I Felt Sorry for Ruby

[RSteve]

Almost three years ago, my younger daughter got a young female dog. My daughter was pregnant at the time with kids ages 5 and 3.5. The dog was with my daughter's family for about six months and it wasn't a good fit, for both Ruby the dog and the family. Ruby needed a lot of attention. When I was at my daughter's house I'd always take Ruby for a long walk and when in the house, as soon as I'd sit down, Ruby would jump into my lap. On the days when my daughter's family would be gone for a day/night, I'd stay with Ruby and she'd insist on sleeping with her face next to mine.
Ultimately, my daughter's husband took Ruby to a local rescue, where she was re-homed within a couple of days. She is a sweet, medium sized, short hair dog.
Today, out for a walk along Mississippi River Blvd., near my house, I could see in the near distance a medium sized dog, on a leash, pulling the woman holding the leash. As they got closer, I could hear the dog excitedly yowling and barking, really pulling at the leash. When we got fairly close, I was pretty sure it was Ruby. It was. She literally jumped up into my arms almost knocking me over. She was crazily licking me, nibbling at me, yipping, crying. The young woman holding the leash was beside herself apologizing for what the dog was doing. I explained Ruby and my history, but that I didn't realize how attached Ruby was to me. The woman said Ruby was the perfect dog for her family/children. She was always calm and patient, never acting like she just did. I said I was very happy that Ruby had a good home and thanked her for giving Ruby a good life.
As I quickly made my exit, I could hear Ruby crying and I still feel like s**t.

 

[DWSmith]

Thanks for the story about Ruby. Sounds like a happy ending for her.

After having her for almost 15 years Sophie, my 3rd beagle, had to be put to sleep in late July. I kept wondering if I should get another dog again. On a Saturday afternoon in early November I half-heartedly went to the shelter looking for another beagle. I wasn't really in the mood because I wasn't over the loss of Sophie. None of them looked much like a beagle but there was this hound that looked and acted like a good dog but he was about three times the size of what I wanted. I went home and tried not to think about him.

The next Saturday my wife and I went to the shelter to see if he was still there and to take a closer look at him. He got the approval from SWMBO so we went home and she took her 3 dogs to the shelter to see how they all got along. I drove separately. Everything went fine so I brought him home.

Angus has been a perfect match. I can't believe that I almost passed him up. I'm sure he'll be my last dog. He might outlive me but that's okay. One of my sons and his family are nuts about him and I can see them taking him if something happened to us. Angus has his 'forever home' here and another one lined up just in case.

 

[RSteve]

In truth, although I never expressed an interest in taking Ruby from my daughter, had I known that my son-in-law was taking her to a rescue to be re-homed, I would have taken her. I think she has a better life where she is now, with kids to play with, than she would have been with me. We'd have taken late morning and early evening walks and spent time as old folks do. I'd have probably gotten a second dog to keep her company, when I wasn't home, and worried about what would happen to them if I didn't outlive them. Ruby is far better where she is.

 

[Natch]

sometimes it hurts when doing something for the best of others..but good move