Meet Juno & Okra. These are the four-legged fur babies we love and adore, and now we have to leave them behind. Going through the process of what we were going to do with them was emotionally difficult. However, it had to be part of the process.
Juno is a six year old rat terrier mix. We first rescued her in 2011 and she quickly became our little girl. She has lived with us since our first home, a condo in Oak Lawn, to now, our extended stay hotel. Along the way we entered her into the Cutest Dog in North Texas contest and she made it to the top 4 dogs. She officially became the cutest mutt in north Texas in our eyes. We tried getting another dog, but Juno liked having us all to herself. After a few years we decided a partner in crime was not in the cards for Juno, or so we thought…
Okra, the accidental partner in crime, was a dog from the streets. One Saturday, Kevin was driving home through the neighborhood and saw this dog running down the middle of the street just as happy as could be. After chasing her for three blocks and bribing her with he leftover crumbs from his blueberry muffin, he finally caught her. The moment Okra leaped through the door of our home and met Juno they were best of friends! Our chocolate brown Chiweenie, has now been part of the family for just over a year. It’s funny how the unexpected happenings in life become the happiest.
When looking at every decision we had to make when talking about traveling the world, we knew that the dogs would be one of the most difficult. At first we thought we would look into trying to take them with us. We knew they would want to see the world! Correction, Okra would want to see the world, Juno is a little scaredy-cat, but she would survive.
We found that taking our dogs with you around the world is almost impossible. A lot of countries will keep your dog in quarantine until they give them a clean bill of health. For example, in New Zealand you are required to have an import permit you have to get prior to arriving and our dogs would be quarantined for a minimum of ten days. Additionally, if we had a certain breed of dog, they would have been banned outright. Things like this would not only make our WTR travels much more difficult it would not be fair for Juno and Okra.
Aside from taking them with us, the solution that made most sense was finding them a new home. This was an important decision to make. First there are a number of factors we had to consider when narrowing down potential new homes for the dogs. We had to decide if we wanted them to stay with a friend, family or someone completely new. Fortunately, we both come from pet loving families, however, seeing if someone will keep your dogs for an indefinite amount of time is a lot to ask. In the end Kevin’s Dad and Step-Mom agreed to watch Juno and Okra. They already have two big outside dogs, two small inside dogs, and a cat. Two more dogs would not be too difficult. Kevin also has a teenage brother and sister who live there which would be great for the dogs. Specifically, Kevin’s brother is naturally drawn to animals and will be a protector of our dogs.
The hardest truth we had to come to terms with is the fact we may never get our dogs back. We are aware that over the course of a year, our family may become very attached to Juno and Okra and it would be wrong for us to come back and take them away.
At the end of the day, the most important thing is what is best for the dogs. We feel confident in knowing that they will be provided for and loved while we are gone. We will miss our girls very much but are excited to come back and tell them about our awesome adventures.
Juno and Okra are two en route to a new home.
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