My mom gave up on me

Jennifer Vanderau
Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter

(3/2025) I’m not really sure why. I know sometimes I had accidents in the house and a lot of nights I would get under her feet while she was trying to get the kids ready for bed, but…

I just missed her.

We used to hang out all the time and play and snuggle when Mom first brought me home. It was my favorite part of the day. She would come home and tell me about her day and we’d watch TV and it would be just us.

Sometimes we’d go out in the yard and play ball or she’d take me to the dog park and everything was really amazing.

Then she met Mark and she was so excited about getting married and Mark was really cool and seemed to like me a lot and that first year with Mark, Mom and me, it was everything I had heard a family could be.

Then the children came along – two boys and a girl – and I was really happy and wanted to share in the joy, but it seemed like all I ever did was get in the way.

So, Mom gave up on me.

I couldn’t seem to connect with her like I used to. She didn’t even want to snuggle on those rare moments when she got a chance to sit down at the end of the night. I knew there was a time when I could have made her feel better and given her a moment of respite. It was still there. I could feel it.

She just didn’t want it anymore and would push me away when I jumped up in her lap.

Maybe I had done something, but I really don’t know what.

Mom gave up on me.

She took me to the Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter and said she didn’t have time for me. She didn’t really even seem all that bothered by it.

I thought I meant more to her than that, but…

Mom gave up on me.

The people at the shelter were pretty upset that she did that to me. They say I’m a real nice dog and they can’t understand why someone would just surrender me to the shelter like that.

I’m not so sure either.

Maybe I should be mad. The animals in the kennels say it would make sense if I was angry. I could take it out on all the other people who try to be nice to me, but…

That’s just not me. The people at the shelter treat me so sweetly. They take me on walks and snuggle with me like Mom used to do.

I really don’t want to become something that I’m not just because Mom gave up on me.

I’m at the shelter for a few weeks when a man and a woman look at me in my kennel and for a second, I don’t even blink. There’s something in their eyes that gives me a warm feeling in my heart and shivers all along my legs.

They read about my story and take me into a bonding room and both of them just pet me for the longest time. I see sadness in their eyes, but also an odd sense of conviction.

The woman says, "We can give her what the other people didn’t."

I put my head on her knee. It’s the only way I have to say how much her words mean to me.

They adopt me the next day.

My mom gave up on me, but as I head home with these new people, something tells me that’s not going to happen again.

The first night, I’m allowed to sleep in their bed and they both make sure I’m comfortable and safe. I’m a little nervous because this is how it started out with Mom and I worry that maybe all relationships with humans don’t work out, but I just get the sense there’s something here. The three of us have a bond.

I make a vow that night to do everything I can to stay with them.

Over the years, the family grows – they have two boys and we play all the time. They show the boys how to treat me right and feed me and every moment, I am a part of this family. We all watch TV together at night. They take me on their vacations. I get to sit under the table at dinner time.

There’s never anything I’m left out of – except some of the turkey on Thanksgiving and chocolate on Valentine’s Day, no matter how much I try to beg, but they tell me that’s for my own good.

Eight years after I was adopted by my new Mom and Dad, I have a realization. I’m sitting in the sun room with the family and I’m watching a squirrel in the yard when I think about my other Mom and how she gave up on me.

I turn my head to look at Dad on his chair and he smiles at me.

Maybe my other Mom gave up on me so I could meet the family I was supposed to have. Yes, it hurt when I was left in a kennel, but with the help of the people at the shelter, I found a better place.

My mom gave up on me.

And I’m actually really glad that she did.

Jennifer Vanderau is the Publications and Promotions Consultant for the Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter and can be reached at cvascomm@cvas-pets.org. The shelter accepts both monetary and pet supply donations. For more information, call the shelter at 263-5791 or visit the website www.cvas-pets.org. CVAS also operates a thrift store in Chambersburg. Help support the animals at the shelter by donating to or shopping at the store.