We’ve decided that we’re going to have to rehome Jasper.
Actually, Herself decided and I agreed. I’m struggling to find words to describe what went on without letting too much personal information slip out. It started by discussing that will be a good idea for him to find another home. Then the subject went away for a while.
Next time it came up my responses more along the lines of “Hell no I’m not getting rid of my dog!”
Then it got bad. Nuclear bad.
You see, Herself wants to have the grandkids over at any time. And that’s just not possible with three big dogs. Visits to Nana’s have to be planned. Dogs have to find boarding or someplace to stay, the place needs to be cleaned up because sometimes I’m too busy to deal with the mess that three dogs generate. They’re actually not as bad as small children, believe it or not.
Jethro is like Baloo the bear with the grandkids. He’s gentle as a lamb and thinks they walk on water. Aria can be unpredictable. She snipped at one of them once or twice, but that was when she was new to our family. But she’s never been forgiven for it, even though I told Herself that it was every bit her and the daughters fault as much as Arias. That went over as well as you’d expect.
The thing is, kids don’t understand that when girlfriend is in her crate they should go nowhere near her. She goes there when she’s stressed. And one of the things that stresses her is Jasper. She simply has enough and retreats to her crate. Even the other two dogs know not to mess with her there. But a munchkin will walk right up there and stare in. It’s terrifying to a toddler what happens next.
Jasper is still a puppy, even though he’s over 60 pounds. He has no conception of little people. He’ll basically jump up and knock them over without thinking about it. He’s not being mean, he’s just excited to play. He’s just taller than them and weighs twice as much.
My solution to this was to say so what? So we have to plan.
I don’t have the time these days, or the energy quite frankly, to spend the time I need to spend training Jasper. The same amount of time I’ve spent with Jethro and Aria. They literally were going on two walks a day until they got it right. I can’t do that now, and I certainly can’t do that with all three dogs and a gimpy left shoulder. To be honest, I was about to pay to have a trainer to train him knowing full well that with a little extra attention, training, and a little more time to grow up, Jasper would be a fantastic dog. Until then, is it that big a deal we have to board some dogs?
But that options been ripped off the table and now we have to find him another home. (I tried finding the scene in “Hildalgo” where the old dude who was caught stealing says he was told to help the American or lose his hand and he says “Time will tell if I made the correct choice”)
I’m understandably bitter about it, since Jasper is my buddy. He’s literally my shadow as I go about my business around the property, just as my son was when he was the same age in human years.
It’s what it is.
So here’s the link if you want to go through the adoption process or know somebody that does. I’m using the service to keep it aboveboard. We can chat about the fee or your can message me. I’d prefer to go through channels already established.
There weren’t enough characters in the adoption post to describe the little dude. He’s housetrained, he’s crate trained, he knows a number of commands such as sit, off, night night (go to bed), crate (go in his crate), enough (stop barking and heel).
I’ve tried using logic in an otherwise emotional situation and paid a severe price.
If you want a great dog, let me know.
Inspected By Pat 