Having a pet....

I recently had to surrender my dog to the pound because of... well because of family issues. When I moved in with my boyfriend, I had my dog, and I kind of did the thing where I told my boyfriend that it was both me and my dog or neither one of us. Well, he said yes, and then I asked my parents in law, they reluctantly agreed as well.


I guess I should start with how I obtained my dog in the first place. When I still lived with my parents, my sister and I wanted a dog.. We begged our parents for a dog and they said they would get us one, a tiny one of course with the condition that we cleaned up its mess. My dad took us to the local shelter and there we found so many pretty and cute puppies. When we went up to the people that were in charge we asked what we had to do in order to get a dog. The price, well the price was steep because they did the shots, they neutered them, and handed them out all clean. My father being the stingy person he is, said no.

We walked out of the shelter with no dog and almost in tears because we had fallen in love with so many dogs. On the parking lot there was a couple in a truck attracting much attention. They were giving away puppies. I jumped at the idea and ran over there with my sister. The puppies were pit bull mixes, there was a brown one, a black one, and a little one that was brown and white. My boyfriend grabbed the one that was mixed and before we knew it that was the only puppy left. My sister and I begged my dad to let us keep the puppy, and well since it was free, he couldn't say no. He neglected to tell my mom of this.

Anyway, point is, a couple of months after we obtained our puppy the only ones looking after it was my mom and I. By the way it was a girl. We fell in love with this puppy, we just loved her. We decided at the end to call her Cocoa. Perfect name right?

After I decided to move out, which was after my mom moved out, I knew that our Cocoa would die with only my dad and sister watching after her. So, I brought her with me. My husband's family rents a big house so there was enough space in the back yard for her. We allowed her to run around and she was happy. After a year and so many months... everyone could tell that our Cocoa didn't have the attention she had when she had barely been brought to this house. I neglected to look out after her and I didn't hang out with her as often. My parents in law told me that I either had to get on my doggy and take care of her or give her up. I cried my heart out and I started cleaning up on her mess, showering her once a week, etc.

Everything was good for a couple of months until we found out we might be having to move houses. Once again I felt my heart sink... I was so sad... The day before I got married, I made up my mind.

I got her blankets, her food, her toys and her leash on the car. Heard my Cocoa cry and cry and drove her to the shelter were a year and half ago I had picked her up.
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Moral of my story.... Dogs are wonderful friends and wonderful companions, but they need attention, they need time, they need to be walked and they need a friend in return. I know for a fact that my Cocoa understood me, she recognized me, and she loved me... but sadly, I must have not be that great of an owner...

I will miss my Cocoa, but I do pray that at the shelter she will find a family that will love her more than I ever could.

Missing my puppy,
-Andy