What did I get myself into? I got the dog from the shelter. She turned out to be a he...a very happy, very loving, very hyper and young he. Eight months old and not a lick of training (although, thankfully, he's good in the crate at night). In the first 24 hours he's been here he's learned not to jump up in excitement and bite faces (I have a bruised chin from one incident), to lay down in the car, to wait and not rush through the gate when I open it, to not jump up on people...really, it's amazing how eager this guy is to learn. His name is Jake. He's a very cool dog.
I'm just feeling extreme guilt for leaving him alone for 8-9 hours a day when I'm at work. He doesn't want to leave my side. He wants to be active. He wants to learn. He wants company. When I'm at work he'll be alone. My family loves him and tells me to keep him and that, "he's just a dog...he'll be fine in the backyard by himself." My argument is that he's not "just a dog" - he's one of the smartest, most active breeds. It's cruelty to leave him alone for that long. He's a working dog...he needs a family that's home and can play with him off and on all day, or even better, a ranch to work on. I don't know what I was thinking. It's not fair to him to sit all day and wait for me to come home. It's selfish on my part.
So, I sent an e-mail to the cattledog rescue group to see if they know a family who can foster him or give him a home. I'm keeping him until then...I'll keep on working to train him (poor little guy wasn't even trained to sit) and play frisbee (his favorite game) with him when I get home from work.
I feel awful. I've been plagued with guilt all day today. The only good thing out of this is that I took him out of that awful shelter.
2 comments:
Whoa, slow down. It's only been 24 hours -- you don't really know yet how things are going to work out. You may be right and he may need a different type of situation, but maybe not. Don't rush headlong into a permanent decision like giving him away, and don't start demonizing yourself because you wanted a dog -- you didn't get him with the intent to harm.
[/mom]
There is no need for guilt! While it may be true that this is a particularly needy breed and you *may* not be able to give him the attention he needs, that does not mean that you did a bad or wrong thing here. You freed him from the shelter which at the very least has given him a better place to wait for his next loving owner should you decide that you simply can't give him all that he needs. Whether you end up keeping him or not, you have given him a chance at a much better life and that is something that warrants no guilt.
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