The Dog Lasted 6 Days

We had been thinking about getting a dog for a while. And you know when you have an idea, and it just keeps growing and growing? That was us. We were stuck on Labrador Retrievers, and puppies, and my ideal Border Collie, Jippy. (Based on a dog I met on a farm in Wales when on a trip with relatives.)

But there were a lot of set backs; we have a small house, almost no grass, limited backyard space, we weren’t willing to part with the $4000 on a purebred puppy, and my husband didn’t want a dog that sheds. Things were not in our favour.

So, we even started looking at the local dog pound. For some strange reason one Saturday afternoon we decided the family should take a trip to the dog pound. Well, lo and behold a beautiful German Shepherd, and the only dog in the whole pound who didn’t bark, caught our eye.

We brought him home that day.

The first few days were hard, discombobulating, and a huge learning curve. We dealt with diarrhea and ridiculous amount of shedding. We did what we could – we got him groomed, went to find his previous dog food, and spent all of our time with him.

It was okay. But by day 4, he started showing aggression, especially around my 20-month-old toddler. But on day 6, he unprovokedly attacked her (she was unhurt), but that was the last straw.

We could deal with everything else, but once he goes after one of the kids, all bets were off. I called the pound the same day, and he was returned the next day.

What’s the lesson? Sometimes things work out, and sometimes they don’t. If they don’t, that’s okay – we learn, maybe we pivot, and we move on.

Thank you, Lord that you are teaching me lessons all the time. Help me not to get so stuck in my ideas, especially when it just isn’t working out.