You are a dog, which meant dog poop, pee, vomit, hair, stink, and muddy pawprints. Did these chores actually teach our little ones about responsibility? Perhaps not.
But you were family, which meant rainy runs, epic hikes, yummy shared ice cream cones, patient waits outside the school for kids to get out, and endless cuddles. Did these experiences teach us all a little more about love? Definitely.
One of Jen & my favorite wind-down routines is our evening readathon with Patsy.
I’m currently finishing off book 2 of the “Deadly Education” books – basically Harry Potter meets Ender’s Game, with teenager drama turned up to 11. They’ve been a fun, eye-rolling diversion. Jen’s reading The Years of Rice and Salt, one of my favorite works of all time (I basically begged her to read it). It’s a visionary story, beautifully written, with keen insights into the human condition.
So after the kids are in bed, we brew up some tea (rooibos, sleepytime, or tension tamer), turn on a “fantasy reading music” Spotify mix, and sit side by side to read with Patsy sprawled across both our laps. Or we sit feet to feet, with Patsy nestled in between our ankles and knees. Patsy lets out long sighs, or nudges us for more scratches, or stretches out in every direction like only a lounging dog can.
Patsy, we’re sorry we can’t take you with us on our journey in the Foreign Service! The travel and uncertainty would be too hard on you. There are too many risks to a four-legged family member. We have found you another family who will continue to love you the way you deserve. We wish you many joyful dog-years together, full of adventures, and catching bits of cheese in midair, and generous scratches under your chin. We will always be grateful for our time together.
Are you considering taking a pet with you into the Foreign Service?
Lots of people do it! The Foreign Service clearly understands that pets are family, and as they strive to take care of families, their consideration extends to pets. It makes sense – as we’ve been prepping our house to rent, the mgmt company strongly recommends that we allow pets, because most renters are pet owners, and pet-owning renters tend to stay put longer. In other words, being pet-friendly is good for business. I imagine the same applies to the FS: a pet-friendly service has a bigger pool of potential candidates, and those people can draw emotional support from their pets, making the difficulties a little more bearable.
However, as we researched the topic, it became clear that bringing a pet with you is an *enormous* hurdle. Transporting a pet around the world is expensive, hard on the pet (or potentially dangerous for them!), a logistical nightmare, and introduces a lot of uncertainty. Some countries require lengthy quarantines for animals brought through their borders. It can take months of vet visits and bundles of forms, and the requirements change frequently.
We don’t yet know where we’re going, so we don’t know if it’s going to be someplace that’s good for Patsy. What’s more – we can’t predict how hard it will be on her to get there. In our minds there is the potential that she’ll be stuck in a cage, loaded from cargo hold to cargo hold, as we make connecting flights to a dog-unfriendly city in who-knows-where… and then she’ll have to quarantine for 3 months, just to finally be stuck inside because it’s 110° and there are no dog parks or running trails. In short, we can’t control enough of the experience to make sure it’s good for her.
Lots of FS families take their pets with them, and we’ve come across families who had EZPZ experiences, and families who have had nightmare scenarios. Being newbies to this lifestyle ourselves, we decided that the best way to look out for Patsy’s health and happiness was to rehome her.
However, if you hope to take a pet with you into the Foreign Service, rest assured that it’s (somewhat) doable, and there are lots of helps put out by the Overseas Briefing Center. Good luck!
UPDATE: Great article from State Mag here: