Sunday, March 9, 2008

Bye Sweet Bella


"Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad." - Henry Wadsworth

Its been a tough week. We had to find Bella a new home, for a lot of reasons...
Let me start from the beginning..We had a Boxer named Spencer in South Africa and had to let him go 6 months later because we were moving to Ireland...
I vowed never to get another dog as it was too painful to say goodbye to him and I did not want to go through that again.

We had been in Ireland for over 5 years, when a friend called to say that her Boxer, Bella was pregnant and did we want any of the pups? I told her we would think about it...So she called me when they were born, there were 9 of them and they really needed to find good homes for some of the pups..
So, off we went one Saturday when they were 8 weeks old, and my daughter fell in love with the little quiet female of the pack, and we took little "Bella" home.
It was a challenge from the beginning, as our house was new and we had to deal with the mess,the training and just the adjustment of having a dog in the house...
George, our cat, who had been with us for a year already was not happy and from the beginning, he got his back up, literally. The hairs were up and his tail was out like a toilet brush, he never did get used to Bella.
We got a trainer in when Bell was about 3 months old, and hundreds of Euros later, we had a nice new diet for her and a few good tips...
But as Bella grew, she just became so obsessed with George, chased him at every opportunity and it became clear that she was going to need a lot more training than we could afford (and that my husband was prepared to pay for...)
I knew that it was going to be the best thing for her and for us, to find her another home, with a bigger garden and with people that could give her the attention she deserved.

She is now about a mile down the road, with the most amazing people (no children and they lost 3 of their boxers to disease)- they have an acre of land and have embraced Bella, I can see that they love her to bits.
The lovely part about it, is that I can take my daughter to see her whenever I want, and that is comforting for her.
It has been such a hard, sad, depressing week, we are all so so sad and miss Bella everyday, the house is so quiet...When 5 o'clock comes I want to get her food out and feed her, but then I remember that Bella is not here.
Have any of you been through something similar?

6 comments:

Lucy Bloom said...

Hi Jasminé, how terribly heartbreaking for you, I've never had to give away a pet but I've had plenty pass away. I don't think it matters how you lose them, the heartbreak is the same. My last dog died 18 months ago and I still think about her every day and miss her terribly. Bella's gone to a good home and you can visit her, that must make it a bit easier.
Lucy x

Cottage Contessa said...

Oh sweetie, this is so sad. We love our pets very much here too, so I can understand your pain as we had to give one of our babies away once. I still feel guilty about it and it was years ago! Sending big hugs your way. I hope this week is much better for you and your dear family.
Amanda (aka Cottage Contessa)

prettyshabby said...

Hi Jasmine, that's so sad, I have had to do the same years ago..a young baby,another on the way and post natal depression meant I just couldnt cope with a mad 9 month old puppy as well..people phoned up and gave me awful, horrible abuse after I placed the advert making me feel even worse, but we made sure "Harry" picked the right person. We didnt go and visit him at his new home (we did a secret drive past a few times)but the lovely lady who had him kept in touch..I cried for weeks though and the guilt was awful.It just was a case of bad timing.We had Red our labrador when the boys were older and he's been a breeze to train and a lovely dog to have as we now have the time and patience for one..the timing was obviously right this time.
It's great you can see Bella and know she's gone to a good home,
still hard for you but it will get better as time passes.
hope this week brings you some niceness x

julia said...

How terribly sad for you. At least you can try to console yourself that Bella has gone to people who will look after her and she will have a happy life. The timing was just off, don't blame yourself, sometimes we have to let things go in order to make life a bit easier. Take care, Julia x

Claire said...

It was a very sensible thing to do and you kno0w he's in a lovely place, but we do get attached to out pets so easy don't we....I have't had a pet for years, my last one was a gorgeous ginger cat called Tigger who got run over one new years eve, we were heartbroken!! now my boys are getting older we are thinking about it...take care, thanks for your message claire xx

The Wooden Spool said...

Oh, how sad about your doggie.....hard on the kids, too.....on a brighter note, spring is here, and I LOVE your cheery blog....you certainly can add me to your blog list. Happy day, Laurie from California...
PS I would love to visit Ireland some day! I have a good friend from S. Africa, too!