Sadness

Okay, so my Snow White dream of being surrounded by animals that had pretty much come true with the adoption of our second dog and without the birds and bunnies has been somewhat shattered.

We gave Cooper back. It was very sad. I cried a lot leading up to it. I doubted my decision, affirmed my decision, doubted again, reaffirmed, and then drove him back Monday.

He is a very sweet dog. He did nothing to bother the kids. He became afraid of the cats after trying to hunt them the first couple days. He was fine with Daisy. What was the problem then you ask?

He is a hound dog.

He would sleep all day and get his energy up at night. It didn't matter how much I would take him outside during the day. He loved the night time when we were all settling in, doing bedtime, etc. Not only that when he was outside he would catch a scent, lock in on it, and bark and bark and bark and bark. I would distract him for a minute, and then he would go right back to it. It was hard.

I don't think he was made to live in the suburbs.

So, I drove him back Monday knowing I was doing the best thing for all of us. Since we got him from a Rescue (http://www.camppapillon.org/ - they are wonderful!) he was in a foster home. The couple who had him was willing to take him back even though they now have 9 (yes 9) dogs in their house including Cooper.

I drove up to Stroudsburg, PA and was meeting Bob at the Red Robin there. I had a few minutes to walk Cooper around while we waited. Next thing a car pulls up, out jumps Bob who says, "Cooper!! Hey Cooper!" Cooper goes running over to him and you would not believe the love-fest that took place. Hair was flying off Cooper while Bob petted him and told him his bed was all ready for him at home, hunting season was starting, they were going to go shop for coal before they headed home, etc. They were having a nice little reunion. It did my heart good.

I still cried as Bob and I were agreeing on how Cooper was such a cool dog. It's always hard to say good-bye.

I wanted it to work out. I really did. He and Daisy looked nice together. Although you should have seen when I would try to walk the two of them at once. Yikes. Let's just say it was good it would be dark by the time I could walk them. What a comedy of errors!

So, if any one reads this and is looking for a really cool, adorable, hound dog, contact Camp Papillon Rescue. They'll hook you up.

In the meantime I will be enjoying my sweet Daisy who is just happy to be snuggled and taken outside every now and then.

(Word of Advice: Don't plan to give a dog away during a week of pms. The emotions that are already there come out in full force and it gets down right ugly at times. Trust me on this one.)