I'm posting to vent some.....
Bailey, my foster beagle for over 5 months has finally gotten genuine interest from a very nice couple. It's a bittersweet feeling.
We had originally agreed to foster Bailey on a trial run basis to possibly adopt him. We had only had Ruby a little over 5 months - our first beagle (and first dog ever). I was enjoying Ru so much that I immediately thought about having a set. Unfortunately, Bailey proved to be more of a challenge than Ru. He's the gentlest beagle you'd ever meet. He just lays around, and sometimes plays with Ru. But he had a severe anxiety peeing issue that drove us nuts. And he also would lift his leg in the house a good deal. We lucked out with Ru, as she came house trained, and was much more well adjusted than Bailey. Bailey was a stray, and we think that he must have had hard past, to make him so easily scared of people that he would lose bladder (and sometimes bowel) control so easily. Two months in, we decided to just foster him until he found a new home.
Now - flash forward 3 more months. Over the past few weeks, he's really started to show that he's settling in. Very little accidents (mostly just from occasional anxiety), and he paces at the door with Ruby when it's time to go out, and sometimes by himself if he wants to go out! And he goes up to bed with Ru when we say time for bed. And, it's hard to explain, but he just seems like he's settling in by how comfortable he's been looking, and how much he seems to turn to us. He hates leaving Ruby when I take him somewhere without her. I have to admit I didn't realize how much I was going to miss him until last night when I got the email back from the interested party, confirming their interest. It started to seem final. I started to feel bad that I was going to uproot him again, now that he was feeling so settled and happy. I guess he'll get that way again eventually in his new home. I had a good cry about it last night, so I'm hoping it's mostly out of my system for when it's time to say goodbye. I just hope I don't regret not keeping him, since it was our plan in the beginning.
We had other practical reasons for deciding to go back to one dog - the cost, the cleanup in the house and back yard, and worrying about not giving Ru enough attention, after being an only child for only 4 months. But Bailey is so sweet and gentle, and has gotten so close to us, especially Ernie. He lays on Ernie's belly every night on the couch. He even pulls to stay with Ru when I take him somewhere without her.
I don't know where I'm going with this. Just venting my thoughts. We will miss him dearly. But after meeting them, I can't think of a better set of people for him to live with. That, of course, doesn't make us miss him any less.
Bailey, my foster beagle for over 5 months has finally gotten genuine interest from a very nice couple. It's a bittersweet feeling.
We had originally agreed to foster Bailey on a trial run basis to possibly adopt him. We had only had Ruby a little over 5 months - our first beagle (and first dog ever). I was enjoying Ru so much that I immediately thought about having a set. Unfortunately, Bailey proved to be more of a challenge than Ru. He's the gentlest beagle you'd ever meet. He just lays around, and sometimes plays with Ru. But he had a severe anxiety peeing issue that drove us nuts. And he also would lift his leg in the house a good deal. We lucked out with Ru, as she came house trained, and was much more well adjusted than Bailey. Bailey was a stray, and we think that he must have had hard past, to make him so easily scared of people that he would lose bladder (and sometimes bowel) control so easily. Two months in, we decided to just foster him until he found a new home.
Now - flash forward 3 more months. Over the past few weeks, he's really started to show that he's settling in. Very little accidents (mostly just from occasional anxiety), and he paces at the door with Ruby when it's time to go out, and sometimes by himself if he wants to go out! And he goes up to bed with Ru when we say time for bed. And, it's hard to explain, but he just seems like he's settling in by how comfortable he's been looking, and how much he seems to turn to us. He hates leaving Ruby when I take him somewhere without her. I have to admit I didn't realize how much I was going to miss him until last night when I got the email back from the interested party, confirming their interest. It started to seem final. I started to feel bad that I was going to uproot him again, now that he was feeling so settled and happy. I guess he'll get that way again eventually in his new home. I had a good cry about it last night, so I'm hoping it's mostly out of my system for when it's time to say goodbye. I just hope I don't regret not keeping him, since it was our plan in the beginning.
We had other practical reasons for deciding to go back to one dog - the cost, the cleanup in the house and back yard, and worrying about not giving Ru enough attention, after being an only child for only 4 months. But Bailey is so sweet and gentle, and has gotten so close to us, especially Ernie. He lays on Ernie's belly every night on the couch. He even pulls to stay with Ru when I take him somewhere without her.
I don't know where I'm going with this. Just venting my thoughts. We will miss him dearly. But after meeting them, I can't think of a better set of people for him to live with. That, of course, doesn't make us miss him any less.
