A Look Back At The 5 Weeks We Spent With Fuse
For every good story there is a beginning, middle and end - and in going over those 3 main components of a story you get the answers to the: who, what, when, where and why. SO this is my little story about how Fuse came to be in our family and how we helped him into his forever family.
The When
Well I guess I'm sorta gonna 'Terantino' this story - which I think means start at the end and jump all over the place until the story has been told - however there will be NO crazy violence, OK maybe some blood will flow, but not kill bill ninja machete kinda blood.
SO, as you know our beloved Trooper passed away this past August, and since he was my first Christmas present from Dave, Christmas was always sort of our favorite Trooper holiday. He LOVED opening presents and helping us open ours too. He could sniff out his treat packages and squeak toys with precision. So of course he had a stocking that got hung on the mantle every year. And this year as I was pulling out our Christmas decorations, it was inevitable that I was going to come across his stocking.
- SIDE NOTE: I LOVE animals - duh!? And we fully intend to get another dog for the boys, HOWEVER both Dave and I were standing firm in our decision to wait a few years. We miss having a dog around the house but agreed we have WAY too much going on with the boys etc, to handle a puppy/dog right now.
WELL if you guessed that finding Trooper's stocking and stocking holder made me have a crying relapse you are CORRECT! I am happy to say that it did not escalate into a full blown sob fest, but I did cry thinking how I wish he were here for just one more of his favorite holiday's and how I would LOVE to watch him unwrap just one more present. And I think it was about this time that Dave either sent me a text or called and I said how I had just found Trooper's stocking and had full intentions to hang it up this year next to Trooper's box on the mantle.
Well inevitably this lead to talk of getting a dog. And when we were just home for Thanksgiving my girlfriend golden was playing with the kids and everytime K would take off running the dog would nip at his blonde hair as it bounced up and down - I think it reminded her of her siblings or something - but Kaiden was starting to say how he didn't like dogs, which was troubling to Dave and I since we LOVE them. OK well as luck would have it someone in Dave's office knew someone who had a lab that got pregnant by the neighbors Rottweiler blah blah blah. The pup was CUTE, BUT it got me thinking, this is a life time commitment, and we know what we would be getting if we went with another Chocolate lab, and NO we are not trying to replace Trooper, that just could NEVER happen, but we LOVED so much about the breed we thought we would go that route again. Well we found a litter that had pups ready before Christmas, because we wanted this to be a weighted, calculated family decision.
We went to visit. Just to visit. BUT who are we kidding, when you pile the whole family in the Minnie van and drive an hour away chances are you are going to pick up your pup. Which well, is exactly what happened. There were 3 male pups left when we got there, Dave made the final selection which was the largest and darkest pup in the bunch. How could you not fall in love with that sweet face. And even better Kaiden and the pup were CRAZY about each other. That was perfect!
Well as time seems to do, it passed, quickly! And as you predicted the sweet sleepy little pup quickly grew and grew and grew into a very cute put VERY rambunctious bigger puppy. And added to that fun of course were his RAZOR sharp teeth, and the fact that he was growing up in OUR house which is full to the brim with loud, crazy boys. So between the 3 boys and the pup they were ALL feeding off each others hyper, rambunctious running around which was then exasserbated by the boys being home for two and a half weeks for break. This meant that puppy had to spend a lot of time in his crate because now either the boys, one in particular, was either playing too rough with the pup or letting the pup chew on him to the point of drawing blood OR the pup would get very excited and smash into Dax who started walking Christmas eve and knocking him down OR before Dax could walk the pup would jump on his back and chew on Dax's little hands or ears.
All of this was annoying and time consuming but we were committed and we were going to see it threw. PLUS the boys would be back in school (EVENTUALLY) and by the time summer came around the dog would be a giant and there would be no more worry about the boys hurting him and the dog would be better trained and could follow commands, etc. YES!! My hands were full, 3 boys, two of whom still wear diapers - UGH, don't EVEN get me started on that, plus now a puppy all of whom need to be potty/toilet trained. AND each who requires pretty much constant supervision, get into EVERYTHING in a seconds absence all require some sort of training and not a dang one of them appreciates the effort it takes. Hahahaha. BUT again, we knew that puppy stage wasn't going to last forever and Kaiden loved his pup which was one of our ultimate reason for getting a small pup now, versus say a 6month to a year old pup.
BUT THEN - when Dax was diagnosed with the giant litany of allergies, and that both the substance touching his skin OR being ingested could cause a reaction was sort of the last straw. I just couldn't think about the big boys eating something that is on restriction for Dax and before I get to sweep, the pup scoops it up and gobbles it down then licks Dax which starts a reaction and I don't immediately know the source . . . . OR the thought of leaving that poor puppy in his crate all the dang time was just breaking my heart. So I was very prayerful about what to do. Dave and I talked about it a ton, he was a gorgeous puppy, he was smart and doing well training but on top of everything else including the boys and now the allergies we just decided that we would 'test the waters' - I only wanted the puppy to go to a young couple or a family who could make this dogs life as amazing as we had made Troopers, IF no one like that answered our ad then that would be our sign that we were meant to keep this dog and like everything else we would find a to make it work. BUT IF we were to get a response from the right people we would know it and that would be our answer.
Well as has happened in the past, and it NEVER ceases to amaze me, my prayers were answered! I got one response from a guy saying he could 'take the dogs off my hands, but he couldn't afford to pay the "rehoming fee" (a rehoming fee is the way to skate around craig's lists rules about not selling animals)" Now I NEVER thought we would get rid of a puppy especially our new Fuse puppy, but at some point I have to realize when I am in over my head (which admittedly is one of my biggest weaknesses) so let me explain it like this: All families are on the ocean of life. Some of them are in yachts, cruise liners, top of the charts accomodations with a staff member per family member and that is awesome for them. Some of them are in little dingys, and they are making it just fine, happy with their accommodations and enjoying the adventure. WELL with the puppy on top of being in Texas, with no friends, and the boys and all that comes with raising them, and the cats - don't forget about them, I was sorta feeling like we were bouncing around on an inflatable life raft and the puppy was chewing on the plug! Ha haha Can't you just picture that!? ANYWAY, as much as I want a dog and look forward to sharing our home and lives with another I was so happy that we were able to deliver this dog to his new family. A newly wed couple (2 years) but they were going to make this dog to them what Trooper was to us and that was EXACTLY what I prayed for, and who can ask for more than that?
Here's a few shots of our Fuse Puppy
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| This is 2nd, 3rd, & 4th week we had him. |
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| This was just before his new Mommy & Daddy came to get him |
I hope he has the BEST life a dog can have. I really feel like we made the best decision for us and our family at the time. I sorta hate looking at these pictures because it makes me miss how sweet he was. BUT the good thing is I also remember how much extra work he added to my already full days, and he sorta interrupted what few hours of quiet I get at night. When the time is right in a few years I look forward to enjoying another puppy and raising him (or her, but most likely him) as part of our family. But for now my boys, and the cats and of course the hubs are all the 'raising' responsibilities I have room (or want)for, hahaha!
