ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Pet Adoption: How Soon After Our Dog Died?

Updated on May 23, 2012
Annie!
Annie! | Source

Our Cockapoo, Annie, died unexpectedly when she was exactly six months old. We were shocked! I was actually beside myself. She was such a perfect addition to our family. We just removed her last set of flags from her Invisible Fence training the night before. We loved Annie!

We have five children ages seven to two. They were sad, but one of the first questions they asked me was, "When can we get a new puppy? We want a new Annie!"

This made me wonder, how soon can we get a new pet? Is there an official wait time? Are we insensitive if we get a new pet right away? Would be dishonoring Annie?

Like always, kids are amazing with their simple understanding and acceptance of changes in their lives. I needed to understand what was going through their little minds.

Why do you want a new puppy?

“We loved Annie so much! We still can love a new puppy!”

Are you replacing Annie?

“Mommy, you can’t replace Annie! She was our puppy!”

What kind of puppy should we get?

“We want one that looks just like Annie!”

Again, are you replacing Annie?

“Mommy, we look alike and you can’t replace us!”

After the death of Annie, how soon can we get a new pet?

"Whenever we want!"

Dog Heaven by Cynthia Rylant

Dog Heaven by Cynthia Rylant

We read the the book Dog Heaven by Cynthia Rylant. Boy am I glad that my older two can read. I started to read the book aloud and realized this was not going to happen. I was getting choked up. One of my sons said, “Why are you so sad, Mommy? Annie is fine!”

So we read the book. It talks about where dogs, but in our case Annie, go when they die. They are running everywhere! They are all good mannered. There are so many treats for them to have. It mentions that sometimes Angels will bring the dogs, invisible to us, back to our yard to visit.

This book is perfect!

Our Puppy Loved Us

This morning, waiting for the bus, my son said out of the blue, “I bet Annie has already checked on us. She is so busy having fun, but she still wants to make sure we are happy, too!”

I asked him, “What if we got a new puppy? Would Annie feel like we replaced her?”

Quizzical, my son said, “Mom, why do you keep asking us that? We can’t replace Annie. You didn’t have more kids to replace any of us. We just wanted more kids! But, we do want one that lasts longer. We just didn’t get to play with Annie long enough!”

Pet Adoption: We Have Decided!

So, we decided, we will get a new puppy right away. The kids are right. We aren’t replacing Annie. Annie was a rock star puppy! We are just getting a new puppy! We aren’t proving we love her less with the new addition.

I feel like my kids understand. We loved Annie. She was their first dog. They will always remember her.

Annie!
Annie! | Source

Honoring Annie!

Annie’s unofficial middle name was Elizabeth. My kid kids think you must have a first and middle name when trying to get someone’s attention. “Annie Elizabeth, off the table! Annie Elizabeth, we are going inside!”

We have picked out a new puppy. The kids are so excited. She will look just like Annie. Not because we are replacing Annie, but because Annie was just plain adorable. We look alike. Why can’t our dogs? We plan to get her this weekend.

Her middle name will be Annie.

© 2012 Karen Lackey

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)