Wednesday, April 27, 2011

My Better Half


She’s become my sidekick, my right-hand man, and my better [canine] half. She’s become my stress reliever, my stable constant, and my calm within the storm. She’s become my confidant, my shoulder to cry on, and my best [canine] bud. She’s become everything I could ever want in a dog. 

What I struggle with the most is that she’s a dog who seemingly no one else wants—except me.  

My other better half (the human one) is the voice of reason and tried to thwart off my persuasive attempts toward adoption:

She doesn’t bark, he says. Dogs should bark. Non-barking dogs in condos make for happy neighbors.
She farts, he says. Every dog farts. Plus, you’re not going to adopt me out because I fart, are you?
She smells, he says. Yeah, like cinnamon graham crackers.
She’s too big to sleep on the bed, he says. So what? We’ll buy a bigger bed.
She’s too big for this condo, he says. So what? We’ll buy a bigger house.

For every excuse, I have a comeback—however irrational. So now he reminds me of the truth. We started fostering to help as many dogs as possible. Adopting Karina would mean we couldn’t continue to foster. We could take an overnight guest once in awhile and keep the dogs separate. But having a constant flow of dogs in the house would be impossible with her.  

Some of my friends have said, Just adopt the damn dog. But I’ve reached the point where I know adopting this dog is selfish. She can be placed elsewhere. Despite our lack of success thus far, I know she’ll make a great pet for a lucky family.

And so, I tell Karina that we’re waiting for her upgrade to come along. You know, Rina, the family with the big backyard where you can run and not sit around this condo and gain weight? You know, the one with the kids who will chase you around and dress you up in funny outfits? You know the one I’m talking about, right? She drops her head in my lap. We have to help other dogs, Karina. She looks up. She understands, but I’m not sure I do.

7 comments:

  1. Kim, maybe Karina actually is the dog for you. While helping as many dogs as possible is and was a noble goal, perhaps it's fate.

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  2. It is hard to let them go, especially the special ones. But fostering pets is so important, and if you're able to do it, I hope you do give her up when the absolute right time comes along so you can save so many more. For now I say just enjoy her and live in the moment. :-)

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  3. Same dilemma I have with Kiba at the moment. If you discover a logical cure, let me know.

    Its just - you feel immense love for this dog in particular. But keeping the dog means no more fostering, at least for a while. How do you justify either side? I have no idea.

    I love that she smells like cinnamon graham crackers :)

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  4. Okay, you had me laughing at the beginning, but crying by the end. I can argue both sides, but only you know what is best for you (& of course your other human half)are the only ones that will live with the decision you make.

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  5. Maybe it's because she seems so good compared to some of the monsters we've had. :) We're going to hold off and wait for "the upgrade," as Jen says, to come along. If not, then it's meant to be, I suppose.

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  6. You fosters have the biggest most giving hearts. We do a feature every Friday on Pet Blogs United called Foster Friday's & our pet for tomorrow fell through. If you can get me info and pics about her to me tonight I can feature her tomorrow if you'd like. Send me an e-mail at PBU at comcast dot net.

    Nubbin wiggles,
    Oskar

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  7. Hi Oskar, Karina has actually had her 15 minutes of Foster Friday fame on PBU. She would hate to steal the limelight (but she does love human attention. :)

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