Hi Fur friends! 
I grew up in a home with cats (which I am now allergic to). Once I got married we took a little while to fall pregnant and I needed some place to put all this love that I was waiting to share. I really wanted a dog, but because I had never owned a dog I wanted to start small (really small!!!!) and we got 8 week old teeny tiny Sebastian the Miniature Yorky. I could hold him in one hand and was so scared that I’d step on him and kill him! A few months after we got him we found out I was pregnant (whoop whoop) so we spent his first year on training and spoiling him rotten before baby arrived (although Sebastian was always my first baby). Sebastian was smart, sassy, obedient, not a huge yapper and was our little joy.
Pic circa November 2007 and we didn’t have decent phone cameras yet (Sebastian about 5 yrs old)
10 years later (ie. Sebastian now 10 years old) we adopted the most gorgeous girl into our family. Gemma the Pekingese had been in a home with 2 larger dogs that bullied her and she didn’t cope well. When a close friend showed me her picture I knew she was my dog!!! (My kids say I always choose the oddballs) Gemma was a breath of fresh airworthy a laidback demeanour, chilled to the core. She was a snorer, a cosy cuddler and was such a gentle soul.
Gemma
Sebastian took to Gemma straight away. Little did we know that 3 months later she went on heat! (We had no experience with this) We managed to keep them separated successfully at home for 3 weeks until 1 afternoon I came home to find them having “fun” in the garden. Hallelujah!! What now??!?
Two months later we were blessed with 2 puppies - introducing Sophie aka Fifi.
Fifi was feisty and smart like her dad, but had the looks at chubbuka from Star Wars. She was the eternal lapdog and wanted to boss everyone around.
Sebastian didn’t last too much longer after that and we decided to send him to doggy heaven when we realised he was in pain. He didn’t have many teeth left and he was becoming grumpy in his old age, only wanting to be with me (my husband had to beware if he came near the bed after Sebastian and I had gone to bed!)
In 2019 we were planning our immigration to New Zealand (see my introductory post) and needed to find a new home for Fifi. The costs were just too exorbitant and Fifi would not have travelled well without Gemma. By now Gemma was having back problems and was complete blind (she had lost one eye in an accident and went blind in the other). So we decided again to rather make the hard choice to say goodbye to Gemma. My son was so brave and held her right until the end because I could do it... there were so many tears (me).
Fifi was adopted by an amazing family that also had a male Yorky that looked just like Sebastian. It really felt like it was meant to be and they loved her fully from day one. I got photo and video updates from her new family regularly and I know she is in a happy home and well taken care of.
Going walking with Gemma usually lasted 50 meters followed by me carrying her the rest of the way.
Fast forward 10 months and all our plans to immigrate cancelled (hello... COVID...) I didn’t have the heart to contact the family to see if Fifi could come back home. She was so settled and I couldn’t bring my self to bring that upheaval into her life again.
Hence the adoption of Minki and Max our Chihuahuas. There is a whole post about their adoption on my blog. Just to say that we can’t imagine life without them....
I know it’s a long story and there are some contentious issues surrounding pets / adoption / euthanasia/ rehoming etc. But please know that we tried to make the best decision under the circumstances that we had at the time. We loved all our fur babies dearly and miss them so much. And now we get to love 2 new babies that had a rough start.
Have you adopted or had to rehome your pets? I know it’s so hard. I’d love to hear your story. Grace and mercy to all.