Saying Goodbye

When we first took in Grace a few months ago (Remember?), we went back and forth between thinking that we would keep her or find her a new home once she was healthy. We had an ad on Craigslist for a long time just in case the perfect family came along. The deal was, if we found a family where we thought she would be happier, we would let her go. Until recently, there were no good prospects.

We love her so much, but knew she would ultimately be better off with a family with a large yard where she could run around. With our tiny, unfenced yard, we always had to take her out on a leash (multiple times a day!) and had to take her for walks everyday. She loved walks, but how much more fun is it to run around off of the leash? 

She had gotten better about the cats, but still chased them. Craze always wanted to go spend all day outside and Steve was always hiding in the basement, so we felt like we didn't even have cats anymore! 

Harvey grew to love Grace when she was calm. He still got irritated when she was in a hyper mood, always afraid he would get trampled. 

Our realtor, Debbi, is a dog lover and we had talked to her a little bit about Grace.

A few days ago, I got a phone call from a realtor friend of Debbi's. Their family dog had recently passed away and they wanted to adopt another. They live in the country on 4 acres.. 

She, her husband and her son came over to meet Grace over the weekend. They loved her and she loved them. 

Everything was looking good except the fact that we would have to say goodbye. 

I wasn't sure I could do it!

Luckily, they were having their carpets cleaned early in the week so didn't want to pick her up until Tuesday. 

We know that having a <real> dog that is young and wild is a pain.. so logically speaking, we were thrilled! No more walks in the rain, chasing cats and barking at the mailman! 

Emotionally though, it was (and continues to be) very difficult. We love that darned dog!

Yesterday the new family came to get her while I was at work (don't think I didn't plan it that way!). Saying goodbye before I left was heart breaking but I was also so happy about where she was going. 

Her new mom (*tear*) emailed me last night to say things were going great so far and that Grace loved the yard and spent all afternoon frolicking and rolling in the grass. That made me so happy and I know she will love long walks in the woods and being a spoiled only-dog. 

The new family does have a cat so I hope she behaves herself around it.. 

If not, she may be returning to us. We told them that if there were any issues, they could always send her back instead of taking her to the pound. 

It may not sound like it because I'm having a hard time with it, but I really really want it to work out with the new family. They gave us their address and said we can visit any time which I plan to take them up on! 

It was really hard to come home from work to a quiet house last night.. but also really nice to not have to take her out on a leash right away. (See how I'm trying to remind myself of the little annoyances?). 

The cats were thrilled and loved sitting on our laps again at night without fear of the "big, scary dog".

I am 100% sure this is for the best and so happy for our girl to be in a loving (hopefully forever) home. I can't wait to visit her at her new digs!

She may not be the most beautiful dog and she snores and farts..

but we'll always love her.