A Hole in Our Hearts

I am sad to say that we are unable to keep Mirka (pronounced Meerka), the stray pitbull that we adopted/fostered.  Things were going incredibly well with her and Traveler for so long but they have now gotten to the point where they cannot even be in the same room.  It appears that both want to be top dog and neither is willing to relent.  This can happen with two strong headed dogs.  She used to respect Traveler's authority and obeyed him when he gave her a look, a growl or raised lip when she got too close-this all being normal dog communication.  Now this sets both of them off and they have gotten into scuffles that we were luckily able to break up.  We don't want either of them to get hurt, obviously, so we can't let this go on and let them figure it out.

It breaks our hearts that we have gotten to the point where we cannot keep her.  We love her and have bonded with her over the past month.  She found her way into a hole in our heart that we did not even realize was there.  To lose her now will leave an empty hole.  We will miss her cuddling, her snoring, her "meerknado" when she would come out of her crate each morning and squirm around on the bed causing pillows to fly everywhere.  All the while spreading her love.

She is great with people, kids, cats (once she realizes that they are not to be chased) and other dogs that have no interest in competing for top spot.  Unfortunately our house is not the perfect situation as much as we wanted it to be.  We have worked so hard with both of them to make it work but we can't force what won't fit.  It simply wouldn't be right for either she or traveler.  To have bonded with her for almost a month and now know that we don't have a choice is heartbreaking; as much as we know it is right.  I assure you that we have done our due diligence in trying to rectify the situation.  In my professional veterinary opinion we cannot rectify this.

We are working on getting her into rescue group foster situation and will keep her until that right situation arises obviously keeping them apart.     

If she were our only dog, she would be staying without question.  She is that great.  

I assure you that this situation that we find ourselves in has nothing to do with her being a pitbull.  It could have been any breed that wants to be top dog.  Traveler is as much to blame in that sense but he was there first.  We have to side with him and again, do what is right for both of them.  For some reason things were going great for she and Traveler but that "honeymoon" period ended and there is no going back to the way things were.

We will keep you posted as to what happens.  Whatever it ends up being she will end up in the right forever home.  I take comfort in knowing that we saved her from running the streets.  We will miss her.  Animals can have a profound effect on us in such a short period of time.  How many humans do you know that have done the same?

Happy New Year from all of us at Czar of the Woods Farm!