Sometimes Life Sucks

 I guess that is a crude way to title a blog post, but it is nonetheless accurate.  Due to Hurricane Helene's rampage through various states on the Eastern seaboard last weekend, thousands, if not millions, of people are grieving catastrophic losses beyond what I've ever been through in my life. I'm not belittling that at all here.  My heart and prayers are with them.  But I'm also struggling with my own very minor loss here.

After a week of agonizing over it, I decided that I had to return Hope the Hound to her previous owners.  I just can't handle two dogs at once and give them what they need.  Plus, however sweet of a girl Hope is, she also has a very, very bad habit of escaping.  She is not content to stay kenneled.  Even after a long walk and lots of attention she wants out to roam the neighborhood.  She was damaging herself, her paws from digging the rocky ground for one thing, in trying to get out.  Then when I had all the holes filled in around the kennel to where she couldn't dig out, she started working on the kennel panels themselves, biting and tearing at the wires and squeezing herself through.  We wouldn't need to kennel the dogs if we didn't live within less than 50 yards of a 55 mph highway, rural though it might be.  And if Hope weren't so bound and determined to visit every neighbor along here, scaring their cats in the process.  But we can't just let the dogs roam while we are gone or busy. Bella would get herself hit and killed while chasing cars.

Bella was also proving herself an idiot and kept aggravating Hope so that they'd get into snarling scuffles, which shredded my nerves.  I know dogs do that, but I didn't want to be referee whenever we were out walking.  It kept me a nervous wreck.

There are a few other reasons she just couldn't stay, one of which was that my husband was going to have to build her a winter doghouse, and he is so busy I just couldn't ask it of him.  But the sun total of it all was that it just didn't work out.

And I am sad.  I miss her something awful, her floppy ears and deep "awoo.". 

I want her back, I wanted it to work out.

But sometimes life sucks and you can't have what you want.  

Comments

Donna. W said…
Hounds will be hounds. They like to hunt. You chose right.
October 6, 2024 at 12:28 PM
Calfkeeper said…
Thank you, Donna. It helps to hear someone confirm that.
October 8, 2024 at 8:53 AM
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