Goodbye Dolce

It's been a crazy last few days with lots of snow, no daycare, grant writing deadlines, and sad days.  Today is my first day going to the office since Tuesday...an entire week.  I had a grant deadline on Friday so I had to work but Evan was sick and then we got over a foot of snow (which is a big deal here), and then I realized Evan also had two molars coming in and was extra clingy and refused to play on his own.  It was a bit of a stressful time.  I did most of my grant writing from 8pm-2:30am when he was asleep.  Ivan was plowing all night so after two nights of no sleep he wasn't really awake enough to watch the kiddo.  So midnight grant writing was the only way to go.  It gave me a small idea of what nursing school will probably be like.

Evan cuddling with Dolce

But the sad news is that we gave my beloved Dolce away.  I still can't fully believe that he doesn't live with us anymore.  It just wasn't working out.  The hubs was always frustrated with him because he was constantly vying for attention and knocking Evan over (not meanly at all, just because he is so big) and constantly wanting attention.  So I felt like poor Dolce was getting yelled at all day, every day.  Then hubs would put him in the bedroom so that Evan would stop climbing on him and hitting him with golf clubs, but being shut in a bedroom for hours while the rest of the family played together wasn't fun either.  I came home from work one day last week and just felt that there was so much negative energy focused on Dolce and I hated the idea of Evan growing up in that type of situation and learning to yell at dogs and just being around that negativity.

So, I called the Samoyed Rescue people and they sent a family out to adopt him.  It all happened so fast that I barely got to say goodbye.  Maybe it was better that way because  I would have cried like a baby (and I did, after he left and every night since).  I do think he's probably happier with the new family.  They had three kids around 10-12ish and they had another Samoyed that was 13 years old.  Plus, they had a house with a yard and lots of toys (dog toys, not baby toys).  I think he'll love playing with the kids and I just hope they take good care of him.

Dolce playing in his new home

I miss him lots and I'm sad Evan won't get to grow up with him.  Maybe in the future we'll get another dog...when we live in a house instead of a tiny apartment and when Evan is older.  I will miss walking him and playing with him and driving to Vermont with him.  But he seems happy in his new home and that is what's important.  I wanted to keep him no matter what but then felt maybe that wasn't fair...that maybe we weren't a good family for him anymore.

So sad though.  I hate making hard decisions like this - where what I want isn't what is best.  And hopefully he knows that we gave him away because we loved him so much, not because we didn't want him.