What is pet freedom? It's that awful realization that you like not having pets in the house. What makes it awful? Having children that want the complete opposite, that is what makes it awful.
See, we got a pound dog twelve years ago. Bless that animal, he loved me. As in, barely acknowledging anyone else in the house when his big brown doggy eyes saw only me. I do mean big. Beastie dog was over eighty pounds at the end of his life. We had to make the difficult decision to put him down last February.
He was at least a year, maybe two when we got him, that put him thirteen or fourteen when he was put down. Poor thing could not keep his footing in our kitchen or the back deck. I had a traumatic experience as a teenager, when our dear family dog fell on the back steps. He broke his leg and he was so heavy (he was a golden retriever, so big dog) my mom and I had to carry him on a blanket to get him to the car. He wimpered and whined, he was in so much pain and I cried the whole way.
Well our big beastie was falling with his hind legs splaying open. I was terrified of him breaking a hip, while Kent was at work and worse, while the kids were home.
It wouldn't have been fair to him, to me or to the kids.
So we put him down. It was hard, hardest for the kids but it needed to be done.
We spent the summer without a dog and I'm almost embarrassed to admit how nice it was to not worry about dog care during trips. Not have dog fur everywhere. Not have the expense of feeding the animal. It's been so nice. I don't think I want to go back.
I'm really more of a cat person.
I hope the kids forgive me for not dog hunting right now.
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