I have an amazing little dachshund mix named Griffin who I love more than anything. He is 3 now and I raised him since he was 8 weeks old. I have a friend who volunteers with a rescue organization and just last week she called me and asked me to foster a dog for a week. The dog was very scared and if I didn't take her in she would have spent the week at the shelter in a cage. My friend thought to ask me because the dog is also a dachshund mix (although she is bigger than my dog). It was a last minute thing and I said yes. For the first couple of days, the dog wouldn't even come near me because she was so afraid. By the middle of the week, she warmed up and she was so affectionate and wanted to be on my lap every chance she could. She and my dog played together occasionally and she showed absolutely no signs of aggression. She does have her issues though. She is not housebroken (she is about 1 year old), she jumps a lot, and has some major separation anxiety problems (probably from being abandoned). So, I started thinking maybe I wanted to keep her. I agonized over whether to keep her or not for days. I didn't want to keep her because I thought she was coming between me and my dog. She always had to sit next to me on the couch and my dog would stand there and look at me with sad eyes. She hogs attention and it hurt me to see my little doggie jealous. I felt like I wasn't ever going to be able to love her the way that I love my dog and that that wasn't fair to her. I felt like I love my dog too much to let anyone else in. I also feel like I don't have the time to work with her on her bad behaviors right now. I am finishing up my graduate school program in the next couple months and I am super busy. One night, when I was crying it out over what to do, she came over to comfort me. I pushed her away and picked up my dog. I wanted him to comfort me, not her and that's when I decided it was best for her to find a permanent home. She was up for adoption for less than 3 hours before being adopted. I thought I was going to be happy, but I was very sad. I missed her. I don't think I regretted not keeping her although I wondered what might have been if I'd kept her. I was just sad I wasn't going to see her again. I cried for 2 days and by day 3 I was starting to feel better. Finally starting to listen to all my friends and family saying "you did such a great thing for that dog, she was blessed that you were there to take her in during her time of need, that I was a great foster parent. I started to feel better about my role of fostering her and making her adoptable. On the evening of day 3 (today), my friend called me to tell me that the dog's new family has decided not to keep her. I couldn't believe this. I didn't know what to feel. I want her and don't want her all at the same time. Things had just started to be normal again. But maybe it's a sign. I don't want to have any regrets. I don't know why this dog is causing me so much pain. Part of me wants the whole situation to just go away and tell me friend I don't want to be involved anymore, I don't want to foster her, and I don't want to keep her. The other part longs to pet her again and look in her eyes and let her know it's ok. But, I'm not so sure I want to keep her. Again, my dog means the world to me and I don't want anything to change the relationship that we have together. I just don't know what to do. Please help.

Don't take the dog if you don't want her. She deserves to be loved for her own sake.

Don't not take her because you think you have to love her the same as your current dog. You will love each differently. That's not a bad thing, that's just the way love is.

The fact that you were emotional over losing the dog tells me that you have enough room in your heart for both dogs.

Emotion aside, can you financially afford the extra dog? Do you have the time to give to the extra dog? As you said, the dog has "issues" that will require time and probably money to address--can you realistically meet those needs?

I decided it was just best to not have another dog at this time. It's been a couple weeks now and I still miss the dog, but I do not regret my decision not to keep her and I am confident she will find a good home. Thanks for listening.