Young House Love

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Broken Up About My Broken Ceramic Dog

All The King’s Horses and all the king’s men, couldn’t put my faceless ceramic pooch together again.

Broken Dog1

Well, maybe they could, but they weren’t around. So I tried to do it myself, using only a mother’s love (and some super glue).

Broken Dog 2

And because I’m a freak about fumes I did it on the back patio while Clara was napping (baby monitor in hand).

Broken Dog 3

Broken Dog4

Pretty much immediately things got wonky.

Broken Dog 5

Broken Dog 6

Broken Dog7

Broken Dog 8

Womp-womp. Nothing matched up and it looked all crazy and jagged.

Broken Dog10

I think the fact that some shards were just too small to keep & reglue threw everything off. And somehow there was a huge chunk from the top of my beloved pup’s head that was mysteriously gone. I suppose I could try to use plaster or putty to fill things in and attempt to smooth things out and then spray paint the whole thing. Or I could shatter the rest of his face in the hopes of creating a headless lamp/umbrella stand/planter etc (you guys had awesome suggestions for us when we revealed the tragedy here), but I think my ceramic animal love hinges on the face. It’s the cutest part, so without it he’s just not as sweet and charming. Kind of like people I guess. Heads are important to me, what can I say.

Anyway, I’m happy I gave it the old college try and surprisingly at peace about the whole thing. Maybe a giant ceramic dog in the hallway wouldn’t have been the best idea when Clara starts toddling around anyway. I think I’m – dare I say it – ready to let go of my much loved ceramic pooch. Like how Rose says she’ll never let go in Titanic but then immediately lets go of hottie Leo and he sinks to the bottom of the sea (skip to 3 minutes).

Besides, not to be insensitive, but I do still have my gorgeous concrete greyhound to fill the void…

Comments

  1. Ruth C. says

    Would you be interested in replacing him? Bellacor.com has a white resin dog statue for $72. I know it’s not as good of a deal from when you got it at home goods…. So sorry for your loss.

    Reply

  3. Jessica says

    This reminds me of “A Christmas Story,” when the dad tries to glue his beloved leg-lamp back together. I hope you give him a proper burial!

    Reply

  4. Tonya says

    The greyhound’s face kind of looks like Meryl Streep’s face at the end of the movie Death Becomes Her!

    Reply

  5. Joy says

    Good try – and you are right, keeping Clara safe from something (even something so lovely) when she is at the grabbing and holding on before walking all over stage … good call.
    – Joy

    Reply

  7. Jen says

    We often mention that scene at our house… with our own variations:
    “Don’t let go of the chifferobe, Jack!” “Get off my chifferobe, Jack!” Or “Climb on my chifferobe with me, Jack!”

    It’s odd because neither of us were particularly in love with the movie. And I don’t know how we decided she was floating on a chifferobe… except that it’s a fun word to say.

    Reply

  9. Amz says

    Sherry-beth *maiden name* Petersik!! We do not bring up Titanic death scenes! Ever! Especially ones that make you yell at Rose for not sharing her door raft!!!
    Now that I’m done with the exclamation marks, I’m sorry for your loss, he’s in a better place now….erm….figuratively.

    Reply

  10. Kim says

    This is random, but does anyone know what kind of dog he was? Our recently adopted rescue puppy looks just like your dearly departed ceramic canine. No one really understands when I say “she looks just like Sherry’s ceramic dog on Young House Love!”

    Reply

  11. Manda says

    Maybe a picture of the poor guy could be included on the photo walls! It’d be a little inside joke.

    Reply

  12. Kelly says

    I think I saw a ceramic white greyhound at the Marshalls home store in The Woodlands, TX last weekend. I saw it and thought of you! Unfortunately, I’m back in VA now. Perhaps if any readers are in that area they could scope it out for you :) Sorry for your loss! :)

    Reply

  14. Lianne says

    Oh so sorry for your loss….
    I think you should keep a few of the shards and put them in a shadow box for your gallery wall!!! (sorry if this was already suggested)
    Love you guys!

    Reply

  15. Cathy S says

    Ha, actually saw one of these dogs at my TJMaxx (in Louisville, KY) today… I imagine he is smaller than yours, and sadly already had a head wound… but I still thought about rescuing him just for the heck of it. LOL!

    Sorry you couldn’t get your’s all back together :(

    Reply

  16. My Beautiful Life says

    Oh my goodness. I burst out laughing, and laughed as I scrolled through the pics. For a sec I thought it was a dark scene from Edward Scissorhand, but when I realized it was titanic I laughed even harder. I love you guys so much. If you are ever in Indy, Paella night on me. (Just give me plenty of time to straighten up!)

    Oh, and the first person who commented-that comment was awesome. I thought the same thing.

    Reply

  17. BarbaraB says

    RIP dear dog. You served your mistress well.

    Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
    When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

    All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.

    They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

    You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together….

    ~ author unknown

    Reply

  19. shannon says

    Aw, sad! If you have a little garden spot in your backyard you could tuck him in, you could face his not-so-good side away from your view and enjoy him as a non-tacky backyard ceramic pet. Just a thought… :)

    Reply

  20. Sharon says

    My regrets on the loss of your beloved ceramic dog. Too bad I don’t live nearby. I’m an expert at repairing all things broken ceramic. I used to do gymnastics in my parent’s teeny-tiny living room and broke several of my mom’s beautiful vases (one from Paris-yikes). Elmer’s glue is the secret. It doesn’t dry too quickly so you can move thing around and line them up so it stays smooth. My mom couldn’t even tell until she went to put water in the vases and wondered why they wouldn’t hold water? I even fixed a statue of Venus that my ex-husband broke (he blamed it on our then 18 month old daughter, uh hum). It has great sentimental value since my sister bought it for me when we left Italy -where we lived for three fantastic years. She’s almost as good as new!

    Reply

  21. Candice says

    When Rose said she’d never let go she meant in her heart! Right? I always thought they could have both fit on that door or whatever it was. That’s Hollywood though!

    On the subject of your poor broken doggie, I had a ceramic Santa decoration at work and my boss (who is like a bull in a china shop) knocked it off my desk and it broke into about five large pieces, 4 small pieces and a bunch of bits. I tried to put it back together again and it looked worse than your dog after it was glued back together. I had a big chunk of Santa’s head missing. I gave up and threw it away. Poor Santa. He was very modern and from Pier I.

    Reply

  23. Kim @ Life Analytical says

    This it totally not the kind of thing I should share(I’m not some creepy animal torturer, I swear! I currently share my home with two rabbits, four ferrets, a foster rabbit, two hermit crabs, and an assortment of ceramic friends) but I couldn’t help but think of it when I read your post..

    I used to work for an animal shelter. When an animal had bitten someone or was suspected to be rabid, they were euthanized and their tissue was sent for rabies testing. How was that done? A vet tech sawed off their head. Sawed. Off. Their. Head. Then it was put in a box and driven to the appropriate agency.

    I’m a pretty tough person, but of course I still didn’t like seeing animals I had taken care of no longer living. Oddly enough, it’s SO much less creepy when they had no head, because then they didn’t have a face.

    Reply

  24. Carol N. says

    A moment of silence for your loss…

    The comments about the eye patch and top hat have me laughing though! You cold do a monocle with the top hat and prop up a cane next to him and he would be a proper British greyhound then!

    and p.s. I’m one of the only people who has never seen “Titanic” and I really don’t feel any loss over that.

    Reply

  25. alg says

    Update: My daughter Sonia (the 3-year-old who was so upset over the broken doggie) is really impressed with your repair efforts. She said to tell you “Good job you guys!”
    So, even if he’s destined for the bin, your rescue attempt made a sensitive little girl quite happy… in her opinion, he’s as good as new :)

    Reply

  27. Kyle says

    I FOUND ONE AT HOME GOODS IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA!!!! (Are you in the market for a replacement?) Sorry if this was answered; I was so excited I didn’t take the time to read the rest….

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We’ve heard they’re at HomeGoods from time to time so we’re keeping one eye out (the other eye is convinced it’s not a good idea for soon-to-be-walking Clara). We’ll have to see where we end up!

      xo,
      s

  28. Donna says

    Wish I had thought of this at the time of the accident, but I think Martha’s Mixture in Carytown specializes in putting fragile ceramic things back together.

    Save him for Halloween!

    Reply

  29. Kirsten says

    Pier 1 has a ceramic dog kind of like yours right now (he’s got an aqua crackle glaze to him). He’s really cute. He’s $69, though. I almost bought him, but then I knew that every time I looked at him I would feel like I was shamelessly copying you guys. So I resisted.

    Reply

  30. Charlotte says

    I’ve just discovered your blog and I am totally fixated on it (found you guys in The Washington Post–I’m a DC native, love that John used to deliver it!). We are about to move from a 511-sf rental apartment (“we” are my husband and our active toddler, so more space is a must) to a 1475-sf 3-BR coop, and I’m very inspired by your patient, budget-friendly approach to making a house a home. We’re definitely going to be knocking around that giant place with our few sticks of furniture for a while!
    I love that you guys focus on the environmental impact of your choices, and that you’re living very comfortably in a relatively small space (for American house standards). I thought you guys would get a kick out of this video that a friend just shared–check out how organized and awesome this TINY (90-sf) Manhattan apartment is!

    Reply

  32. LauraC says

    Totally been there, tried that with the super glue. What is it with things that fit perfectly, seamlessly together on trial patching, then absolutely do NOT fit once superglued?! And that super glue-ing experience I had? Frantically trying to patch a 12 in ceramic German Shepherd piggy bank that was my husband’s growing up. Not joking. Got it decently back together, but it was so frustrating to have things just. not. quite. fit. when they were so close!

    P.S. Never seen Titanic here. Yup, at least two of us exist, as my husband hasn’t seen it either. Now it has become a point of pride that we haven’t seen it. But probably, eventually, I’ll give in to curiosity. It came out my first year teaching. My 6th grade girls went NUTS. So of course I wasn’t interested!

    Reply

  33. eileen marie says

    I appreciate the creativity of a headless pooch, but cuh-reee-pee! You know we are all keeping our eyes peeled for a replacement for you, right?
    This reminds me of the death of one of my favorite lamps breaking. We awoke in the middle of the night to the loudest “CRASH!” -the dogs go crazy, & we immediately think -intruder! So my husband checks things out, and I uncouthly annouce, “Is it an intruder?!” And my husband says, “NO, NO! Go back to bed RIGHT NOW -IT’S WORSE!” Yes, that is how much I loved that lamp -I would rather have an intruder than have it break. In a cruel & ironic twist, it was one of my husband’s nerdy, but rare Sandman bookends (with these creepy wizard-looking guys on them)-that I tracked down and paid an arm & a leg for- that fell off the shelf above the lamp and killed it. And the wizard (or Sandman or whatever he is)? Yeah -we superglued his hand back on, he’s back on his perch doing just fine. I knew that damn thing had it in for me!
    So…if anyone has a Crate & Barrel gumdrop lamp in Merlot (oddly enough, a bright cherry red), I would love to buy it -even w/o the shade!)

    Reply

  34. Liz A. says

    I think that you can spin the missing-face thing into something you can say was intentional…if you look at every ancient Greek and Roman museum, most of the artifacts have missing pieces. HEY, how ’bout that big ol Venus di Milo? Let people think you dug up Fido out of the back yard, like the rest of ancient things…probably that wont work, since we are all talking about it, and have witnessed the demise of ol’ rover… rest in pieces…

    Reply

  36. pamMN says

    So sad that he couldn’t be put back together again. :^(
    I think you should attempt a plaster of paris model of Burger. He’s so cute and deserves a statue in his honor. Dontcha think? ;^) Ah, on second thought, it would probably just confuse the little guy.

    Reply

  38. Carly says

    My mom, sister and I have a running joke (so going on 14 years now) that Jack could have made it…there was totally room on that door. ;)

    Reply

  40. Ruth Ann says

    I was thinking that all is not lost on your pooch. You could somehow fill the whole and then spray paint the whole thing with some kind of textured paint or something and put it out in your garden. A lot better than a gnome wouldn’t you say??

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, this is true. I think I’d rather remember him in his glossy smooth flawless glory than keep trying to hang onto him as anything “less than.” You know, you gotta honor the memory of a good old ceramic pup. It’s my duty as a loving mom to let him go and encourage him to find that rainbow bridge in the sky…

      xo,
      s

  42. Carol-Anne: Use the Good Dishes! says

    I love how you always try to anticipate which things you’ll say to trigger ‘negligent parent’ comments by saying things like: ‘with baby monitor’. You’re obviously great parents and not even remotely negigent, so I can’t imagine people say that stuff…but maybe I’m naive?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, that was actually a reference to a picture from this post. I find it funny that I’m this weird lady who’s always outside with all of these technological devices (two phones and a baby monitor) “just in case.” Haha.

      xo,
      s

    • YoungHouseLove says

      He was $29 at HomeGoods around 3 years ago. But we hear that people are spotting similar ones at HomeGoods now so we’ll have to see what we find…

      xo,
      s

  45. chelsea says

    Have you ever read Anne of Green Gables? She inherits two ceramic (I believe they were ceramic) dogs named Gog and Magog that stand watch on either side of her fireplace for many many years. Not that that helps yall at all, it just made me remember the book.

    Reply

  46. Alice says

    So sorry for the loss of your ceramic friend! I had an intricately-carved small stone elephant that did not fare well during his trip home from India. My father super-glued the larger pieces back together and proudly propped him in the corner of their living room hutch, but I still can’t quite get past the fact that half of the elephant is missing…

    Reply

  47. sandra says

    I can’t get over how much everyone else is upset about not saving this guy…and how sweet they are about it! It does seem like S and J will be able to find another (I hope so, too) the more we look, the more we keep finding them! And they are sooooo $$$$! Makes Sherry’s deal seem even sweeter!

    Reply

  48. Ange says

    I’m reading this on the fly, so haven’t had a chance to catch all the comments, but Sherry if you find you just can’t let go – look into some ceramic repair places. They will fix things like broken handles from antique tea sets, so maybe they do beloved ceramic animals. couldn’t hurt to get a price right..he is still out there, waiting…? They are proper artisans, not just glue & go guys, BTW.

    Reply

  50. Pam Heggie says

    Why don’t you just modge podge over the whole thing with classified ads or newspaper articles or comic strips or a cool color of tissue paper or something?? :o) then he’d be a cool modge podge dog!! but vintage looking now!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I think I just loved how smooth and handsome he once was and would rather remember him that way. Like young cute Leo on the bottom of the sea…

      xo,
      s

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