ceibasmom,
I completely understand what you are going through!! While we were living at my mom's house, my hubby and I brought home a puppy for her...We actually wanted him for us, but there was no way that we could bring another dog to her house. And we wanted the pup to go to a good home, so we gave him to my mom...
Well, my mom was out of town for two weeks, and wasn't there when we brought her dog home. So we got to bond with him for those two weeks. He and Miko became best friends!! Completely inseparable. I would even take him with us whenever we went to my hubby's parents house to visit. We fed him, bathed him, and he slept with us half the time.
But my mom was totally in love with him!! He was exactly what she wanted. She had told me awhile back that she either wanted a maltese or a shih-tzu, and it just so happened that this little baby came from a home that could not take care of him, and he was a maltese/shih-tzu mix(the people were not breeders, they had purchased him for their kids and it didn't work out).
Anyway, 6 months later, my hubby and I purchased our new home and it was time to move...I wanted so badly to take him with us...I cried for weeks thinking about how we would have to leave him.
I mean, he looooved my mom, but he loooooved us so much too. That was the hardest thing in the world! But it was my mom's dog. I offered to get her another dog, but this is the little guy that had stolen her heart. And I dug deep in my heart and realized that I needed to let him go...It was such a hard thing for me. I even tried to get a different dog for her and told her that if she ever couldn't take care of him, that we would take him no matter what. Never to hesitate. I still think about him, but we get to have playdates now!
Just recently my mom was moving into a new place, and he got to stay with us for 2-3 weeks!! My mom missed him soooo much, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to watch him while she was getting everything organized. And I take every opportunity I can to watch him for her
After we moved, it took me a whole month to be able to go back and see him because I just knew my heart would be broken. But when I went back there, I could tell how happy he was with my mom
And that made everything okay.