Ahti's New Home

I mentioned in my last blog that I would be off on a big adventure, and a big adventure it was.

I made the decision some weeks ago that Ahti was not going to make it as a field trial dog.  She was talented, and she was cute, but she didn't LOVE it.  They need to love it to succeed.  She was always worried about what she was going to do wrong instead of relishing in what she did right.

It is probably one of the hardest dog decisions I've ever had to make.  A lot of emotion was involved and I had to think with my head instead of my heart.  I cried many tears (I cry easily as I'm sure you've noticed) and I had many long conversations with the World's Luckiest Man about it.

I was stuck, with my heart, in that Ahti is the only Darbi daughter that I kept.  Darbi is my Heart Dog and I so desperately wanted to recreate the amazing years I've had with her.  But Darbi wants it more.  And why make Ahti do something she didn't really like just to satisfy my own emotional needs.

The decision was made, not lightly, and it was time to figure out what to do with Ahti and what would be best for her.  

What was best for me was to KEEP Ahti forever and ever.  However, was that really best for her?  If I wasn't on the road (with limited dog space) so many months of the year, that would be have been easy. But I didn't want Ahti to have a life of living on a dog truck when she could have so much more.

So off we went to her new home.

Ahti and I hopped a plane to Seattle, Washington out of Houston, TX.  She flew cargo and seemed unfazed by the trip.

We then jumped on a FLOAT PLANE for the last leg of our journey to Victoria, BC.

There is not enough room on float planes for dog crate, so Ahti had to ride loose on the plane during the flight.  I HATE (capital H) flying and I swear we were going to crash about 6 times during the flight.  I had Ahti's crate from the previous flight donated to a dog rescue centre in Seattle in Ahti's name.

Here we are landing in beautiful downtown Victoria, BC where her new family awaited.

Ahti must have surely thought I had taken her into a weird world, when these faces met her for the first time.  It was Halloween!

However, she was completely unfazed by the whole adventure.

Ahti's new family is my brother, sister-in-law and most importantly...their two boys.  The boys had a little calendar on their fridge crossing off the days to when Ahti would arrive after the big announcement was made to them two weeks prior to our arrival.  They are SO excited to have their very own puppy.

Ahti walked to school with them her first morning in Victoria.

And I was quickly forgotten as she figured out who her new buddies were.

It tore at my heart on several levels.

She was SO wonderful with the boys in the few days I spent there during the "transition".  She never once jumped on them, she was very sweet and loyal and listened to them so well.  All the wonderful qualities that Darbi has that I love so much.  She is truly her mother's daughter in so many different ways.

But this is best.  Best for Ahti.

I cried (again) when I left, but I know she will have a better life then what I could offer her.  I know the present to her of her own two little boys is the best gift I could have given.  

And my brother works out of his home, so she will have a lifetime of companionship and love, which is all she ever wanted.

I'll miss you Ahti Boo.  But I'll see you very soon.