So I brought the puppy home today. Perfect little man, is super clumsy, super affectionate, and actually really genuinely liked me (more than my Dad who also came with me, which was surprising because dogs love him). I was attached to him immediately. I named him, and he started looking at me when I called him by his name before we were even out of the car. We took him home via my Nan’s house, which we have done with every puppy we’ve gotten after moving back from England, and she loved him. We then stopped at the pet shop and got everything we didn’t yet have (a huge bed for him, after seeing how big his Mum was, puppy milk and biscuits, chew toys after he tore my dogs toys to shred during the car ride haha) where he played with everyone and the counter girls gushed over him and followed us around the store, and then we finally took him home.

Unfortunately, as absolutely flawless as he is with humans, he is not so with dogs. He attacked my dogs viciously and angrily immediately. We’ve integrated puppies into our families so many times when our past dogs have gotten ill and we haven’t wanted to leave the other dog alone, so we are well used to the process, but Puppy (who I chosen to take away the name I chose him in hopes of making it slightly easier emotionally) simply did not like my dogs. Or dogs in general, I’m unsure. Anyway, I cried for hours, we tried to get them used to each other on leads, through a mesh sliding door with my dogs inside and the puppy outside, and with my most timid dog on the floor and Puppy in my Dad’s arms. Nothing worked, and he would get frighteningly aggressive. I fear that if I kept him hoping that he would grow out of it, I would never be able to trust him alone with my dogs once he was full-grown in case they had a fight that got out of hand, or my dogs startled him when he was asleep, or ANYTHING.

I love him SO much, and while a huge part of me thinks “We can do this, we can train him, he’ll LOVE our dogs soon”, the logical part of me knows it is best for everyone that we give him back to his owners. I spoke to his foster carers and they said that his brother has gone to a home with small dogs and he loved them immediately, and that some dogs like these breeds do occasionally just not like dogs. English Bull Terriers grow fast and if it didn’t work out with my dogs, his original owners wouldn’t want him back once he is huge, and no one will want to adopt him at a shelter because they are such an intimidating looking breed and need to be socialised from the beginning.

I am so heart-broken. I keep crying sporadically and my face is the puffiest thing in the entire world, but I’m just trying to make the most of my time with him before taking him home tomorrow. I am so relieved his foster-carers are happy to take him back (they loved him) and know he will go to the most amazing home that can cater to him better than I could.

Wah. Okay. I won’t leave this up for long, I just know that a few of you were really excited for me and I wanted to explain. Okay bye.