Good time to interact with pooches again!

Ladyd...it took us 18 months before we were ready for a new pup. Don't beat yourself up. Grief is a very personal journey.

Miss Kitty is right. I think it's different for everyone. Some are ready to take the plunge sooner than others. We lost our 1st fur baby in April '04 and our second one in July '04. By September we were both miserable so we got Bailey and Guinness. I briefly felt a little sadness and quilt. That was gone almost as soon as it came.

Let your heart be your guide. You'll know.;-)

I felt like I wanted a long time to heal and I always said I wanted a North American Shepherd but my girls were teenagers then and one of their boyfriends brought them a puppy for a prom gift just a couple months later from losing Panda. I wanted to scream but both of them were so dern cute, the boy giving it and the puppy , how could I say No. Plus both my girls were so excited. Then a year later the youngest brought home a friend for her. Then they both went to college and now we have two furry babies from Wally World. They were both adopted from the box by the front door.
Anyhow I wanted to wait cuz Pandipoo was 18 1/2 years old, 4 yrs. older than my youngest daughter when I finally had to take her to the vet to be put to sleep. We probably waited too long but it's so hard especially when they are mentally with it still even wagging their tail. She was so crippled with arthritis, her hips were gone. We had to hold her up to go potty, and turn her as she could no longer do it on her own. She could only stand and walk in a circle for a few seconds at a time. I think I better go outside now and get some sunshine. Anyhow what made the whole thing worse was while I was holding her the vet, God love him, got out of the vein and only part of the med went in. :shock: OMG, that was the longest few minutes I've ever had to wait for him to go get another syringe. It still really kills me. Panda and I just talked and hugged while we waited for him to get back with more medicine. Note to any vets, please have the back up readily available. I did like that vet but I couldn't go back after that. I thought I may not ever be able to get another pet after that. Sorry ya'll....I din't mean to make you too sad ladydebubba. I just didn't share this before for obvious reasons. When the time is right God will send you another furry baby, probably whether you think you're ready or not. I'm so glad I got these two now, even though I thought I wasn't ready, I was. So much for my North American Shepherd plan. Ahh, so what, I wouldn't trade these two for the world.

Try to enjoy some of the freedoms of not having the responsibility. Staying gone all day, going on a trip, no vet bills or trips to the pet store late at night when you realize you forgot to buy dog food....

On a side note I saw the cutest puppy today at Dylan's lacrosse game. It was a black and white jack russell/lhasa apso mix. Who would have thought that would make a good mix but I'm telling you it was adorable!!!

i'm with you lady - i have no desire for another dog right now, i feel sick just thinking about one....

Hey, I would welcome Mo back with open arms if I could bring him back. But he is free from pain and in a better place. It has totally freed up our time for sure. But it is kind of hard to think that way this soon after his death, the fact that we are free to go take trips and stuff, don't have dog food to buy, etc. Went to eat with my parents after church at Perkins Restaurant and then went back to their apartment and visited with them and my aunt until around 2:45. Took up a good bit of my day today.


BTW Audie, hope you are having a great time soaking up the sun's rays at the beach. Wish I were there also.

We started looking for a new puppy after our Weim died in January 2005. We missed having a dog, and when the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show came on TV a couple of weeks later, we started calling breeders. We had always admired the two black standard poodles, Katie and Mickie, whose owner has a place at Rosemary, and that's the breed we decided upon. Pepper was born on February 4, and her breeder flew with her to Atlanta three months later. Most of the show dog breeders we talked to like to keep their puppies until they're three months old -- they say it's to do training, but my guess is it's primarily to examine their personalities to choose the best ones for themselves.

Beach Jacket was mad that we bought a show dog. She thought we should have gotten a rescue dog, and maybe we should have. But we decided it was going to be our last dog (we hopefully will have grandchildren to visit in 10 years, and a dog would complicate things), so it might as well be the most beautiful one we could find.

Getting a new dog after losing one is an individual thing, though. Some people need more time. I still can't look at a Weim without getting teary-eyed.