Tuesday, February 21, 2012

One Less Member at the 'Zoo'

Ok so I think I’m ok now to talk about the icky thing I had to do this past weekend.   This is hard for me to write so I hope I make sense as I do write it.  As many of you already know I have had 3 dogs and various other pets at what I call my ‘zoo.’  My zoo now has one less member.  Here's the story: 

Apollo and Gixxer (the boys) have gotten into numerous fights – three of them were all out brawls that resulted in MANY trips to the vet and emergency vet (and one trip to the ER for Shawn) and thousands of dollars spent.  These fights first started about a year and a half ago or so.  That was the occurance of the first really bad one.  We have deduced (is that a word?) that Apollo was the one who ‘started’ it and Gixxer reacted in self defense and because Gix is the stronger of the two, Apollo just didn’t fare well.  That little guy (Apollo) has been near death twice.  In fact, the second fight resulted in a wound so large on his chest we could see all his innards and what not.  I have a picture but I will spare you those details.  Our regular vet – who saw him every other day for about two weeks after the fight – said it was amazing he was still alive.

 After this fight we knew we had to do SOMETHING about this.   But of course we were big talk and no action.  Well not NO action.  I did call several rescue groups, spoke with the animal control officer at the PD and also asked many, many people for some help. Then we got really lax about keeping them apart and a few days before Christmas they had another fight while Shawn was home alone.   So again I made calls with no results.  We got VERY diligent with keeping the boys apart but it caused lots of stress within the house.  Our plan was to build some dog houses and separate fenced areas in the backyard for some relief.  We just needed to save up the money to do that.  In the meantime we were stressed.

Randomly through a picture post on Facebook and some text messages, I found out that our friends for many years, Heather and Dwayne, who live in Ohio, were willing to adopt one of the boys!  Yay!  Excellent news.  The hard part was which boy to adopt to them.  I knew Apollo was already somewhat of a loner and would really enjoy being stress free and away from Gixxer – it had gotten to the point where he would hide under the kitchen table if GIxxer was anywhere around.  Gixxer and Addison are pretty much ‘butt buddies’ and I worried that Gixxer wouldn’t do well on his own away from Addison.  And because Apollo had had such a rough life for such a long time I felt that he deserved to be in a single dog family for more attention and love. 

They came down this past weekend to get Apollo.  I knew it was coming and was sad and depressed for the week and a half leading up to it.  One night I even cried my eyes out while cuddling with him.  But Saturday night before they left I completely lost it.  I didn’t know how hard it would really hit me.  I was losing a member of my family.  A member who had been there since before Bug.  Bug doesn’t know a life without Apollo.  And Apollo was SO good with her.  He let her ride him like a horse, pull on his tail, brush his hair and dress him up!  A family member who I’d had such great memories with.  All kinds of crazy fun memories.  He’s been a part of the family since 2007 when we handpicked him from Save Them All Animal Rescue (STAAR). 

On Sunday after they left I just kind of sat most of the day in a daze.  Something was missing.  And still is.  And always will be.  I know it will get easier with time but a piece of me went with my Apollo Man.  I know he is better off I just can’t help feeling a little bit like I have abandoned him.  I know that is not the case and in reality I have given him a better life in which he will be so much happier!  I just need to remember that and not let the sad feelings over come me anymore.   

Buggy is doing ok with the change too.  Although, she likes to give Addison and Apollo ice cubes when she fills her cup with them (Gixxer doesn’t like them) and Sunday when she filled her cup she gave one to Addie and then started looking for Apollo.  This of course made me cry.  Then when putting them into their cages when we left the house she counted out 3 biscuits and we had to tell her again that Apollo was gone and living with a new family.  I’ve been trying to explain to her that he is living with a new family so he can be happier and she seems to understand and hasn’t been upset about it.  I’m doing all the ‘upset’ for everyone!!

Even though he doesn’t live with us anymore he’s always a part of our family and he’ll always have a special place in my heart!!

{here's Apollo with Heather & Dwayne at our house Saturday}

{this is Apollo Sunday night at his new home in Ohio - just down the street from my mom! so when I go home I can visit him very easily!}

1 comment:

  1. You poor thing - how hard for you to give up one of your babies! But you need to find peace in the fact that you are giving him a better life - he will be so much happier by himself! He can be the alpha dog with no questions, haha! I know it is hard to give them up or lose one. I hope time will help heal your heart!

    ReplyDelete