Farewell...

3 days before Christmas we picked up this beautiful white poodle from the Henry County Humane Society. It is a no-kill shelter that finds permanent homes for animals no matter how long it takes. After our puppy Stella had to go to another home we were dog-sick and I started searching petfinder.com to see what was out there. I thought we would try getting an older dog so we wouldn't have to clean up the poop and pee and poop and poop. When I saw Pongo on the shelter's website I fell in love. I put in an application and waited. The process takes about 2 weeks and isn't like going to the pound and picking out a stray. They check your vet history and ask you about all the other pets you have had in the past. We were elated when we got the approval to come pick him up!!! He was absolui

this is the "Pongo sandwich"...whenever we would try to snuggle he would come lie in between us and roll over so we could scratch his belly!

He immediately attached to me but was so friendly to all! Sophia was his second favorite...much to Nate's dismay! He decided that Cricket was now his dog and when Pongo was loving on us he would go over to Cricket and give her attention...which was nice for her since HE was taking all our attention now! Anyway...back to Pongo. Well we thought he was a perfect match for us but I started to notice his defensive behavior when visitors would come over. He started growling at some and even went after a child scratching him on the face. This sickened me and I quickly evaluated how we treated Pongo. He then became "the dog" and not a little person in a doggie suit. He was always very obedient and would lay down on command. This was very helpful in training him to stay out of my preschool room during the time the children were present. He would just lie on the back of the couch until the children left. Well one day as we were lining up after a bathroom break he got down from his spot on the top of the couch and was stretching (still on the couch). Kylie(who has 3 dogs and knows how to approach one) went to him to pet him. I was watching (thank goodness) and saw Pongo turn to bite her. I yelled and he stopped not getting her. This sickened me so! I emailed the shelter and asked for advice. I called my mom and cried. I called my sister and cried. I knew we would have to give him back. I told all the parents when they picked up their child that day what had happened and cried. It was so sad.

I figured I could just put him in my room during the preschool hours but then what about when friends stopped by. What about when I babysat? It was either keep Pongo and have no friends or give him back. We felt so torn because you just don't "give up" on your dog...but I didn't know what to do and this was such a huge liability!

The next morning and after the shock of that incident I started to think we could work with him and find a way to keep him. A couple days later the shelter called me. They suggested and requested that I bring him back. They were worried about him biting another child. They work very hard to match their animals with the right homes. At the time Pongo was a perfect match for us but now he wasn't. He showed no aggresiveness toward children while he was with his foster family....and if he did they would have never placed with us. I was on my way home from the gym when they called and I cried all the way home. Then the hardest part was yet to come....telling Sophia and Nate the bad news. We all cried(except Nate:) but he was sad). I was worried how Sophia was going to do....would she actually be able to say good-bye. Cheryl( the shelter volunteer) called me that night to see when we could bring him back to the shelter. She said the sooner the better so we wouldn't change our mind. I really felt supported by them and that they wanted to do what was best for Pongo and us. So we decided to take him the next evening. I didn't know if I could do it or not. I prayed so hard that we( Sophia and I) would have the strength to say good-bye. I was so impressed at how SOphia handled it. I was also suprised and how much I cried....I don't usually do that...but I was so attached to that dog. I usually don't feel emotions that strong which suprised me...it feels good to cry and I am glad I did....helped to relieve the stress.

We got to the shelter where the volunteer was waiting to take Pongo to her house for the night. I didn't want him to spend the night at the shelter and requested he stay in someone's home where he could sleep on their bed....something he did before we got him....and I wanted him to be as comfortable as he could. What I really wanted for him was to go back to his "foster mother" since he was familiar with her. At first it didn't look like that was going to happen. He was going to spend the night somewhere else and then go to her house the next day...well I got my wish. This volunteer took him over to her house that night and she said Pongo ran right up to her and jumped into her arms! He definately remembered her!

As with any stressful situation in my life it takes a few days for it all to sink in. I stay in shock for a while and then get "sad" one day and I can't figure out why....and then I remember. I hope we can see him again...we all do. The kids ask when we can. I sure wish his foster mother could keep him forever but I am sure they will find him a perfect home. She already has 6 dogs of her own! Her children are grown and out of the house and she is a vet-tech.

One funny thing Sophia said as we were crying together and talking it out was how we have had such bad luck with our pets...she said it all started out with our first gerbil! I made the joke that it was all my fault for squishing him and that it has all been downhill since!! We would love to get another dog but this time it will be a puppy so we can train it. I am not sure I want to go through all of that again but I am sure we will. We plan to wait until we get back from the Philippines. Would hate for the dog to stay at a kennel for 3 weeks!

This past week I was missing Pongo snuggling with me at night so I got Cricket in the bed with me just like she use to do. I started rubbing her belly and I could tell she wasn't totally comfortable and really wanted to get back into her bed. She settled down at the end of our bed but all her noises -snores and gurgles-kept me awake! I couldn't sleep! I put her on the ground and she wobbled back to her bed. She will be 14 this year. She is our old girl and we love her! That will be a sad day when she dies!!