I am sad. Scott, mom, and I have been agonizing over the decision of finding our dogs a new home for almost 6 months now. Yesterday we actually let the dogs go. I cried, Scott cried and of course the kids cried.

Some people probably think it is horrible of us to give up our dogs after having Pongo for almost 5 years and Callie for almost 4 years. I can't help what others think. We did what we had to do.

Both dogs have become very destructive around the house and yard. We got Pongo before we built onto our house. We got Callie just a few months after the addition and the re-landscaping of our backyard was done.

The past year or so the dogs have started digging holes all over the yard. I was told to bury their own poo in the holes and this would stop the digging. Nope, it didn't phase them. They would still dig where ever they wanted, even the holes I filled with their poo. They have chewed parts of the fence, mainly along the bottom, but it has left holes almost big enough for them to squeeze through into the next yard.

Callie can jump our 6 ft. fence and climb our chain link fence. She will get out of the yard and roam up and down our street and bark at people, chase kids, and she has even cornered a couple of kids on top of our truck. I must say though, that she only chased and cornered the bullies of our street and the only time I had a parent complain to me about it I told her if her sons would quit harassing my son and daughter, quit throwing rocks at them on the way home from school and just be nice in general or at least leave my kids alone, THEN I would get my dog to leave her sons alone. I know this isn't a good reason to corral my dog but it got that mom to corral her kids. Granted I should have said something to her before that incident but it's done and over with.

Pongo has broken through our gate more than once to chase a cat. We have had to find ways to strengthen the gate and put in extra latches because he figured out how to open the top latch with his nose.

Both dogs pee all over the house and this happens even after we let them out before we all go to bed, after we put their water bowl up at 6pm and don't let them have anything to drink after that. We can let them both outside and run around the yard and when we let them back in Callie will head straight into the front room and pee. Doesn't matter if she's been outside for 5 minutes or an hour, she'll pee in the house. We re-carpeted the whole house when we had the addition put in and have to had shampoo the carpet 5 times already and it's only been 3 years. And we have to do it again. The vet said she is fine and no blader infection.

I love my dogs very much but after paying thousands of dollars on carpet and landscaping and new furniture and then have it stained and destroyed and dug up and ripped up, we felt that we needed to find another home for the dogs. A home where they have lots more room for them to run and play, a home where the owners will love them just as much as we do but have more time for them. It seems like the older the kids get the harder it is to find the time to take the dogs out for a walk or a drive. I felt like we were starting to neglect them and I hope that isn't why they did all of this stuff.

I have researched training for dogs and we have tried probably everything to get the dogs to stop what they are doing. Nothing worked.

I'm very sad but they are with a good home, hopefully. I'm sure we found a good home for them. Obviously the kids are sad and want to get a puppy now and I'm standing my ground and have decided no more pets until Harley is at least 13. I know that's a long time but they'll learn to live with that. Three years down the road I might change my mind but as of right now, no more dogs. We have even decided when the guinea pig and hamsters die we won't get new ones.

All I know about the family is that the shelter found them a week ago and they are going up to Denver. The shelter here has an agreement to transfer well-cared for animals up to Denver to find them homes there. We took in the dogs' food, their heart worm medicine, their dog bones, and their current shot records. The rescue workers were so surprised that we provided all of that stuff for the new people but were so grateful for it.

For those that think we copped out, we didn't, but you'll have your opinion no matter what my family says or does. I feel bad enough that they're gone.

I'm going to go wallow in my sadness now. I know I brought it on myself. I'll deal with it too.