A Sad Farewell
When we moved into the new house, we began to seriously reconsider our position as dog owners. At this point, Roxy had been part of the family for about 7 months and though we loved her dearly, she had also become a source of serious frustration. She had dug up and destroyed the drip line at Jamie and Robert's house (which we replaced, but it was still embarrassing), had learned to jump OVER the backyard fence (which was about 6 feet tall) and was escaping daily and although she no longer jumped up on Daphne, she would jump all over strangers/other children and scare them.
Once we made the move, things became more tricky as our yard is only fenced in on 3 sides and we now had to keep her on a chain instead of allowing her the freedom to run around the yard. Being freshly pregnant and feeling quite ill, I didn't have the energy to try to take her for walks anymore (it was hard enough when Burke and I went together, but nearly impossible if I was trying to push Daphne in the stroller and keep her under control at the same time) and it made me feel terrible to look out the window and see her stuck to that chain all day long, besides the 15-20 minutes twice a day that Daphne and I would go throw her the ball in the yard. For a dog with so much energy, it just felt inhumane to have her imprisoned like that.
Burke and I began discussing whether we should find another family to give her to, but despite all those annoyances, we really did love her and struggled with the idea of giving her up. We included our thoughts in our prayers and an answer came quickly the following Saturday afternoon. Burke was out throwing her the ball in the backyard when our 70+ year old neighbor rode by on a brand new bicycle and Roxy streaked out after him! Burke didn't see the actual point of contact, but when he came running around the side of the house, Mr. Dial was getting up out of the middle of the road where he had crashed (he said she grabbed him by the ankle and pulled him off the bike) and was cursing Roxy as she wagged her tail and grinned up at him. "Um, hi! We're the new family in the neighborhood! We'd like to introduce ourselves and our unruly dog." It was embarrassing, but I was so impressed by how Mr. Dial handled the situation and was so forgiving.
Once we made the move, things became more tricky as our yard is only fenced in on 3 sides and we now had to keep her on a chain instead of allowing her the freedom to run around the yard. Being freshly pregnant and feeling quite ill, I didn't have the energy to try to take her for walks anymore (it was hard enough when Burke and I went together, but nearly impossible if I was trying to push Daphne in the stroller and keep her under control at the same time) and it made me feel terrible to look out the window and see her stuck to that chain all day long, besides the 15-20 minutes twice a day that Daphne and I would go throw her the ball in the yard. For a dog with so much energy, it just felt inhumane to have her imprisoned like that.
Burke and I began discussing whether we should find another family to give her to, but despite all those annoyances, we really did love her and struggled with the idea of giving her up. We included our thoughts in our prayers and an answer came quickly the following Saturday afternoon. Burke was out throwing her the ball in the backyard when our 70+ year old neighbor rode by on a brand new bicycle and Roxy streaked out after him! Burke didn't see the actual point of contact, but when he came running around the side of the house, Mr. Dial was getting up out of the middle of the road where he had crashed (he said she grabbed him by the ankle and pulled him off the bike) and was cursing Roxy as she wagged her tail and grinned up at him. "Um, hi! We're the new family in the neighborhood! We'd like to introduce ourselves and our unruly dog." It was embarrassing, but I was so impressed by how Mr. Dial handled the situation and was so forgiving.
That incident was the answer we needed. The next day I posted on Facebook and asked if anyone needed/wanted a heeler. We wanted to know the person she was going to, to make sure she would be well taken care of. Soon, Burke's Uncle Matt contacted us to let us know their dog had recently ran away and he wanted to get his son, Logan, a new dog for his birthday the coming week. We were very upfront with him about Roxy's virtues and vices and were so grateful when he decided he wanted to take her. What a relief to know she would be with such a fantastic family and that we could still see her whenever we were in Diamond Valley visiting the Clark's. They also have a huge yard and with Logan being an energetic 13-year-old, he would have the stamina to meet Roxy's high energy level.
It felt like everything was falling into place, but we failed to consider one important factor: Daphne. I knew that she loved Roxy, but I hadn't properly thought out how she would be affected. The week before Matt and Logan came to pick Roxy up, I tried to prep Daph and tell her where Roxy would be going. I thought she understood and seemed fine with the idea, but the moment Logan put the leash on Roxy, Daphne (who had been running around the yard happily) froze in her tracks and said, "Take that off of my Roxy!" I tried to distract her while they got Roxy into the truck cab with them, but that's when Daph really started to lose it. She started sobbing, reaching out for Roxy and screaming, "Woxy! My Woxy puppy!" Which of course made me start bawling. I was glad that Matt had the good sense to drive away quickly, rather than prolong the agony. We all went inside and I thought with a little distraction Daphne would be fine, but she proceeded to cry her little heart out for a good ten minutes, with me crying at intervals and even Burke tearing up a few times (which he NEVER does). It was a heart breaker.
Even two months later, Daphne still talks about Roxy on a regular basis. She always says, "Roxy lives in St. George now." I don't think we'll be getting another dog for a very very long time (if ever) as this experience was pretty rough on the whole family. Even looking at these pictures of her smiling fox-face made me sad all over again. If we had been at a different stage of life, I think things would have worked out better, or maybe we just aren't dog people like we I thought we were. (Burke just reminded me that he never wanted the darn dog in the first place! Haha!) Regardless, we really miss this sweet pooch!
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