Thursday, April 28, 2011

Talula Has Left Us......

When we moved to NC back in 2005 we were determined to settle in and get a dog. We had decided to get a Bernese Mountain Dog and after much hunting drove to Washington DC to pick up Talula. She was the CUTEST puppy we had ever seen..........



We took her everywhere with us. Days at the park, long walks, trips to friends. She became part of our family....

We were not great dog trainers so Talula quickly realized she could be very spoiled and get away with pretty much anything. But she was sweet and cute so we didn't care....

She made the Christmas card of 2005.....

She grew into a beautiful adult dog and we loved taking her for walks in our neighborhood. Everyone would stop and ask us what kind of dog she was and comment on how beautiful she was. She was horrible to potty train, not extremely bright, chewed anything and everything but she was our dog and we loved her....

And then comes baby. She was great with our kids from the beginning. She had a sense to be gentle and never got upset with Emma or Johnny messing with her. She didn't even seem to mind being neglected once the kids came. She went from number one, to number two, to a very last number 3 on our priority list once the kids came around. Every mom I talk to with a dog can attest to how hard it is to manage a dog and small kids and give the dog the attention that they need and deserve. Talula became a second thought instead of our first. She got more attention from the kids but less attention from us. But she went with it and blended into the background of our lives.


As I sit here and write this it is so strange to not here the jangling of Talula's collar as she wanders around the house, looking for toilet paper or maybe a scrap of paper Emma left on the floor to devour. It felt strange to leave the house today without putting Talula behind her gate. It was completely foreign to have someone stop by our house and not have to pull Talula away from the door as she tried to greet our visitor. When it started raining I went to the back door out of habit to let her in only to find myself standing there, tearing up that she wasn't there to let in. I will have to admit, I was the first in our family to say that Talula was a nuisance, too much of a burden for me to care for once we had kids. I had many conversations with John about finding her a new home (this was normally after she had peed in the house or chewed up her 400th sock) to which John would say absolutely not. But, she has left a void in our house. Her death seems so sudden......maybe I wasn't so ready to be dogless. She was a good dog; part of our family, part of our life here in North Carolina and we all loved her very much. We are so sad that we had to say goodbye.......

3 comments:

laurie said...

I'm so sorry to hear about Talula-- Such a beautiful dog and a great personality.

Belleme said...

Oh so sad! What happened to her? I'm sorry Pells... I know how pets become "family!"

Anonymous said...

She will be missed but in a beter place, no more suffering. Saying goodbye to a part of the family is indeed hard. Love you all Meemaw!