Third time's the charm!!

Our family is a typical American family when it comes to owning dogs, we love 'em!! We are in the process of getting our third puppy in almost as many years. The sad reality though is that our track record in keeping them has been, well...less than stellar. So it is with some trepidation--alright, quite a bit--that we approach yet another escapade of letting a dog into our lives and torturing everyone involved. But this time (the kids say) it will be different. It is none other but a golden-doodle. A golden retriever / poodle mix, how cool is that? Who is going to turn down an opportunity to raise a 6-month old golden-doodle? This time it will be different. My parents are going to the BYU Jerusalem Center in a few months and will be gone for 18 months. About 6 months ago they bought a golden doodle puppy with the understanding that we could dog-sit for them if they were to go on another mission or to Jerusalem. For those of you keeping score at home, you are right in questioning their judgment on that assumption.

About five years ago we were smitten by the prospects of having a puppy with Anna about 9 mos old at the time. So we did what any fun-loving mortgage-free young couple would do and we brought a 9 wk old golden retriever into our home (parents' home). At first it seemed to be a consequence-free arrangement, Norman was young and manageable, we took him to puppy school, more for ourselves than for him, and we spoiled him with affection and attention. And then he grew. Within what seemed like just a few weeks he put on about 60 pounds and our regular neighborhood walks became power struggles—quite the scene. Now our love for the beast never showed any sign of decrease but there was a gradual drop in the amount of attention he received. We couldn't have a 70 pound puppy inside the house bouncing off the furniture and small children so he was (unfortunately) confined to the back yard with occasional indoor visitation rights.
The backyard soon became a land mine and our visits and playtime declined in duration. Now Norman will never tell you this, but I was finishing up school and working full time and Sarah was busy with two kids as Heidi joined us in the middle of the experience.
The clincher though on the decision to find him a new home was some great advice that the pain of giving him away was probably less than the torture of seeing him just sit outside all day in the backyard. So we gave him more (we didn't give him away) and found him a great new family through Golden Retriever Rescue. In all, the experience was about 18 months.


Fast forward to August 2007. We are now in our own home with absolutely no intention of getting a dog but with the lesson learned that when the time comes we are decidedly "a small dog family." (Notice the size of the candidate dog #3, golden-doodle) On a summer afternoon we have a burglar break through our back door and take a laptop and some valuables. We repaired the door, installed a security system and a few weeks later we were shopping the want ads for a medium sized, great with kids, a daunting bark...more specifically a guard dog. Dog #2 walked into our lives in the form of a wire-haired fox terrier we named Max. This time though we weren’t about to get wrapped up emotionally in the investment, we admitted our mistake within a week and upon posting an ad on KSL.com I received a call within a few hours. Between the hysteria of healing from the burglary and adjusting to an alarm system beeping every time the doors were opened it was not the right time to be bringing pets into the home, even if they had the potential of growing into medium-sized guard dogs. We admitted we had jumped into the idea rather quickly, the typical rebound response from being violated by a burglar.

Looking back I can’t tell you how liberating it is, for once you give away a dog that is perhaps not the right fit you will never delay such a decision while in an unpleasant circumstance on any future such ventures. Life is just too short to sweat it out over such deliberation. Sure, you may have to deal with unresolved scars in the childhood of your little ones but, in the words of Baruka Salts’ mother, “Happiness is what matters…, happiness and harmony.”

But this time will be different.