Doggy Woes

I have dreaded writing this post for some time. I feel like such a flake and a bad doggy mom and a quitter, but at this point in our lives, the hubby and I are looking for a new home for Maya, our puggle.

When Maya came into our lives six years ago, she was our first "baby." She was my Valentine's present from the hubs and I remember the day I saw her in the pet store and fell in love...so much so that I drug Nick down to see her that very day.

She was three months old, so she was considered "old" I guess as far as pet shop dogs go thus she was on sale. Our little "on sale" pup. I've always had a soft spot for the runt of the litter - whether it be a little piglet not getting love from her mama when I lived on the farm or the kid who wasn't the most popular growing up in elementary school...so this little nugget fit right in.

But she didn't make the best impression. When we got her into the play area, the first thing she did was pee....then a few minutes later, a nice poop. Really, dog? You can't just turn on the charm for 10 minutes?  She was just lucky I loved her enough to coerce him into getting her for me. Back then, that wasn't very difficult. =)

Soon after we sent her to doggy boot camp to get her initial training. And she came back just as naughty. But we didn't care. We were in love. I mean just look at this face...

Her first five years? She was the center of our lives and we spoiled her rotten. We sent her to doggy day care on certain days to get some play time. Every run or walk we took was for her. We added a doggy door so she could get out into the backyard easier. And we even celebrated her birthdays. 

Then, this happened... 

We were concerned when we found out I was preggo - how would Maya react? How would we react to Maya around our newborn? We tried to get her ready for his arrival...well, half-assed but the effort was there. And don't get me wrong, she's not terrible with him, it's just the dog hair and her hounding him when he has food in his hand and the barking when the doorbell rings or the front door opens and her licking his face All.The.Time. Sometimes it gets to be too much...and we get frustrated with her.

After long consideration we decided we would look for a new home for her. It's not to the point we are going to place a Free Dog ad on Craigslist or anything, but we figured we would get the word out and if someone we knew was interested, then perfect.

In conversation at work, I was talking about our doggy troubles and a co-worker overheard. He just happens to be IN LOVE with his puggle, Jax - seriously, he has two (now three kids) but all we ever hear about is the dog...he even mass texts pics of this little guy. And when he heard we may be looking, he mentioned that they had been talking about getting another dog to help calm down Jax....and that they really wanted a puggle. (Hello, could this be more perfect?)

In December, we took Maya over for a play date...and girlfriend was on her best behavior. Jax made her look good and I hear that she was the best cuddler with his then-preggo wifey and she loved her. The kids - they adored Maya and loved watching the two puggles run in the backyard together. So we chatted about what they were looking for and since they were expecting a baby in late December (have since had the little guy), they aren't looking to add another dog right away, but are very interested in bringing her by for a weekend here in the next month or so and potentially could be ready in March.

I don't know, folks, but we may have found the perfect home for our pup...as much as I feel like a big ole failure for giving up, it's really the best thing for her and for us.  And, come on, just look at how stinkin' cute they are together.

Jax & Maya