Goodbye Abe

For those of you keeping up with our Adventures with Abe, I'm afraid this story does not have a happy ending.

After getting home from work on Friday I was pleased to see that the software we used to record Abe in his crate all day actually worked. The entire day was documented and ready for viewing. Unfortunately, the results were not good. Abe basically barked and cried all day. We were hoping he only barked for the first hour or so, but what I saw was an entire day full of anxiety and fear and within minutes my heart was broken. I knew at that moment that I could not leave this dog alone another day. Doing so would be nothing short of cruelty.

After some discussion, we decided to do one more test. On Saturday morning, we woke up early and took Abe to the dog park. It was a long walk. We tried to wear him out. Then we came home, put him in his crate, and left for the gym, camera rolling.

We were gone for 45 minutes. We came home and watched the tape. What we saw was extreme fear and anxiety. Sheer panic. Abe cried, barked, and howled. He shredded his dog bed and tried to chew on the bars of the crate. Then he urinated in his crate, which is the highest level of indication of anxiety.

And that's when we knew: He couldn't live in our home.

I called the adoption agency and coordinated a time for us to take him back. Unfortunately, we had to wait until Sunday. Without going into much detail, it was a sad, painful weekend for us. I know we only had him for a month, but the bond was beginning to develop.

The agency assured us that this failure was by no means a reflection on us as dog owners. Sometimes it's just not a good fit. Sometimes the chemistry is not there. They tried their best to make us feel better. And they pleaded with us to not give up. They want us to try another dog. But this time my only prerequisite is that the next dog can handle spending time alone.

Work has already begun on finding us a dog that fits that description. In the meantime, we're happy Abe is currently living somewhere where he doesn't have to spend another day totally alone. We feel deep regret that we put him through what what must have been a miserable experience. I'm hoping he already forgot about it.