Here we go, the grand finale of the biggest debacle ever. Hopefully you've read part 1 and part 2, otherwise you may not understand the full ridiculousness of the situation.
Friday morning comes and I go to Draper to pick up the puppy. Dylan went to work with Ben, so it was just me picking up the puppy.
Everything went fine with the pickup- the puppy was adorable and sweet, and we headed straight for Ben's work so the boys could meet the puppy. As to be expected, both Ben and Dylan were elated with the puppy and declared it the best present ever.
Meet Hogan.
A seriously cute ball of fur.
Dylan, Hogan, and I headed home to get Hogan settled in at our house. As to be expected in this pitiful tale, this is what happened five minutes after walking in the door:
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That would be the glass top of our coffee table. Dylan was trying to throw a bone to Hogan, but his aim was a little off.
Our first day with Hogan was great, but exhausting. Taking him outside every 30-45 minutes, keeping an eye on him at all times, etc... it was more stressful than I anticipated. Even so, I wasn't going to gripe- this was Ben's present, and taking care of this puppy was something I just had to do.
Then came the night. Holy cow, I forgot how awful a howling puppy can sound. Ben and I (and Hogan) barely slept that night.
The next day was full of taking Hogan outside every 2 seconds, more keeping my eye on him every minute (because the second I'm not looking at him he will pee on my carpet or poo in Dylan's room). It was not a restful time. And then night came again. More howling, less sleep.
I could go on and on about this, but the bottom line was this: Ben and I were both super stressed out by this puppy. We knew puppies were a lot of work, but it took getting a puppy to realize that we were not wanting to put the work into a pet.
So 48 hours after getting the puppy we came to a conclusion: Hogan had to go. We were both so stressed out by the puppy that we were miserable. We posted an ad for him on ksl.com. by Sunday night. I know! Worst pet owners ever! We couldn't even handle a week!
A few days later we found a great new home for Hogan and we said goodbye to our little friend.
Luckily we sold the puppy for what I paid, and we also sold the new owner a bunch of the barely used gear and food.
We've gone over the situation over and over again- What if we would have given everyone more time to get used to the puppy? What if we waited for Hogan to get used to sleeping in his crate?
Poor Dylan asks about "my Hogan" every single day. We keep telling him that he lives with his mommy and daddy, and we only babysat him for a few days, but he's not forgetting about Hogan. Sad.
That's the long, drawn-out story. The time I spent months planning the perfect surprise for my husband, ended up ruining the surprise the day before it happened, and watched the surprise backfire in our faces.
Happy birthday Jesus Benjamin, sorry your party present was so lame.
(that's one of my favorite quotes from The Office.)
(that's one of my favorite quotes from The Office.)
5 comments:
I love this. It makes me miss you. You are a wonderful wife, and I know what a sacrifice it was for you to agree to this, because I remember talking to you about it YEARS ago! Hahah. Well, if you ever want to try a dog again, I have some insight. Ty and I got a puppy and it was a tragic situation where he had some brain damage we didn't know about, and we had to put him to sleep at 10 weeks old. Anyways, we wound up getting our dog Timbre from the pound shortly after, and she was 9 months old. I will never get a puppy again! Timbre was great - she was past the bad chewing stage, crate trained, and didn't ever pee on the carpet. She was still a "puppy" and we could teach her tricks, but she was as big as she was going to get, so we knew what to expect. I would say if you want to get a dog, get an older dog, like 9 months to a year old. That's the best :)
Oh Chrissi!! What a rough week. I know I would have reacted the exact same way but that's why I don't have a puppy. SO much work you have to really commit to. At least you found a good home for him and you "babysitting" experience is done.
Thanks for the Office quote. Irreverently hilarious.
I don't know how to explain this, but when I finally got to the part about you giving up the puppy, I felt this huge sense of relief. I understand that I am not you, nor do I even live close to you, but for some reason when other people get pets I feel such tension and anxiety inside of me because I just so do not want a pet. So while that is a cute puppy, I'm relieved that you don't have to have the dog. So you get extra points - you tried so Ben feels how much you love him PLUS you don't have to actually have the puppy!
Aww I am so so sorry this didn't work out for you!! You seriously do get the Best Wife Ever award though because you honestly and wholeheartedly tried. I echo Griffsmom's comments - this is why I wouldn't get a puppy! Honestly it will always be an adjustment but adult (or almost-adult) dogs are SO much easier. If you ever gear yourself up again to do something like this (and I understand if you're thinking HECK NO!), an adult doggie might be the way to go. :)
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