Question for those who have been in my shoes

How do you resist the urge to get back in when you have been through what my family and I have? I went to a buddy of mine's yard the other day. When I saw his dogs it brought back an ache in my heart. Being a great friend he is he offered me a niece of one of my slain dogs. Part of me wanted to grab her up, take her home, and start rebuilding my yard. The other part conjured up images of my dead dogs, and the paranoia that the whole ordeal developed in me. I think these dogs just become part of your bloodstream. So much so that a close friend of mine once joked they knew I had dogs 6 months before they knew I had kids. So, I've lost what took many years to build, my family has been through hell, and my heart still breaks for the loss. What kind of crazy person would want to start over? Any thoughts from anyone who has been in this position would be greatly appreciated.

 

maybe get one for a house dog and get him/her fixed right away so that u dont get tempted. you have to do whats right for your fam but i cant see mysekf not havin at least a housedog. wouldnt be able to do it but thats just me

 

I've got a few dogs hanging around. I bought a new house with more property, in the middle of nowhere, these dogs are now with me out here. It's not a yard though. They aren't what their parents, granparents, and great granparents were. May sound odd, but I have dogs and I don't consider what I have a yard. It's more like they are the few that survived a disaster and we are just kinda sitting around wondering where do we go from here. I doubt my yard could be what it once was.

 

These dogs definitely become a deeply embedded part of our lives, and they have to be. All of the work we put into our animals, whether its 100 degrees out, or a blizzard, there is no such thing as a day off with these dogs. We break our asses giving the hounds the best care we can, spending countless dollars and hours raising them to be bulldogs. Then the greatest part of all, seeing all of that hard work come to fruition when the hounds make us proud. We carry them, they carry us.

I'm not familiar with your situation but I'm gonna go ahead and say that you can get your yard back to where you want it to be, with hard work and dedication. The question is, are you ready at this point, to jump back into this thing like you need to, in order to get back to where you want to be? If I were you, I'd sit on this for a while and give it some real good thought. Whatever you decide to do, good luck.

 

get you some patterdale's to keep ya bizzy.

 

lol I wouldn't know the first thing about patterdales. Thought about getting some bloodhounds since I already have one, but she's loud enough. Bulldogs are the perfect dog. I just don't know about starting over. Wish there were someone who has been through something like this who could give some feedback. Thanks for all the thoughts. As usual ben yours is the most interesting. Maybe I'll just stick with my chickens lol.

 

I have a post in chit chat called I'm out. It explains the whole situation without me having to go through all the details in this one. I appreciate your advice. I have some tough thinking to do.

 

brother you have the called of the wild. i loss my yard but it only set me back to want better then before. dmx said it a dog is dog for life ( we human are a part of that dog as they are a part of us)

 

A game person.

I read your story bro. It was back in Jan but if your familys behind you and its what you wanna do go for it. I know how hard for me it would be to walk away.

 

Only you can make them big decision's since it's your life.Ask yourself will you regret not or too.Me I couldn't go on without restarting,but Id regret it if i didn't.On top of that I got the never going stop attitude.

 

I had some dogs taken from me an MURDERED by the law.It was a good thing that I had gave a buddy two brood dogs, he sent me a pair of pups back so that I could start again,one did not work out.I then went and started to search for a line of dogs that would match the one I had.Ended up with some great dogs.You fell off the horse get back on an ride again.

 

I've been getting alot of calls from friends offering to send me dogs. I've spent many nights, recently, thinking. The thought of not starting back leaves a deeper emptiness than thinking about the dogs i lost. Though I'm sure I won't have a yard quite the size it was, I think I would regret staying out for the rest of my life. These dogs are embedded in my soul. Luckily, I have a very supportive family to back me up.

 

u have to do what's best for ur family,even if that means to forget about ur wants sometimes:cool:

 

My family is all for it. They say I was a better person before, actually nicer if anyone can believe that. If they had said no that would've been the end of it right there.

 

Its good that you have family behind you

And for the record I would start over or should I say scratch back

 

I guess I didn't have to look any further than my tattooes to know where my heart is. I've got artwork all over my body about these dogs. They are a part of me and always will be.

 

"ben yours is the most interesting" lol i here ya. from my understanding patterdale's are basicly small bulldogs? just something to think over.

 

i understand you completely, going though that now. been without bulldogs for 5 years now after over 15 years of having them. went through a divorce and had to let go. been in downward spiral since. it may sound weird but my dogs kept me sane, they gave me a reason to keep pushing. now im starting over trying to figure what blood i want to go with. good luck and im sure you'll be where you once were. yis

 

Its hard to let go things you like, you keep coming back to them..

 

I had been thinking about trying out a couple before my dogs got killed. Like bulldogs, there's alot of arguing about good bloodlines. Unlike with the bulldogs, I don't know someone with alot of experience with patterdales to help guide me. It is something that I've considered before, someone told me they were intense. But if I'm gonna get something I want the best. Thanks ben your honesty is always appreciated.