My toddler likes to direct me to read to him "On the Night you were born" which is a nice story; all about how special your child is. One of the pages stood out to me as it relates to Ares too in which the book says everyone knew of the one and only ever you.
This got me thinking because as my husband and I discuss getting another dog, the thought gives me the sharp reminder that it won't be Ares. There will only ever be one Ares. I can love our next dog so much, but it still won't be Ares. We will definitely get another German Shepherd but he still won't be Ares.
It's a tough thing to come to terms with because I miss Ares. I want him by my side. I feel like I am cheating on him a bit to even consider another dog. But, I miss the companionship. I just need to make sure I don't expect our next dog to be him. He cannot be replaced, ever.
On a side note - we previously had a shepherd/lab mix who was the craziest dog ever. I mean she gave Marley a run for the money but bringing her home I expected her to be as trainable and as smart as Ares (we thought she was 100% shepherd at that time). I made the mistake then of just expecting as much out of her. Though, I think expecting 1/4th of the intelligence wouldn't have been asking too much.
We had both dogs, Ares and Onyx, when our son was born but Onyx was an insecure dog who had a tough time getting along with other dogs (always) and didn't really adapt to being below our son in the hierarchy. She took to resource guarding him which didn't make me comfortable. Onyx now lives with our best friend's sister and lives like a queen. More on Onyx later.
Was it hard for you to get your next dog after saying goodbye to your heart dog?