A Crafter's Life, Miniature Schnauzer Adventures

Adjusting to Life Without a Dog

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Well it’s been 2 weeks since Mike the Miniature Schnauzer passed and I thought I would give it a go on returning to blogging. I struggled to decide what to do first: 1) catch up on my blogging buddies’ posts; or 2) write a post myself. I decided to just go with writing a post first and then work on catching up on others’ posts.

The BIG Decision

They say that the best way to heal a broken heart from the loss of your dog is to bring a new puppy or adult dog into your life. John and I have made the decision not get another dog anytime soon. I am going to ramble on a bit about that decision.

Before I met John over 5 years ago when I moved to Colorado in 2019, he’d lived without a dog (he formerly also had a Miniature Schnauzer) for a couple years. His dog had passed and a couple years later his wife passed after a long difficult illness. But when I added Mike to his life he was very happy and realized the intense grief that followed his wife’s passing might have been eased a tiny bit if he had a dog to comfort him.

I’ve lived with at least one dog since I was in my mid 20s when my late husband Terry, a dog-person like me, insisted that we adopt a little Miniature Schnauzer Kerie that had been found in a drainage ditch by firefighters during a hurricane when we lived in Houston, Texas, and were volunteering with a local shelter as Animal Assisted Therapy Volunteers.

Terry and I adopted many rescued Miniature Schnauzers over the years and for the past 30+ years I’ve not had a period without at least one dog in the house. Usually we had two dogs and as soon as one passed we got another one as soon one was available (usually through Portland Miniature Schnauzer Rescue contacting us that they had a Miniature Schnauzer that needs a home!).

When Mike passed, I realized that for over 30 years my life decisions (primarily travel plans) have been guided by the fact I had a dog(s). There were many trips I did not take because of not having someone to watch the dogs or not wanting to be away from the dogs very long, etc.

John and I discussed: what would life be like if we could just travel when we wanted and not incur the cost of dog camp/dog sitters. What would life be like it we could just go out to dinner, see a movie, wander around Denver, etc. when we wanted and for as long as we wanted during our free time?

I never considered life without a dog as it is all I’ve known since being a young adult, and there are so many benefits (and just basic joy) that comes with having a dog that outweighs any sacrifices you have to make. But John and I made it through the greatest losses of our lives (our life-partners of over 30 years), what if we took a break from “responsibility” and just lived life for ourselves for a while?

Later on when we’ve gotten the travel and adventure bug out of our systems we might add a dog to our life (no cats, John is very allergic and I am mildly allergic); but we don’t have to decide anytime soon.

I’ve spent what seems all my life (yes actually all my life as I loved dogs as a child) as a “dog person” and it will be strange not to be a “dog person”. But I realized I am still a “dog person” as we recently returned from a couple days visiting Breckenridge, Colorado and I visited with many dogs wandering about – dogs are part of my heart, I just don’t have to live with one to still love them.

So not having plans to get another dog right now is a HUGE decision for me and I wanted to share my musings about it.

Dealing with the Loss of Mike

Mike was a huge part of our lives. He was more than just a “guest blogger” (ha!) on this blog. Our lives sort of revolved around Mike. So life without Mike is very strange but we’ve been adapting. The grief comes and goes and John and I both remind ourselves that we made it through the loss of our life-partners, so we can make it through this loss.

We’ve been trying to distract ourselves with various projects including re-arranging the furniture in our basement where Mike laid in his cushion everyday next to John while he telecommuted for work. It was difficult for John to go to the basement and log into work each day without Mike by his side. (By the way, Mike was the “dog love” of John’s life – see the Postscript section of the post Misadventures in Ice Fishing) So we moved his desk to another area and rearranged the basement layout.

John’s been staying busy with woodworking projects and recently a couple of small and lovely 3-D cutting boards, one of which I had to keep for my own:

I’ve been working on some crafting projects and will share them in future posts.

It was difficult to clean out Mike’s stuff (his stuff was integrated into the whole house) but we were able to donate his stuff to several other dog households including a couple who is actively involved in animal rescue and have 3 rescued dogs themselves.

I appreciate all the thoughtful comments people made on the blog post about Mike’s passing. I received thoughtful condolence cards and e-mails; as well as an out-of-state group of friends sent us a delicious box of ice cream from Salt & Straw that we got to share with a local group of friends at a dinner party we had last week.

This same group of out-of-state friends sent us a custom wind-chime with a Miniature Schnauzer on it and Mike’s name which we hung in our backyard where Mike loved to play ball.

John and I have begun planning/discussing some big trips in the future now that we no longer have a dog to include an across Canada train trip, and traveling to Japan and New Zealand. We’ve listed out all the places we’ve ever wanted to travel and we are constantly discussing what to do with our new “freedom”.

We get to test out a life of just being caretakers of ourselves (John raised kids and then was primary caretaker of his late wife who had a long illness; and I cared for an endless stream of rescue dogs…which was of course a much easier undertaking than of course John’s journey) for once in our adult lives.

Remembering Mike

Many of your have followed our adventures with Mike for many years and I thought I would close out this post with a gallery of photos of Mike from my blog posts over the years. Thanks for sharing my Mike journey with me and if you want to read the story of how Mike originally ended up in my life see this post – Taking Chances: The Mike Hogan Chronicles (re-post).

I like to think that Mike’s spirit is traveling around in the afterlife in a grocery box and a shopping cart/trolley, his favorite mode of transportation…perhaps my late husband Terry, the reason why Mike was even in my life, is pushing that shopping cart.

Postscript

Perhaps to end this post with smiles instead tears, here is a classic moment from “Dog Camp” where Mike was always popular with the ladies…

Feature photo credit – Pexels Free Photos

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Published by tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Quilter, crafter, obsessive tea drinker and lover of all furry creatures (especially dogs and cats) - join me on my tierneycreates blog as I share stories from "A Crafter's Life".

33 thoughts on “Adjusting to Life Without a Dog”

  2. Its a perfectly reasonable decision. I’ve thought about a dog many times over the years but decided against it because of travel. Plus when I am in the office I am out of the house 10 hours at a time and not really fair to a dog or my neighbours if the dog starts barking. Enjoy the freedom for a bit.

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  3. Hi Tierney, we came to the same conclusion when we lost our fur baby in late 2021. We had been putting off traveling for almost a decade so we’re going to get the travel bug out of our systems, then we will definitely get another dog. I’ve missed having that ‘love’ in my life!! Thankfully my neighbors have recently gotten a new puppy so I’m able to get some ‘puppy love’ ❤

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  4. I’ve had at least one cat for over 40 years (as many as 4 at once) and we loved them all but our current and only cat is the all out best friend ever. When he’s gone we also think we’ll stay on our own for at least a while. I am happy for you with your plans. And Mike will always be with you.

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  6. It was the same for me with cats – we would lose one and suddenly another would show up – all strays from some place else. When we split up – the division was harder, we had got down to I think 3 – I could only have one in a rented place. When that cat passed on, I never got another. Once I thought about some song birds but that never came to be.

    Take your time, New Zealand is best either in the Autumn or late Spring 🙂

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  7. My condolences on your loss of Mike. I really understand your decision, we made a similar one although I did spy a candidate last night, but alas, I feel the time is still not quite right for us. Wishing you peace and comfort on this part of your journey.

    We ride the ferry were we live. I occasionally get messages from a quilting buddy….Jonathan was talking to dogs again on this ride…you need to get him one. Makes me laugh every time!

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  12. When my greyhound Mouse died suddenly last year, the Husband and I decided we’d give ourselves a couple of months before we tried to fill the hole in our household. We went almost everywhere with him; he was quiet, obedient and rather timid so never caused any kind of trouble for others, and he *loved* trips in the car. Fate had other ideas. We were called by a friend who had a dog who’d had to retire from racing due to injury, and badly needed a good home with people who understood the breed. We’d scarcely had time to mourn Mouse before Higgins needed us. I understand your need to regroup, do the things that dogs can often prevent. We thought the same, but in the end could not resist the wet nose, the shiny coat and the propellor waggy tail. I wish you peace, happy memories and an adventurous future. Higgins sends nose boops 🐾

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  13. What a sweet boy Mike was, and what a wonderful life you gave him! Everyone has to make the decisions that are right for them, and taking a break sounds like it is a good choice for you and John and where you are in your lives! Thank you for sharing your pictures and memories : )

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  14. Mike was so cute. I understand your decision to not get another dog, I have struggled for many years with the idea of getting one, particularly now that I am widowed, but I need to be ready to travel anytime and don’t want my day to be tied to having to come home at a certain time for a dog. Dogs sure add something very especial to our lives though.

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  15. I applaud your decision to take time off from pet responsibilites to enjoy travel and time together with out the burden of guilt or worry. We have two cats, and as I approach 65, I feel this will be the last time I actively get more. I would’t mind fostering at a future date, but like you, we want to travel. I love all animals. I enjoy my son’s visits with his sweet Husky mix. I keep dog treats in the garage and offer them to the multitude of dogs that walk by with their people. I get to enjoy them, but not be responsible for them. Any way, back to you. It’s so painful to lose an animal who for most of us is an extension of our family. Sending you lots of love.

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