What Surrendering Our Dog Taught Me About My KIds

After hanging up the phone from the Capital Humane society yesterday afternoon, I burst into tears unexpectedly.  All of the emotions regarding our dog ‘Sparks’ flooded over me instantly.

Nearly 6 months ago we went to the shelter and adopted a high-energy, cute puppy names Sparks.  Growing up I always had animals and could easily imagine my boys running down the bike path with their dog, tail waging, right next to them.

The story didn’t turn out that way unfortunately.  Six months later I was standing in the shelter trying to explain why I didn’t feel safe having this dog around our kids.  He had turned on us and others too many times.  We were not the right family for him.  He needed acres to roam on with rabbits to chase.

So there I stood, holding it together until they came to take Sparks.  The tears came so fast I could hardly see to find my husband and the boys who were around the corner looking at hamsters.  On the way home I could hardly think as my boys were asking a million questions about things that had nothing to do with dogs or the experience that just happened.

As I was sitting in the car trying to get a sense of calm to get a handle on my emotions, my son laid his head on mine and said, “Mom, I’m sad about Barker (our dog’s nickname), but I never wanted to go in the backyard (because of him).  I just put a toe out the door and that was it.”  At that moment I realized just how brave my son was.   We had our Jack Chi for 6 1/2 months and every time I said, “Go feed your doggie and play with him,” my son followed through – not telling me that he was scared.

I should have known, since he was the kid who was terrified of dogs when he was little.  Then little by little he become more comfortable.  Our dog by no means made him comfortable.  Sparks growled, he nipped, he jumped and he even drew blood on my husband and I on 2 different occasions.  Knowing and feeling all of the emotions that went along with being around a dog who could go from tail wagging happy and sweet to ridiculously protective in an instant, my son still followed my instructions and took care of the dog.

As we entered the house my other son exclaimed, “Yaaa!  No more Barker!”  His sense of relief was apparent.

I knew that the dog was a strain on the family, but I also knew how deeply I believed that you never give up on anything in life.  In a sense I feel like I gave up on my dog.

Yet as I look back on the experience, I know that I did not give up on my dog, but rather I chose my kids first.  While our dog was cute-as-all-get-out and could happily run next to you for miles, he was not a dog to have around kids.  Many dog lovers even mentioned it after seeing our dog interact.  My brother had informed me of the high energy of Jack Chi’s, but I didn’t realize that energy came with aggression.  I thought his energy would be in running with my kids, not nipping at my kids randomly.

You could call me naive when we adopted him, which I probably was, but even though I was a blubbering mess when we turned the dog back into the shelter, I knew these months were not wasted.

At the dinner table last night when I told the boys that Sparks would be returning to the shelter they immediately asked, “Why?”  I responded with a question, “Well, would you be around a friend who hurt you?” When they responded with a resounding , “No!” I knew that a bigger lesson had been learned.  Not a lesson on giving up on a dog and our compatibility with him, but a lesson that in life it is best to surround yourself with people who treat you with respect.

~Summer Joy

 

About The Author

Summer Brackhan

Mom, sociologist, teacher, author, musician, world traveler, parenting and health coach who believes healthy living incorporates body, mind and soul and that life is not about living in little boxes, but experiencing everything at its fullest.

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