A tough decision

From Jose

I thought I was ready for a new dog in my life and Abe thought he was ready to be in a home. We both had different ideas of what that meant so it ended up an imperfect fit, and over the last two weeks we struggled with communicating with each other. Abe is a smart loving dog but also very stubborn. I worry for his safety and after two weeks and two escapes from the RV and me unable to run after him, our trust in one another was not strong enough to weather another month of RV living.

Could I have changed this relationship when we got back to Kanab ? Possibly. But it was unfair to put him in a stressful situation and let him continue with his bad habits while in the meantime we all were affected by the stress. In the beginning I really had high hopes for the relationship but then Maguire and Abe had some spats because of close quarters. Abe had learned to sit, stay and follow some direction but his focus was very inconsistent; he never answered to his name and was not food or treat motivated which made it difficult to attract his attention and more importantly distract him from focusing on the wrong things.

Whenever I ignore the little voice in my head in  situations and try to look at the positive, it often backfires. This time the little voice was telling me to bring Abe back to the rescue, and this time I listened as it became persistent and louder. I made the hard decision to take him back to his rescue hoping that at least Abe learned something from me that will help him in a forever perfect home. Believe me this is not a decision I have taken lightly. I really like Abe. We didn't bond as much as I had hoped. I really wanted him to be a companion.

When we drove to the rescue, as soon as we turned the corner he recognized his home and was very excited. As soon as we were in the yard and his caregiver unleashed him, Abe took off running and never looked back.