Over time Aoife settled down and she didn’t frustrate and annoy me so much anymore, but I still regretted getting her. One day I had just given her a bath, when she went and found a half-rotten kangaroo leg. It smelled terrible! It suddenly all fell into place… dogs are meant to clean up dead animals. I was getting frustrated with Aoife for something she is supposed to do! I decided right then that I would find a new home for Aoife.

Even though I was sure that this is what I wanted to do, I was so sad about it, I cried for hours. The next morning I put an ad up on ‘Gumtree’, not expecting much interest, and I had an overwhelming number of emails and phone calls in response. The hard part was deciding who would be the best family for her, there were so many good choices. We chose a family that would be at home a lot and who had another dog and a child for her to play with. After Aoife had arrived at her new home, her new ‘owner’ sent me a photo of Aoife chilled out on the grass with their little girl, and let me know that she had settled in easily.

Although I feel that getting Aoife was a mistake I learned so many valuable lessons from the experience;

• What you think you want is not necessarily what you actually want! I thought that I was so sure I wanted a dog, but as it turns out, I was very wrong…
• Having a ‘pet’ is out of harmony with gods principles and laws. Having an animal that is dependant on you for it’s survival, and always will be, is not responsible.
• I am not ready for the responsibility of having a child. I am not self-responsible, how can I be responsible for someone else?
• It is a huge relief to fix a mistake you have made.
• Aoife loved indiscriminately and did not ‘play favourites’. She was friendly and excited to meet every new person. I try and remember this whenever I meet someone new, everyone has something different to offer the world.