Goodbye, Buddy :(

Once again the week before Priscilla's birthday was insane. Let me start with the day of Thursday, September 8. Buddy was fine all day until the big kids got home from school which is the norm now. It's like a switch flips in his brain and he cannot control himself. He starts running around, jumping, play biting, stealing and destroying toys and our food. It causes everyone to get upset and angry. Rhett and I said we wanted to give Buddy back and Kellyn got so mad she kicked Rhett! Well that was it, I was done, I had had it. This dog is a catalyst for so many arguments in our home. His behavior and all our reactions to it is the source of fighting in our home where there wasn't before. It was really hard for Kellyn to walk him so Max did it mostly or I would go with Kellyn to help her. It was really hard to go on a family walk with him to the park. 

He seemed to like me even though I was the least bonded with him. 

I sent her to her room and I told Max I needed to leave. He asked if I was going to bar and if I was going to come back. :) I ended up roaming the isles of CostCo alone and getting a sandwich from Jason's Deli for my dinner. It was nice and relaxing. Friday was similar, but not as terrible only because no one kicked anyone else. However, it was pizza/movie night and Buddy kept stealing pizza right out of Rhett hand as he walked to the table which made Max yell at Rhett and then Buddy stole a juice pop out of Priscilla's hand while she was sitting outside eating it which made Max jerk Buddy up and throw him in his crate. I never see Max lose his temper and this dog can do it. It was crazy and scary to see my husband like that.

Having a dog should be fun and relaxing like it was with Miss Lily for 13 years. I miss her so so much. This isn't fun at all. It causing Kellyn major stress and anxiety when it was intended to alleviate it. Buddy darts out the door and into the street any second he gets and Kellyn is freak about shutting all the doors to keep him inside to the point that she she slammed a door on Bo's fingers as he was trying to come in from playing outside and Buddy was trying to escape.

All day on Saturday, September 10, Kellyn watched dog training videos. We learned that we needed to teach Buddy how to play fetch to stimulate his mind and wear out his body. We bought a strong, toy rope and other toys for him to play with. It took about 1 day to teach him fetch as opposed to tug of war, but he still wouldn't drop it when he brought it back to you so when you jerk the rope out of his mouth he jumps for it and sometimes bites your hand or leg in the process. Kellyn decided she would wake up early every morning and play fetch with Buddy to get him ready to be walked. Then Max walks him and he should be good and tired for the day. 

So Sunday, September 11, which is obviously not going to be a good day anyways, rolls around and Kellyn set her alarm for 6:30 a.m. to take Buddy out to play, but he jumped the baby gate at the stairs and woke us all up. When she finally got him outside to play fetch he just played way to rough and she got afraid to play with him again. Then we got ready for church. Max and I decided to give The Village Church a try so we signed up to take their Covenant Class to learn more about the church and possibly join. It was a 3 hours class on Sunday afternoon and while childcare was available we felt like after already being in the church nursery that morning the little ones really needed to be home for naps and that 3 hours for all 4 of our kids would just be too much. So we asked my mom to watch the kids at our house, but while she was there my grandmother fainted at her house and had to be rushed to the emergency room so my mom called my brother to come stay at our house with all 4 of our kids. Luckily neither of the little ones woke up from nap before my dad got there, but Kellyn said she had to go get them bring them downstairs as they woke up one after the other. She does a lot to help out.  Max and I find all this out as we walk in the door of our home after a 3 hour long meeting at the church and don't see my mom there. My dad brought Outback for dinner and angel food cake for my mom's birthday. My grandmother had been cooking the frosting for the cake on the stove at her house when she collapsed. We enjoyed unfrosted cake and homemade ice cream without the birthday girl. 

The next day, Monday, September 12, was my mom's birthday. Sadly she had to spend it in the hospital with my grandmother. But as far as Kellyn and her dog training went... Monday she woke up early again and played fetch with Buddy. It was going well, or so I thought. All of a sudden I heard Kellyn yell NO, NO, NO! I ran outside and she was crying, but she yelled at me to go inside and stop spying her on her. She wanted to handle the dog on her own, but it sounded like he was hurting her. The next morning I saw bruises all over her legs! Like 20 bruises! I asked her again what happened and she got mad at my asking, but at least told me. She said that when Buddy brought the toy back he wouldn't drop it. He wanted to tug on it and she would wait and stop tugging and make it uninteresting for him so he would drop it. The second he let go she would pull the toy up very high to try to throw it, but she did that he would jump and nip at her legs trying to get the toy. She said he quit biting the toy and started biting me. He didn't actually bite her like to be mean or malicious. He didn't break the skin, but his play biting is hard and way too rough and she bruises very easily. She became afraid to play with him and certainly won't do it because he can't move quickly enough and Buddy nipped his fingers a few times. So I took over playing fetch Buddy.

I took these too to the park on Monday morning after dropping the big kids off at school.

Then on Thursday, September 15, Bo and Priscilla and I were visiting Maw-maw since she had just gotten home from the hospital after having a pace maker put in. She was doing much, but started crying so mom stayed with her and Priscilla while Bo wanted to go next door to see my dad and ride his scooter at the Veterinary Clinic. 

While we were there I got a call from the school nurse. She said Kellyn came to her because she had multiple bruises on her legs. She asked what happened and after I told her she said, "Ok, that is what she said too and I am just required to call and follow up and make sure your stories match." To a former teacher and school counselor that is code for we are about to call CPS. So I freaked out and called Max and told him we had to give Buddy back. I fill out all the paperwork on line to surrender him back to the DFW Pug Rescue and they emailed me within 30 minutes a place to drop him off. I had second thoughts when my mom said she would take Buddy to her house and keep him to play with their new wild dog, Josey. But then Max was firm and said we can't risk CPS being called on us because of a dog. I snapped out of it and decided to go with my original decision. We picked the kids up from school about 10 minutes early and took them to Chic Fil A to break the new to them there that Buddy was no long going to be our dog. Kellyn cried, but then was relieved and I think she felt guilty about being relieved then she started searching for tiny dogs on the internet. :) No we are not ready yet. Max took Buddy to the Pet Center in Keller and he said it was really nice like a doggie daycare/ hotel. So I felt better about that. I feel guilty that after 2 1/2 months we couldn't be Buddy's forever home, but man our house is way calmer without him. What a difference. I didn't realize how much havoc he wreaked until he was finally gone and peace fell across land once again. It feels super weird to not a have a dog, but now is not the season for us. I mean the dog chewed up all the plastic cups in our house. The kids had nothing left to drink from so I had to order indestructible stainless steel cups for them.