The puppy that just wasn't

I have the biggest pet lover in my house. Hallie is not the typical girly girl. She has always loved to play with pet related things. Whether it be stuffed animals, computer games, books, you name it….as long as it helps her learn about animals she loves it.

We have not had the best luck with animals in the past. I will admit- I am NOT an animal person. I don’t have the patience for the mess and work involved. However, I do take my kids needs and wants and loves into consideration.

Last week my brother got a Lab puppy named Milo. He is so cute. He lives in SL, but he sent pictures and I could just see Hallie’s heart melting. She always makes comments about what she wouldn’t give for a pet. At the princess thing last week, they had to write a wish down and they put it on a balloon and let it fly away. I snuck a peek and it said, “All I really want is a dog.” Talk about sweet.

So that night I really got thinking. I saw an ad in the Nickel Ad for some lab puppies. My family grew up with a lab, and he was the best, most protective, kindest, calmest dog ever. We loved him so much. So I thought and prayed about it a lot (I know----praying about a pet, but I wanted to be sure) It was all too ironic that on the way to church on Sounds of Sunday of all places, there was a talk about pets-about the importance of them for kids, for adults, etc. I knew then it was meant to be.

So after church, I called about the puppies. I told Hallie to get in the car, but didn’t tell her where we were going. We headed to the house, and immediately fell in love with the runt of the bunch. We brought him home and named him Max. He was the best little dog. He was so cute, funny, smart…you name it. He never had an accident in the house. The best part was the true elation on Hallie’s face. My boys were even so excited.

These pictures are going to MELT your heart.














That night before bed, I notice that me, Hallie, and Gavin all had runny swollen eyes, and a very drippy nose-not to mention sneezes. I just dismissed it. We let the puppy sleep inside since we had bathed him. I woke up every hour because he whined to go out to potty. I snuggled him up to me to take him out, and I would wash my hands after….but again, the sneezes and runny nose started each time I touched him. I also started to get a rash on my chest where I had held him. I immediately had a sick feeling in my stomach. I couldn’t sleep (and I did not get one ounce of sleep that night) I got on the internet to research the most allergy causing dogs. Guess which one was high on the list??? LABS. I was just sick…..The reason is that they have a single coat of hair/fur which is in a continuous shed cycle of dander, hair, and oil. Other dogs only shed 1-2 times a year.

I also remembered some allergy testing that G.J., Hallie, and Gavin had done about a year ago….I found the papers, and shocker, DUH ME FOR NOT REMEMBERING, they were all 3 allergic to dog hair. I knew cats were out of the question because Hallie is so allergic her eyes swell shut and she even has a hard time breathing when she is around them. But I had just forgotten about dogs because our dog had just died, and I thought….well we won’t do that again. How quickly I forgot…..It is my fault, and I could have saved a lot of grief.

So….long story short-I knew what had to be done. I called the owner-she agreed to take him back because she had another buyer who wanted him-I picked Hallie up from school-told her the news-she had a VERY tearful and truly heartbreaking goodbye-I took her for a treat-took her to Wal-Mart-we left with a scooter, DS game, Electronic Diary, Frisbee, and treats for her friends-and took her back to school.

I was SO upset about it all. It had felt so right, but we are just not meant to be a pet family. I have had a ton of people tell me that there are other dogs that don’t cause allergies….or other animals. But I am not going through that again. I made a firm agreement with Hallie that lots of trips to the pet store to look (followed by a dose of Benadryl!), lots of Zoo trips, Aquarium visits, and we would start saving for Sea World and other animal places. She was fully happy with that choice.

So that is that. The puppy that was precious but just not meant to be.