Originally Posted by
hjmick
Jim...
First and most importantly, they're your feelings, they can't be wrong.
Second, and I know this will sound wrong but... Get another dog. I know that right now it doesn't feel like the right thing, but it is. You'll be surprised. In 2012, a few months before the Mrs. and I left Albuquerque, we had to relieve the suffering of out Gordon Setter mix. We'd had him since we got together, about 17 years. I cried more for him that I did my father. And why not? I had spent every day for 17 years with that dog. I miss him still...
The thing is, I wanted to get another dog soon after, the Mrs. nixed that idea, she was too sad. She also thought loving another dog was something of a betrayal of her beloved Gordon (yes, we named him Gordon). Anyway... We also had another dog, Petrie, some sort of terrier mix, doesn't matter... She's getting long in the tooth about this time, she's still with us (she's 17 now), but slowing way down... Well, we move to South Carolina. Petrie seems lost, sad, whatever. The Mrs. still says no to another dog... Enter my mom, breeder and shower of champion Papillons... She has one she just can't sell, but can't keep because she has more than enough and wants to keep her husband... So, to keep the dog in the family, mom makes a trek to Charleston with the dog.
Jim, that dog not only changed my wife, but we're convinced he is the reason Petrie is still alive and kicking. She, the dog not my wife, almost instantly started acting younger and friskier. Dogs are pack animals after all...
My wife is happier. She loves Jake, hasn't forgotten Gordon, and all is right with the world.
Jake made such a difference that we now have another Papillon, Elwood. Got him for my birthday last year...
Trust me, Jim, you have room in your heart to love another dog and you would be doing the Chihuahua a favor...
If it helps, I know a woman who breeds Papillons...