Sometimes things just don’t work out, no matter how hard you try.

Kylie had to go back to the shelter today.  She and the cats just couldn’t work it out – to a degree that genuinely scared me, and I finally had to admit defeat, for the safety of Owen and Stella and my own sanity.

I was really heartbroken.  I loved Kylie – in so many other ways she was the perfect dog, or at least had the potential to be.  She’s so sweet, and smart – she learned to sit on command in less than an hour.  All she needs is a home without cats.  I also think she’d be happier with a yard than in a second-floor apartment; she really didn’t like going up and down the stairs so many times a day on her short little snausage legs, and I don’t blame her. It was hard on my knees.

The silver lining is that now APA! knows a lot more about her and will be able to find her a better fit in a home – it’s so hard to tell potential adopters what a dog is like when she came in as a stray, but a week in a home gave me a chance to write her a great bio and hopefully the right person or family (she’s great with kids) will come along soon and give her everything she deserves.

Sometimes determination and dedication can overcome obstacles, and sometimes they can’t – especially when there are personalities involved that don’t get along.  You have to figure out where to draw the line between “they can figure it out” and “I’m putting them in jeopardy by being stubborn.” For someone like me with a deep-seated fear of failure it’s especially hard, but it wasn’t just my happiness at stake this time, so I couldn’t fret and stew too much before making the decision.  I had to go with my gut, and my gut said, “There’s something better out there for the dog and for your household.”

Don’t worry – this experience hasn’t turned me off to dog-ownership. Just the opposite, in fact – now I know I can handle a dog, and I know I can put in the work required to keep her active and happy; I just need to find a dog who loves cats as something besides prey.

The folks at Austin Pets Alive! have been amazing through the whole thing; they took the dog back with understanding and compassion, after giving me lots of resources to try and work things out throughout the last few days.  They’re deeply committed to finding not just a quick and easy home for their rescues, but the right home, a forever home.

It’s been a rough day.  But a few hours of stress-free sleep and snuggling with my cats, who seem to have forgiven me (with the help of a gooshyfood offering and lots of treats), and I know I did the right thing.  The right thing just sucks sometimes.

Gotta love being an adult, right?

This entry was posted on Monday, January 23rd, 2012 at 8:27 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.