Puppy Tails: The Final Chapter

My foster puppies have gone, off to the rescue group to find their forever homes. And I miss their little furry faces so much! NOT ENOUGH TO HAVE KEPT THEM, but enough to have me in tears, going from nearly 24/7 with them to seeing them off, never knowing where they're going or how they are faring. 

To try to keep myself from crying myself into a monstrous headache, my Ten Things of Thankful is going to list ten reasons I am thankful they are gone.

1. No more getting up first thing in the morning to take them outside to potty. This was their favorite time of the day to go out, and I had to stand there for-FREAKING-ever when I needed to be inside, getting ready, while they rolled around and played and fought over sticks.

2. No more scratches on my arms or nipped fingers while trying to snap on the leashes, especially in the morning when they needed to GO.

3. Puppy stank. You can bathe them, but they will always smell like puppies. CLEAN puppies, but puppies, nonetheless.

4. It took much finesse to keep them from plowing through old piles of poo in the yard (the girl who SWORE she'd clean up after them outside did it once, the second day we had them, and never again, leaving it entirely up to me). 

5. We'll no longer be taking walks around the block and avoiding the house down the street with the ginormous acorns on the sidewalk that the puppies couldn't resist picking up and crunching, meaning we either had to hold their heads up with the leashes or pick them up and carry them past the acorn mine field.

6. No more puppy pee and poo on the floor! We could come inside from doing both, and one or the other, or BOTH, puppies would squat and unload on the floor. No warning. We've gone through a dozen rolls of paper towels and gallons of floor cleaner.

7. No more sick puppies! The poor things had more than their fair share of puppy squirts, plus kennel cough, and there was a time when I thought we were going to lose Olivia - twice. I don't want to brag, but I am REALLY good at curing puppy squirts, in case you ever need to know. The secret is to feed them canned pumpkin. I don't know why it works, but it does, and they love to eat it. 

8. I can take my flip flops off and not have a puppy immediately carry them off and chew them. Both puppers just love a good flip flop; they're easy to carry, easy to chew.

9. Speaking of chewing, no more gnawing on my coffee table legs, fireplace hearth, toes, shoelaces, or any other of a number of items that do not improve with the addition of tooth marks.

10. No more incessant barking when they are inside their crate and want out! They were tireless barkers, especially Olivia.

See? So many reasons to be thankful they are gone. No more puppies running through the house, chasing each other, rolling and playing, fighting over the same toy or stick. No more puppy faces looking up at me expectantly, waiting for a treat for going potty outside. No more "puppy speak," where they talked to each other. No more warm puppy curled up in my lap asleep while I write. No more wagging tails and cheerful yips to tell me hello when I return to the room. No more watching them play tug of war with the Bone of Contention. 

If I'm so glad to see them go, why is there a lump in my throat and tears stinging my eyes?

Goodbye and good luck, my little pupper girls! I hope we gave you a good foundation to be loving pets for two new families. I know you'll miss each other when you are adopted, but you'll be okay. You're tough, both of you, having started life as puppies that some asshole dumped, living at the humane society, so timid that you and your siblings, all six of you, hid under your bed much of the time. Ahhh, my sweet pups, I'm going to miss you so....

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