It's Not Goodbye, Just See Ya Later!

Back in February, Faulkner (then known as 'Sippi) joined our little family. Fast forward 6 months to August and things have changed. A lot.  As most of you know, we moved from a house to a small apartment and lets just say some adjust better than others, hah.  We adopted/rescued Faulkner from a couple in Hattiesburg who didn't have the yard nor give him the attention that he needs. He was a little timid at first, especially when it came to being around Layla.  But in just a few short weeks, Faulkner and Layla acted as if they had been together since birth.  Faulkner fit right in.  In Hattiesburg, the dogs always had access to the backyard through the doggie door and they utilized it all the time.  While we were fast asleep, they would be outside expelling all that extra energy.  Once we got to Birmingham, things changed....drastically.  Gone was the fenced in yard.  Gone was the doggie door. Gone was the nights of uninterrupted sleep.  The dogs had to teach us how to let us know they needed to go out.  Surprisingly, this was easy.  They ran to the door, sat, and barked until we thought, "Hmm maybe they need to go poop."  The major adjustment for the dogs was not being able to play outside during the night.  Faulkner would wake us (ok, mostly Ben since I am a very heavy sleeper) up wanting to go outside (or so we thought).  As this continued, Ben figured out that he didn't need to use the potty, he just wanted to either get in the bed with us, get some attention or have play time.  In the beginning, this was not a big deal.  Ben was only serving and had odd hours and was able to sleep in to catch up.  But now with both of us working 8-5, getting up several times a night was not an option.  It was like we were taking care of a little baby.  HAHA, we didn't sign up for that, we signed up for dogs.  We tried so many things to get him worn out.  The longer walks and field trips to the doggie park were not doing the trick.  We knew what we had to do. It was the last thing we wanted to do but we knew it was the best option for him and for us.  We decided to find Faulkner a new home. 

Ben knew he was going to have to be the one to find the new home, the thought of it devastated me.  He put an ad on Craiglist at lunch on a Tuesday afternoon and by dinner time we had 5 or 6 replies.  We weren't asking for any money, we just wanted to find Faulkner the best home and humans to take care of him.  One of the replies was from a young couple who lived about 40 miles from Birmingham and they wanted to drive up and meet us at the dog park.  After learning that one had grown up with weims and knew their tendencies, I felt like it could be a possible match.  We met them at the park 2 nights later and they were in love.  We found out they were in a house with a fenced in yard and hardwood floors (no carpets to tear up like he did here at our apartment).  We also learned they were looking for a dog that would be able to spend the weekends on the water with them.  AND, the guy works in a family business so Faulkner could go to work with him!  No more kennels during the day.  We got a really good feeling from this couple and they were ready to take him home that night.  We decided to let him go for the weekend and let them have a trial weekend with them.  I was firm in telling them that I did not want him ending up at a pound and we would take him back if things were not working out.  Well, things couldn't have gone more perfectly.  He warmed right up to them and was playful the moment he arrived at their house.  He spent most of the weekend with them at the lake and soaking up the sun on the boat. Frankly, I"m a little jealous him.  Of course, I am keeping in contact with Mary, Faulkner's new mama.  She sends  me text updates and pictures several times a week.  We are now enjoying at least 7 hours a night since Layla has been around since she was a wee little thing and knows how we works.  She was a little sad at first (we really think she was just scared she was next to go).   I now know we made the best decision for both Faulkner and us and we couldn't be happier. 

May Faulkner have many many happy days!!!