him, etc., etc. He treats Foster like the sibling he is never going to have. And Foster takes it all, because Michael feeds him. Whatever he is eating goes to Foster. Foster gained 10 pounds the year Michael started solid foods, Michael gained 8.
I know that Foster is better off with us then had we left him with the rescue organization. I know that we have invested more time, money, and love that other people would have in our situation. But since Michael has arrived Foster really doesn't get the attention and love he deserves. I always lock him up when other children come over because while I don't think he would ever do anything, I do worry. And he just can't handle all the chaos.
Sometimes I think we should give him away. He would do better with a home that could dedicate more time to him. But really, no one is going to take this dog but us. And for better or worse, he is family. I wouldn't give my husband away, as much as I would like to sometimes.
Thanks for hosting me!
Posted by: jodifur | September 04, 2008 at 06:47 PM