Or not

We got Fulton home and the whole house was abuzz. People were coming and going in the excitement of meeting him. We were surprise how energetic he was. We were told he would be a little more laid back than he turned out to be. But the kids were loving it and we reminded ourselves how big an adjustment this was for him.

We tried to settle into a routine but it was a little rocky. The first day he was up at 4am to go out. He barely had to go but obviously he was an earlier riser than we were. Unfortunately once the girls were up they had a hard time settling back to sleep amidst the excitement. (Companion dogs must sleep in the room of their companion so he was in with the girls.)

The first full day the girls headed off to school. They were sad to leave their new friend but off they went. I had to help with a party at school so my Mom came to sit with doggie and baby. My Mom had no problems with either but did mention that when Jack fell on the dog he snapped at him. No teeth or anything but just something to be aware of.

The next day or so was a bit of a whirwind. With the holiday, a new dog and the kids being off things were nuts. We had expected a super well trained dog and got a much more normal dog than we expected. On day two or three he just about pulled my arm out of socket running after a cat. We expressed our concerns to the organization but they reminded us that it was an adjustment.

We went about our holiday and tried to get the dog as acclimated as possible. I decided to do some early Christmas shopping with my Mom and headed out by myself (I usually have a kid or two with me).  After about ten minutes in a very crowded Target I got a text that read "the dog bit Jack". My mind went into a blur. I couldn't get service to call and I couldn't figure out whether it was a joke or not.  I finally got ahold of Brian and he told me that Jack was sitting beside the dog and leaned over him. The dog snapped at his face and bit right beside his eye. We had to determine if he needed stitches right away. I hurried home and thankfully no stitches.

 Unfortunately that is when I had to give the girls the bad news that the dog could not stay in our house. The next 12 hours were a blur of sobs. After such a long wait the dog had to go back. There is no way a dog that bit my child could live in my house. The people at the organization were very apologetic but how could this happen.

So, here we are. Back on the waiting list with the fear of God about next time. We now have our eyes wide open but don't quite know what to think. We are mostly thankful our boy is okay and the tears have started to dry up. 

It's been a long couple of days...

** I wrote this on our families blog and got some nasty, undeserved comments so I may close the comments section here. People can be so mean sometimes.

Posted by Kristen Fescoe