Ode to Dawson...

I got Dawson when he was 5 weeks old in October of 2004. I had just moved in with my brother Scott and I really just wanted to be married and starting a family. Well, seeing I was not dating anyone of any significance I decided to get a dog. Dawson was a great companion for me at that time in my life and I enjoyed having him. Looking back, I realize I was not a good dog owner and a pretty bad dog trainer. I bought Dawson for $600, but that was only the beginning of a small fortune he cost me. When I moved out of living with Scott, I had to replace the carpet in the room I had stayed in because little did I know Dawson had been peeing under the bed and had ruined the carpet. He also chewed up baseboards and portions of the carpet in other room which later on when I bought the condo for Scott, I repaired. I will admit this now just to demonstrate how bad of a dog owner I was. When Dylan was born I was so lazy that I allowed Dawson to pee on our outside patio that first winter which led me to needing to replace the outside carpet. I was too embarrassed to hire someone else to rip up the carpet for me and replace it, so I did it myself. What a job, that was disgusting. I had to rip up the carpet and then scrape of the glue and then paint a couple coats of Primer to get rid of the smell before I could hire someone to lay down fresh, new carpet. When we lived in Virginia we ended up having to throw away a queen size bed because of the damage Dawson had done to it. All said and done, I loved Dawson like crazy and he was a member of my family. Due to his poor potty training, I could never let him loose in the house while we were gone so he would live in the laundry room while we were away at work. After moving into our new house that does not have a fenced in backyard, and me being gone for 15 hours on days I work, I felt so bad for the dog that I decided it was time to move him on to a new, better home that could give him more attention and love than we could. Also, Bryan had told me that we could not replace our carpet until Dawson was dead. I could not bear living with the current carpet we have until probably a good 8 years or so, which prompted my decision as well. I posted an ad on KSL thinking that I would see if we got any interest, but did not truly think anything would happen. Little did I know, Dawson was gone 4 hours later. I cried for 2 days straight and felt like a terrible person, but over time I had realized that it was the best decision to make for Dawson, me and my family. I have spoken to the lady who took Dawson and she is in love with him and told me that he has literally changed her life. She is a single lady who was quite lonely before Dawson. She carries him everywhere she goes in a purse, is getting him trained to be a therapeutic dog, and is always home with him. When I am driving home from a long day at work I am so grateful that Dawson is being cared for by this new lady in her home, rather than spending the day in our laundry room. I love dogs, but it will be a long time before I have another dog, and if I ever do I will get him or her professionally trained for sure. I will always miss Dawson, but am grateful to feel contented with where he is now.