It’s easy for me to close my eyes and say “thank god we don’t have any kids”, but we do. There’s two puppies in our lives that are every bit as much our kids as we could hope to have.
Sydney is daddy’s little girl. She has an underbite that prevents her from closing her front teeth completely; the tongue is a permanent fixture. She’s a soft-spoken girl who likes to be close to one person - until it’s time to eat. Her first loyalty is to her stomach, and her reminders for her dinner are not subtle.
Muskoka is the goofball. Silly and full of energy, he’s an extremely affectionate dog that feels the full gambit of emotions. We got Muskoka as an 8-week old puppy; I still remember bringing him home for the first time. That little ball of black and white fur has brown into a beautiful English Springer, and I’m proud to be his daddy.
So, the obvious question - how are they doing? The easy answer is Sydney - she’s living with me right now. Sydney has taken the separation well, and actually seems to enjoy the quiet time. Of course, I have given her a lot of my time and attention and she’s never the unhappy recipient, but I also wonder what’s going through her mind as she carefully paws her way around our now-empty house. The hardest thing is to watch her run into the master bedroom, where she’s used to leaping up on the bed to look out the window. Now she goes running in … and stops in the middle of the room, wondering where everything went.
Dogs aren’t stupid - I’m sure she knows a lot about what’s going on.
Muskoka is having a harder time with this. He’s with Carolyn, and apparently managed to scratch a good bit of the paint off the front door when he was left alone for the first time. This isn’t entirely unprecedented;The paint on the door to the garage of our house was also scratched the first few times we left the dogs alone, and we’re now starting to wonder if it was Muskoka all along (we suspected Sydney at the time).
Stress sometimes causes Muskoka to not eat, but I understand he’s been eating OK so far this week.
I’m worried about both of my kids; if there’s a “victim” in this separation, it’s them. I just hope they know that their daddy loves them, and will do anything for them.
5 comments
Posted in Blog
Written on Tue, 16 October 2007 at 12:53 pm
Tags: dogs, Muskoka, pain, separation, Sydney
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October 16th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
I love dogs! Thanks for sharing this post.
October 16th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
Aww … they’re adorable. I’m sure they’ll be alright - they’re smart and pretty resilient - kinda like kids. But I completely understand how terribly hard it is to let one go.
October 16th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
I have an extra-gushy spot in my heart for dogs. I’m sure they (respectively) miss you guys and they miss each other. Sydney’s tongue is endearing!!
October 17th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
A very interesting blog. When I first heard the news my primary concern was for you. My secondary concern, which followed very shortly after the first, was for the dogs.
When I moved away from home I left behind a dog and cat whom I love very much, and if I may say so, they’re quite fond of me too. I still miss them, but it’s so nice to see them when I go back home.
My boyfriend’s dog used to belong to his ex-girlfriend. The dog spent four years of his life knowing Peter, and then was separated from him after the break up. Monte was always very excited to see Peter, and never quite got the same attention once he wasn’t around anymore. After a year or so, the ex-girlfriend couldn’t care for Monte any more, and this is how I came to be co-owner of a beautiful Golden Retriver.
What I’ve learned from spending time with these beautiful creatures is that animals are very resilliant. They always seem content with what they have so long as they are loved, but they don’t forget the other people in the lives, and are equally as excited to see them again. Both dogs are clearly very loved, and will both be fine. They will appreciate what they have now, and will be equally excited to see each of you and each other again.
The occassional doggie sleepover might be very theraputic for both humans and canines.
Keep doing what you’re doing, and know that you’re in the thoughts of many people.
October 21st, 2007 at 12:40 pm
geez Mike, you’re gonna make me cry! I just can’t even imagine having to give up even one of my dogs if my husband and I ever split up. Of course if that ever happened, I’d head straight back to Canada…
Maybe you and the dogs and your wife could have a play date at a dog park. Somewhere neutral.
Hang in there. It does get better after a long while.