3/01/2018

That time our family got a Dog

Last year in January, as some of you many know,
our family got a Brittany puppy.

We named him Blazer.

I have 3 boys, AND we have an acre yard, AND my husband grew up with dogs,
AND we don't have babies or toddlers anymore, AND it all seemed like a good idea.

I had never had a dog before. I hadn't grow up having pets at all,
except for the occasional pet fish.

My husband assured me you just keep him in the backyard.
It seemed easy enough.
His dogs, when he was a boy, roamed their unfenced yard and their small town.
When they went on vacation they left out extra dog food.

It turns out, as you might suspect,
having a dog, especially a puppy, requires quite a bit of time, work, and money.
I had done my research, so I knew a bit what I was getting into.
But, you can't really know until you actually have a dog
in your house to REALLY KNOW.

It was very hard for me and stressful.
My youngest was still in half day kindergarten last year.
I wanted some time when my son was at school to get caught up on things.
Like load the dishwasher or fold a load of laundry in some peace and quiet.
When you have a dog or puppy you give up some of your time.
I was also looking forward to this school year
when all 5 of my kids were gone during the day,
to finally get some things done that I had neglected for years.
It was hard for me to turn around and have a dog looking at me for time and attention.
I felt some resentment.

Blazer had some great qualities.
He could spend most of his time out in the yard happily.
He rarely barked, he didn't smell much, and shed very little.
My children and husband really enjoyed him.
He adapted to each of their needs.
That was the magic of it.
He was a playmate and friend to Brandon.
He was a quiet, calm listener to Sadie.
He wrestled and acted crazy right along with Tate.
He watched the sunsets with Lindy, after she had a long day at school or work.
He played football out back when Kyle had his friends over.
He was a companion to Chris when he worked in the yard.


But, he also had some bad qualities:
He was excited about other people, and could get jumpy.
He was a little stubborn and at times hard to train.
He was a BAD leash walker, and wasn't great at coming when called.
I was too nervous to leave him with friends or family, because of his excitability.

We tried training him in the summer. But it didn't go that well, because
it took more time that I was willing to give. It was hard for me to have him in the house.
I never trained him quite right to be in the house.
I panicked on cold, wet, rainy days to know what to do with him.

Then, on a Dec. afternoon, when Lindy had some high school friends over in our home,
he snuck out the front door, when one of her friends came to the door.
He ran away out of our neighborhood, onto a busy street, where he was hit by a car.
He died instantly.
My 14 year old saw it. It devastated him, and the rest of my kids.

I was a little excited my time with the dog had come to an end.
And relieved that the experience was over.
But as the days wore on, I realized how much the dog
had meant to each of my kids and husband.
Blazer calmed them, he stabilized them.
I confess they didn't spend hours with him,
but they each gave him 10-20 min. a day.
Those 10-20 min mattered to my kids.
The dog also helped with kids spend less time on screens.

I began praying to know what to do. The kids were praying.
I began searching daily for local shelter dogs online, and even visiting some.
I couldn't believe I was spending my free time looking for another dog.
I sat in a Relief Society lesson, recently, and as we were discussing the Latter-Days,
and the challenges associated with that.
The spirit confirmed to me in a powerful way that a dog
is what my kids need to help them endure these last days.

I hit a lot of dead ends with trying to find the right shelter dog. Nothing was working out.
It's not even easy to get a shelter dog, and there's no time to think about it.
You often had to decide that day, that very minute. The good shelter dogs go fast.
The requirements for adopting a dog were actually quite strict.
Like we needed to have another dog,
or our kids needed to be ages 10 and up,
or it could only be kept inside,
and lots of behavior issues that would take more time and training then I could handle.

I discovered there was a litter of Brittany puppies available in our state.
Our family really enjoyed the Brittany. 
The more I got information about possibly getting one, the more things felt right and began to fall into place. I panicked a time or too, but I couldn't believe how much the spirit calmed me, and reminded me that this was an answer to our family prayers.

We got our new puppy last weekend. I am at peace with it.
There are parts of it that are hard again. But, I feel more committed to training,
and putting in the time. My family benefits a great deal from having him,
and I am much less resentful of the time to work with him. It is time well spent.

I don't think having a dog is the right solution for every family.
There is a time and season to it all.
Wish me luck, I'm going to need it.
Here we go again.

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