It was with humbled hearts and a bit of sadness that we finally came to the realization last spring that having a service dog was not helping Matthew. I didn't post this sooner because getting the information out was an equally humbling task. It was so very hard to admit that this wasn't working out. That's when I knew it was the right decision - the EASY thing would've been to simply stay the course. The HARD thing was to make such a drastic change, but when we realized that having a dog had actually begun to make him more anxious and made this decision, a great sense of peace came over us. It was an incredible journey from beginning to end, in no small part because of the many people who supported us through prayer and fundraising.
Our journey began with Ajax, and I know in my heart that Matthew really did love Ajax and was bonding with him, but Ajax was very big, and he began to playfully (and unintentionally) knock Matthew around a bit. Matthew did not react well to this, and 4 Paws agreed that we should try a smaller dog. Dante entered the picture. He was absolutely amazing, but Matthew did NOT bond with him at all. It was clear to everyone (wherever we went!) that Matthew was completely indifferent to Dante. Dante ended up spending his days at home in his kennel, and then his evenings being loved by everyone BUT Matthew. I knew a call to 4 Paws was inevitable, because this was no life for such a highly trained, highly intelligent dog. The reality we had to face was that Matthew simply is not a dog person (I think he put up a wall after Ajax).
We returned Dante, and 4 Paws gave us an open invitation to return to a training class in the future should Matthew’s feelings toward dogs change. Matthew told me as he was loving on our cat Homer during this decision process that he "was more of a cat person than a dog person." Thank you for taking this leap of faith with us and for a being a part of this journey. Matthew is doing incredibly well, and it’s because we have the love and support of people like you. Thank you!!
On a sad note, our beloved cat Homer died of unknown causes on December 22.
