Never

One of my philosophies in this life is that it's ok to make a mistake as long as you don't keep repeating it. So I should know by now- I do know it, daggone it- that one should be extraordinarily cautious when using the word never. I have had "never" jump up and slap me on more than one occasion, and yet I stubbornly continue to use the word.

I had always said that once we adopt an animal into our home we will never return it. And until now, I had kept that never going. Through countless collie poop messes (Winnie), pee messes (Ernie), injury (Mistie), cancer and allergies (Lady), yada yada yada, we have stayed the course, not ever thinking otherwise. Never caught up with me again. Ginny is back with her mother and sibs at the breeder's.

She was the cutest little collie pup ever but she didn't fit into our animal house, hard as we tried to make things work. Our vet noticed at meeting Ginny- this was a dog who had a dominant personality. He advised us to start to immediately teaching Ginny that she might, at best, be #3 alpha behind Jim and me. We found that this was no problem. But she took her #3 spot too seriously. Poor Mistie and the cats were continually subject to nips on the behind. Mistie couldn't get on the floor without the puppy chasing her, eating her food, and pushing her out of the way, and Mistie didn't fight back. The cats were driven away when they came to get a drink of water. And in spite of Jim's and my best effort to love and play with her, she seemed most interested in biting our ankles. After 2 weeks with no improvement, we came to the sad and unprecedented conclusion that it wasn't working out at all and Ginny's behavior was making life miserable for all of us.

We were told that Ginny is happy back with her mom. It was inferred that we were responsible for Ginny's behavior and had not treated her well. Knowing otherwise, we miss the little puppy we had hoped for and want nothing but a happy life for Ginny. Peace has returned to our home and the cats and Mistie are becoming themselves again. We ponder our next move.

I still will never drive behind a city bus.