When Is The Right Time?, I feel guilty even asking this... Options

[Dukerman]

When is the right time to bring a new baby into your life after losing the most important baby you ever had? My Duke can never, ever be replaced...and I would never even try to replace him.

I feel awful even thinking about it.

[Kathleen032]

Hi, Angela-

I think that choice varies from person to person, and also varies with each individual's situation. I decided to give myself at least a year before getting a new dog, but the powers that be saw differently...I now have 2 dogs...Emma was a nursing momma who was taken out of town and dumped on the road without her puppies. She found her way to my yard and I knew that if I took her to one of the local shelters, she would have been put to sleep. Koda was a 4 week old puppy when he was dumped on the side of the road with his brother. Koda was such a cutie, and Emma bonded with him immediately, so I kept him too. (Koda's brother found a very good home too) Had these 2 dogs not happened into my life, I'd probably be thinking about getting a puppy about now. I have to say, I'm glad Koda and Emma did come along. They're by no means Shiloh replacements (I still miss Shiloh more than words can describe), and I don't think of them as that, but I still love them very much.

I think the most important thing to remember when getting a new dog is that it's not going to be your old dog...and it sounds like you already know that. I know for me, if I'd gone out looking for a new dog right after Shiloh died, my expectations of the new dog would have been too high, as I would have expected him/her to be just like Shiloh. Since Emma and Koda found me, I never really had those kind of expectations for them...they've just gotten to be themselves.

I'm attaching a picture of Emma (on the left) and Koda (on the right)

Hugs,
Kathleen

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