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How Long Did You Wait To Get A New Dog


Guest ceelo

how long did you wait to get a new dog  

137 members have voted

  1. 1. how long did you wait to get a new dog

    • we got a new dog when we knew we might lose our current one (overlap)
      3
    • we waited less than a day
      0
    • within a week
      14
    • within the first month
      19
    • between 1 and 2 months
      30
    • between 3 and 6 months
      22
    • between 6 months and a year
      8
    • more than a year
      13
    • more than 2 years
      8
    • its been a while and its still not the right time yet
      2
    • we just couldnt bring ourselves to ever get a new dog
      0
    • other (please explain)
      18


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after how long did it feel right to get a new dog?

 

this was inspired by eenys post, but i thought it might be interesting to see it in a poll form.

 

and i chose other because i havnt had a dog go to the bridge yet. i did however, "lose" 2 greys when i stop being involved with their owner and that was a year and a few months ago.

Edited by ceelo
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We adopted Angel two weeks after Joe died. (Her gotcha day will be next week - two years).

 

I didn't think I was ready, but Michael really wanted to. When we brought her home, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to bond with her, but I quickly realized that loving her was the best healer my heart could have, and part of Joe's legacy to our family.

Tami, Nikki & Gypsy (non-greyhounds, but still pretty good dogs.) Deeply missing Sunscreen Man, Angel (Back on the Job), Switzler Festus and Joe (Indio Starr)

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I got Howie a little over one month after Arizona died. I was not doing well without a dog, but, just like Tami, I wondered if I could EVER bond or love him as much as her when I got him home. I wondered if I should've waited longer, too. The questions got answered with a "yes" and a "no" MUCH quicker than I ever dreamed :) .

ATASCOSITA DIAZ - MY WONDER DOG!
Missing our Raisin: 9/9/94 - 7/20/08, our Super Bea: 2003 - 12/16/09, our Howie: 9/17/97 - 4/9/11, our Bull: 8/7/00 - 1/17/13, our Wyatt Earp: 11/22/06 - 12/16/15, and our Cyclone 8/26/05 - 9/12/16

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Guest Jazz-a-ma-taz

Jazz went to the bridge on March 27th of this year and we are picking up our new boy this coming Saturday. It took a while to even start thinking about adopting again, but we know that Jazz would want us to spoil another as he was spoiled. :rolleyes:

 

Jazz will always be my heart dog but his passing has left room in my heart to love another Grey. That's how someone explained it to me and that made me feel a lot better.

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Guest shiningstar

We waited 5 years, but we had him with us for 17 years. My Mom had just died the year before that. I had a lot to deal with at once. Plus moving to a new location and new careers. Had circumstances been different I'm sure I wouldn't have waited so long. Now I wonder how I stood it so long without one. (We did have our kitties during this time)

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Guest Ferrevergrey

When Taz died, my mom brought Sandy home the very same day, and I was furious. It was way to soon for me, and at first I didn't even tolerate Sandy much, but he really grew on me, but I really didn't adopt Sandy. I got Kristi 2 months after Taz died because I wouldn't let her be euthanized, and even that felt a little to early to me. I was still having a hard time dealing with Taz's death, but I knew Taz would have wanted me to help another dog in need instead of turning my back and letting her die. We adopted Coty 2 1/2 months after Sandy crossed the rainbow bridge. We had been on a waiting list at a shelter since we'd got Smoky, and where kind of suprised when they told us they had a young collie due to be euthanized that they where urgently searching a home for. My brother begged us to take Coty in, and we finally adopted him, but it took about 2 or 3 months after we got him for me to really feel like he was a part of the family. If I started from scratch, I'd probably wait 6 months or more to adopt again to allow myself time to morn.

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We lost my heart dog July 13, 2002. He was three weeks shy of 17 and I had him from the time he was three weeks old. I said I would never have another dog, other than the two we had. Max came home June 8, 2003. We had been looking at adoption since January. I will have to say, I don't know that we would have been able to find the "right" dog for a long time, though, if Maxie hadn't been in such a bad spot.

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Guest ShannonQ

For us it was about 9 months - we lost Casino to cancer on Oct 24th 2002. We were going to wait until we got a house, but after about 9 months DH decided he really wanted another one now. Maggie had been owned by a single woman who died suddenly of a heart attack, so she was returned to our group. She will be 8 on October 10th, so she seemed to need us as much as DH seemed to need a second grey. We brought her home on July 13th, and she is a little doll. We haven't had any problems bonding with her at all. :)

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Guest lillysmum

We originally had one dog (Aussie, stafford x heeler) and we adopted Ruby when he was 12.5 yrs old. We thought it might help him "stay young" to have a six-month-old pup around. :rolleyes:

 

While that wasn't the case, when he died, Ruby was very distressed by his absence. We very quickly went to the shelter and adopted Abby. Then seven months later, Lilly came along.

 

When we recently lost Abby, we both decided that our pack of 2+2 (2 furkids, plus us) was enough. Ruby and Lilly seem to have adjusted just fine. :)

 

Ruby sometimes looks at "nothing" while she's outside, and I wonder if she's missing Abby (they used to play together a lot), but then I think that two dogs are good company for each other, whereas three can set up rivalries and conflicts due to the odd number.

 

I think we'll have no more than two dogs together in future. But it also means that we'll probably lose these two close together b/c they're the same age (within 3 months). :(

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Guest acecommander

We lost Bobs Banker in 1999. Judy and I decided to wait at least six months before even considering getting another animal. Later that week I took Banker's leftover food, his t-shirts, and other supplies to PetSmart to donate them.

 

When I walked into the store, I was almost knocked over by a huge white greyhound named Ace Commander, who had gotten lose from the lady that was holding him. He had been returned by his previous owner because he was accused of the murder of a parrot and a cat.

 

Ace Commander knew a sucker when he saw one. He would not leave me alone. When I started to leave the store, he starting rooing real loud, which got all the others going also. He wore me down-it took about 20 minutes for me to finally pull out my checkbook and thankfully leave the store with only one dog.

 

Ace suffered from separation anxiety, so that was the excuse for adopting his step-brother, Hale Bopp the following month.

 

I'm also a failure as a foster parent-that's why we now have Billy Bones in the fold also.

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Hi everyone! This is Eeny! I just wanted to say how helpful your stories have been to me! I still don't feel "ready" to adopt another dog, but in time I know I will be.

It hasn't been two months yet so my heart is still very much broken at this point.

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We currently have our third greyhound. When we lost our first, Kings Ransom to bone cancer we only waited 6 weeks and got our second, Denny. Denny was an exceptional dog. We lost him after 8 years to a tumor on his heart. It really broke our hearts. Losing two of our children (we don't have any children but our greys) to cancer and such. This time we waited 14 months and then one day my husband said, let's go look. Well I knew we would come home with one! We now have our first girl, RR Dixie Double. We have had some problems with Dixie but her affectionate side has won us over and she will not be going back. I can't believe the difference in all three and therefore, I don't think there is a set time for waiting. It depends on your life, the dog and so much more. When you are ready, you are ready! I am just glad that King and Denny are running free and with no pain.

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Guest SiriusMom

I had 3 wonderful dogs all born within 9 months of each other in 1988. I lost one every spring from 2001 to 2003 starting with my heart dog. When the last one went to the bridge in April I decided I had enough heartbreak with my seniors and I would take a "break". Yeah, right! I love my cats dearly, but they aren't dogs and my home was missing something. Within 6 weeks I had started the application/adoption process and Sirius came home at the end of June. Now my home feels whole again.

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I had to get two greyhounds to fill up the empty spot that the first one left. It was the only thing that could make me feel better.

 

Jay

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My parents had Sam, a whippet x collie 6 months before I was born, so we grew up together. He was pts in 1996 aged 17 and we were all devastated. There was a huge gap in our family, so 4 months later we got a puppy. It was too soon really. Sam had been so perfect, but Daisy was naughty, practically untrainable, and just the complete opposite of Sam. We had Daisy for 6 months, in which time she did settle more, and we all grew to love her (especially my mum, who I'd catch singing to her in the mornings!!!). However she got out one day and was killed on the road. The driver didn't even stop, just left her there.

 

This was 8 years ago and my parents still don't feel that they want to take on another dog. I went through university, bought a house, and as soon as I was settled adopted Millie - I still don't feel like a house is a home without a dog in it!!! I'm trying to convince my parents that it's time for them to get another. I think they're warming to the idea too - they both love Millie and are happy to dog-sit so who knows......

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My longhaired dachshund, Claire, died at 17 years of age and it was a hard loss for me. I wasn't ready for another dog for over a year after her death. I HATED coming home to an empty house, however, so within a couple of months I had gotten a wonderful cat companion. Somehow, I could accept a cat long before I was ready to love another dog.

gallery_2398_3082_9958.jpg
Lucy with Greyhound Nate and OSH Tinker. With loving memories of MoMo (FTH Chyna Moon), Spirit, Miles the slinky kitty (OSH), Piper "The Perfect" (Oneco Chaplin), Winston, Yoda, Hector, and Claire.

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I lost Spade Feb 23 and got Sophie and Rocco March 8. They were already on their way to me when I had to let Spade go. I still have Sophie but Rocco has gone to another home. I am glad they were on their way to me and I got them when I did. It was really rough coming home to nothing and then all of a sudden I came home to TWO dogs happy to see me. It was nice. I still cry and miss Spade, no dog will be able to replace him.

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Having gotten up to a total of 5 Greyhounds - much to my husband's dismay - when we lost Ebony (our first Grey), we absolutely were not going to get another dog.

 

But Ebony had other ideas.

 

The day after Ebony died, I received a phone call from my dad. He sounded hesitant and anxious. Finally, he told me he'd had to call me - Ebony had been "talking" to him all the previous day. She had a message for me.

 

Now, you have to understand, my dad is just a normal dad; he's not one to have cosmic experiences or to go about channeling animals (or anything else for that matter), and this occurence had him a bit freaked out.

 

He told me Ebony had come to him to make sure he told me that she'd be back really soon. She'd left her old, worn-out body (she was 14 years, 7 months old), but she had far too much spirit to stay at the Bridge and wanted to make sure I carried on the work that she started (as if there were any doubt about that!). She would be with me forever, in different forms; each time I "lost" her, she'd find her way back.

 

My dad said that this time she'd return in an "unconventional" way (i.e., not a standard adoption) and that she'd been in a private home for some time. He said she'd be younger than when we got her the first time (she was 6) so we'd get to see more of the "brattiness" we missed from her younger years. He said that we wouldn't be able to get out of adopting her, no matter how hard we tried, and that we'd know her by looking into her eyes. He said we'd call her "Junior" and that she'd be her old bossy self.

 

Two days later, Debi Woodman of FastDogs-FastFriends Greyhound Adoption called me to talk about some business things we were working on. She seemed just about to hang up when she mentioned - somewhat hesitantly - that there was one more thing she wanted to talk to me about but she didn't want me to think she was being precocious since I'd just lost Ebony. She had a 3-year-old bounce-back she was looking for a home for. This dog, Madison, had been adopted out over a year ago but had been returned about two weeks earlier because she'd starting getting snippy with the whippet in the family (apparently, the whippet was a bit bossy).

 

When Madison first came back to Debi's, she was very skittish and shy, but something changed the weekend Ebony died: Madison lost her shyness and became very friendly and outgoing, and Debi realized she would make a greyt PR dog. Debi wasn't looking to adopt out Madison in any sort of official way (no adoption fees) since she was up-to-date on shots, was already spayed, etc.; Debi just wanted a good home for Madison where she'd get to use some of her PR skills as a greyhound ambassadog.

 

Because of the meshing between what my dad told me and what Debi said, I agreed to meet Madison. We met her Sunday afternoon and took her home that night. Yes, there was a lot of Ebony in her eyes and in her behavior, but Madison was definitely her own dog as well.

 

Once we got Madison home, I realized that "Madison" didn't really work as her name - I could never remember it when I went to call her or talk to her. I didn't want to call her "Junior" as my dad had said, but I thought that BJ (short for "Boney Junior" - "Boney" was one of Ebony's nicknames) would fit her. Apparently she thought so too, because she responded very well to it.

 

The following Friday, we signed the adoption papers for BJ. She's lying here beside my computer now - she always has to be in the same room with me, just like Ebony. There are a dozen or more other "Ebony" traits BJ has but, like I mentioned above, she's also her own dog.

 

And, yes, she is a BRAT, just like Ebony promised. Her nickname (actually becoming her normal name :lol ) is BratJ.

 

Mik

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest 4luvofGreys

Well, the first time it took 2 months, which was over 10 yrs ago. This last time when we lost Brandy March 26th 2003 it was very hard, we also have another dog, but was not as social and as needy, if you know what I mean.

We all loved our Brandy girl so much but felt the need to have a dog that was more social , figured there was a grey, which is our first one , that needed us as much as we needed him.

So it was little over 2 weeks we brought Chase home, wanted female but was not a female we clicked with, then we saw chase.

 

Eeny , I'm really sorry for your loss :( We all know we will all go through it at some point but you know , I can still not be without a dog! Its worth it to me.

I can say, it really help me getting Chase and beleive me Brandy was my heart dog. I didn't think I could love a dog this much or this fast, but he has stole my heart but Brandy is always in there to. But Chase has healed my heart.

Take Care

Edited by 4luvofGreys
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Guest BigSteve

It took us about 1 1/2 years before we got our grey after our first dog,

a beautiful Sheltie named Buttercup, died. I was hesitant but my wife wanted another. We saw the greys in a park being shown by Greyhound Pets of America and really liked what we saw. We adopted the second one we visited at her foster home. I think it was easier to have a new dog so very different from the sheltie.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Guest Pottersclay597

We lost our Jodie Aug 13 of this year and haven't thought of adopting again....yet....but.....I have been getting the itch.....

 

Josie

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Guest azlorenz

Josie,

 

I can relate to this one. We lost our Jeffrey on August 16, 2003, at the ripe ole age of 4. It was devastating to us and I thought there would be years pass before I was ready to open my heart to another. I've been getting the itch too recently and just don't know what we should do.

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