Goodbye Coco
Yesterday we had to say goodbye to Coco.
Our kids have wanted to have a dog for many years... and after giving excuses after excuses we finally gave in. We adopted Coco from the shelter in June of 2006 because Lizzy wanted to rescue an unwanted dog, to give him love and care that they deserved. After negotiating a bit (Eddie wanted a "manly" dog, and I wanted a small dog) we compromised on a medium sized dog... Black Border Collie Mix puppy they had at the shelter. I was hesitant to have a dog at all... after all I already had 4 kids to take care of.
Coco, soon after we brought him home
Coco with the five of us... Eddie's behind the camera
We took him to puppy obedience school, took him with us when we traveled to Southern California to visit our family... he was a good dog. He didn't bark, was house broken, went into his crate when it was time for him to go to bed... but over the last couple of months he started showing some aggression towards kids... at first it was just a playful jumping on Rachel (he never jumped on anyone else). He would growl at strangers, but we expected that. Then unthinkable happened. He bit our neighbor girl. It was a light bite, but nevertheless it was a bite. Little by little I think we saw that he was showing more aggression towards children... but we fooled ourselves into thinking we could keep it under control. This past Sunday while our friends were visiting he did it again... he bit a child.
Our kids have wanted to have a dog for many years... and after giving excuses after excuses we finally gave in. We adopted Coco from the shelter in June of 2006 because Lizzy wanted to rescue an unwanted dog, to give him love and care that they deserved. After negotiating a bit (Eddie wanted a "manly" dog, and I wanted a small dog) we compromised on a medium sized dog... Black Border Collie Mix puppy they had at the shelter. I was hesitant to have a dog at all... after all I already had 4 kids to take care of.
Coco, soon after we brought him home
Coco with the five of us... Eddie's behind the cameraWe took him to puppy obedience school, took him with us when we traveled to Southern California to visit our family... he was a good dog. He didn't bark, was house broken, went into his crate when it was time for him to go to bed... but over the last couple of months he started showing some aggression towards kids... at first it was just a playful jumping on Rachel (he never jumped on anyone else). He would growl at strangers, but we expected that. Then unthinkable happened. He bit our neighbor girl. It was a light bite, but nevertheless it was a bite. Little by little I think we saw that he was showing more aggression towards children... but we fooled ourselves into thinking we could keep it under control. This past Sunday while our friends were visiting he did it again... he bit a child.
It was the most heart-wrenching thing I had to do... to take him back and surrender him. Until yesterday I did not realize how much Coco had become part of my life. Such mixture of emotion... from feeling guilty for not being a better master, for not training him better... he was always next to me while I cooked, played piano... or sitting by my feet while I watched T.V. or folding laundry. Over time he's become such a part of our family. He was always so happy to be with us. He was only 1-1/2 years old! We had him since he was just few weeks old... I'm so sorry Coco. We Love You and Miss You!
1 comment:
My Coco rest in peace. I know that God will bring a new joy into your family's lives very soon. Lisa
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