Yesterday was the day we dropped our 6 year old beloved pooch, Missi, off at her new family's home. There was a lot of sadness leading up to this day but we left feeling both sad and happy for her.
I adopted Missi as a puppy from a shelter in San Diego, about 6 years ago. That's what happens when you get ditched by your boyfriend to pursue a job in a different city :) Luckily that city was in Lake Tahoe, so the distance was short lived and Missi and I packed up and shipped out to the most beautiful place on earth. Missi grew up hiking, mountain biking and back country skiing on an almost daily basis. Totally spoiled. All of us were.
But somewhere around 2 years old, she started to develop some aggressive tendencies towards other dogs which limited our dog park time. After talks with trainers and moves to San Francisco and then Denver, she never bounced back. She became highly protective of us and our home. And when Winslow arrived almost 2 years ago, the chances to take her out to hike or even go on longer runs diminished. Her barking and patrolling of the front gate kept her cooped up inside more than any of us wanted.
While she was 99% total sweetheart, the other 1% was too much to handle with a new baby in the house. I was completely on edge with Missi around our daughter at all times. And after a "warning" from Missi to Winslow, that was far too aggressive, we threw out the idea of finding her a new home. I couldn't believe the thought actually crossed our minds and made excuses for her behavior. But after one serious incident (which took us to court) and two others, we knew we had to figure something out.
We started to reach out to friends to get the word out but knew it would be a long process since a random shelter wasn't an option. Everyone loved Missi but were too nervous for the same reasons. When I asked Missi's regular dog sitter if she would put the word out as well, she asked if she could adopt Missi. Perfect. Prayers answered. It was done. So as of last night, Missi now lives in a home with two Great Danes, a Siamese cat (which was totally meant to be since Missi is part Thai!) and a large fenced in yard to run around in all day. Our prayers were definitely answered. I missed her the second I walked out the door and we will probably miss her every single day. I've never been good with goodbyes but it makes it easier knowing she'll be happier than we could make her.
It's amazing that sixth sense that dogs have. She was a little more spunky this week on our walks, smiled extra sweet for the camera and on our last night, she took turns sleeping on the floor on each side of our bed, when she normally sleeps in her dog bed in the corner through the night. The house is already too quiet without her barking and tags clanking as she walked around. But we have the best memories with her. She was there when we started our lives together and then when we became a family. Love this dog so much.
This post is long and includes a lot of pictures because it's one that I will look at often...
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