- Jan 25, 2008
- 3,832
- 43
- 221
I would appreciate some prayer for my dog and I.
It sounds silly, but I'll explain.
About a year ago, a friend of my mother's asks that I go "evaluate" some horses and suggest what should be done. Apparently, there was a local puppymill with over 100 dogs and 5 horses. The owners of this puppymill had left, just "left". Left every animal in it's pen to starve or dehydrate to death. A man, who knew nothing of dogs or horses, was trying his best to keep these animals alive, spending hundreds of dollars out of his pocket to feed everything.
The 5 horses, 2 standard sized and 3 minis, were emaciated. Only having been fed hay by the guy caring for them. I said we need to get them out of here, they are starving to death. By this point the owners had been gone for over 4 months. We brought our trailer the next day, to find the mini mare had died in the night. I had expected she would die within the week. She was skinny, missing an eye that had gone untreated, had foaled in the last two weeks(the colt died), and she was spinning in circles laying and rising, laying and rising, when we had showed up the night before. Now she lay sprawled in the middle of their 300' sandlot and the other horses were trying their best to step over her. Secretly, I was glad she had died in the night, she was so far gone that we would have only paid to have her euthanised later, money and a vetbill that could have gone towards the other survivors.
We grab the minis, who were quite friendly, load them up and send them off. I spend the time, lunging the remaining standard gelding. He was extremely skittish and his halter dangled by a single strap around his throat. Round and round we went, I was going to run him until he "gave up". Which he did, 2-3 hours later. *sigh* We cut his old halter off and fit him with a new one. And onto the trailer he goes. It's amazing how compliant a tired horse is.
Now to look at the dogs. I was determined to help place at least some of them. The local Humane Society had been contacted multiple times but had not taken action. I am a sucker for German Shepherds. And the first dog I see is this GORGEOUS male, who of course is barking and snarling, while lunging at the chainlink. I couldn't help but stop, crouch, and watch him. He retreating to growling from behind his delapidated pile of wood which probably resembled a doghouse at some time.
I make arrangements to take this male and another German Shepherd(a pregnant grump) home. We bring them home and carefully place them in their seperate chainlink runs. More barking and more growling. My mother had just bought her new place and we were in the living room watching TV. We had all the doors and windows open, airing out the house. We heard nails on the kitchen floor. I smile and say "Buddy-boy, are you suppose to be in the house?"(Buddy was a pittbull that we "inherited when we bought the house.) I am sitting on the hard wood floor and turn around to look over my shoulder expected to see the small bronze mangy pitt and I find myself face-to-face with the big black male GSD that was growling and "smiling" just the day before. I freeze, realizing I'm in a bad position to be dealing with an aggressive dog, sitting indian-style on the floor.
Turns out the dog is a HUGE baby and only wants to please. Bringing me Kongs, bricks, buckets, a tire(a vehicle tire, mind you), cement blocks, fence posts. Anything, he thinks that I would want. I fall in love with him even more. It had been love at first sight, since I first saw him at the mill, but I expected it to take months for him to realize it.
*sigh* Now the drama. He fights with my father's male GSD. Bad fights, Violent fights, throwing each other to the ground, two blurs of fur and teeth fights. Deep punctures and swollen limbs. I've seen spats between dogs and usually let them play their course, but these were going to end up with one or both dogs dead. Because it is my father's house, my dog had to go. I cried, knowing that because of Max's working behavior and high intensity, he couldn't just go to any home. He needed a home with an owner who knew how to deal with big working dogs.
So for the past year, I've been advertising this dog for adoption as a working dog. In the last couple of months, I recieved a promising email. I called and the situation was PERFECT. I cried because it was just what he needed. The only problem was transportation, as his new owner was out in New Mexico and Max was in North Carolina. His new owner was going to train him for narcotics and search and rescue. I was so happy for him. The deal fell through, the cop had some serious family matters come up and couldn't afford the flight or had the time for the dog. He was having to fly back and forth between NM and Washington to deal with this family issue. Ugh, all that hard work and hoping, talk about getting your hopes up! It was aweful. I know I've cried more over my dog than any other issue.
My dad approached me today and said that the dog needs to be moved in the next few weeks. That I need to consider rescues, the animal shelter, or even euthanasia...
So please, if you will, just say a little prayer that I can find a home for this GREAT dog in the next few weeks. Life has already been cruel to him, starving to death among a hundred other dogs on a concrete pad without shade in the summer heat.. He is such a great dog with so much potential to be a drug or bomb dog, search and rescue, or even a bite dog.
I just needed to vent, this has been one of the most frustrating things I have had to deal with.
-Kim
It sounds silly, but I'll explain.
About a year ago, a friend of my mother's asks that I go "evaluate" some horses and suggest what should be done. Apparently, there was a local puppymill with over 100 dogs and 5 horses. The owners of this puppymill had left, just "left". Left every animal in it's pen to starve or dehydrate to death. A man, who knew nothing of dogs or horses, was trying his best to keep these animals alive, spending hundreds of dollars out of his pocket to feed everything.
The 5 horses, 2 standard sized and 3 minis, were emaciated. Only having been fed hay by the guy caring for them. I said we need to get them out of here, they are starving to death. By this point the owners had been gone for over 4 months. We brought our trailer the next day, to find the mini mare had died in the night. I had expected she would die within the week. She was skinny, missing an eye that had gone untreated, had foaled in the last two weeks(the colt died), and she was spinning in circles laying and rising, laying and rising, when we had showed up the night before. Now she lay sprawled in the middle of their 300' sandlot and the other horses were trying their best to step over her. Secretly, I was glad she had died in the night, she was so far gone that we would have only paid to have her euthanised later, money and a vetbill that could have gone towards the other survivors.
We grab the minis, who were quite friendly, load them up and send them off. I spend the time, lunging the remaining standard gelding. He was extremely skittish and his halter dangled by a single strap around his throat. Round and round we went, I was going to run him until he "gave up". Which he did, 2-3 hours later. *sigh* We cut his old halter off and fit him with a new one. And onto the trailer he goes. It's amazing how compliant a tired horse is.
Now to look at the dogs. I was determined to help place at least some of them. The local Humane Society had been contacted multiple times but had not taken action. I am a sucker for German Shepherds. And the first dog I see is this GORGEOUS male, who of course is barking and snarling, while lunging at the chainlink. I couldn't help but stop, crouch, and watch him. He retreating to growling from behind his delapidated pile of wood which probably resembled a doghouse at some time.
I make arrangements to take this male and another German Shepherd(a pregnant grump) home. We bring them home and carefully place them in their seperate chainlink runs. More barking and more growling. My mother had just bought her new place and we were in the living room watching TV. We had all the doors and windows open, airing out the house. We heard nails on the kitchen floor. I smile and say "Buddy-boy, are you suppose to be in the house?"(Buddy was a pittbull that we "inherited when we bought the house.) I am sitting on the hard wood floor and turn around to look over my shoulder expected to see the small bronze mangy pitt and I find myself face-to-face with the big black male GSD that was growling and "smiling" just the day before. I freeze, realizing I'm in a bad position to be dealing with an aggressive dog, sitting indian-style on the floor.
Turns out the dog is a HUGE baby and only wants to please. Bringing me Kongs, bricks, buckets, a tire(a vehicle tire, mind you), cement blocks, fence posts. Anything, he thinks that I would want. I fall in love with him even more. It had been love at first sight, since I first saw him at the mill, but I expected it to take months for him to realize it.
*sigh* Now the drama. He fights with my father's male GSD. Bad fights, Violent fights, throwing each other to the ground, two blurs of fur and teeth fights. Deep punctures and swollen limbs. I've seen spats between dogs and usually let them play their course, but these were going to end up with one or both dogs dead. Because it is my father's house, my dog had to go. I cried, knowing that because of Max's working behavior and high intensity, he couldn't just go to any home. He needed a home with an owner who knew how to deal with big working dogs.
So for the past year, I've been advertising this dog for adoption as a working dog. In the last couple of months, I recieved a promising email. I called and the situation was PERFECT. I cried because it was just what he needed. The only problem was transportation, as his new owner was out in New Mexico and Max was in North Carolina. His new owner was going to train him for narcotics and search and rescue. I was so happy for him. The deal fell through, the cop had some serious family matters come up and couldn't afford the flight or had the time for the dog. He was having to fly back and forth between NM and Washington to deal with this family issue. Ugh, all that hard work and hoping, talk about getting your hopes up! It was aweful. I know I've cried more over my dog than any other issue.
My dad approached me today and said that the dog needs to be moved in the next few weeks. That I need to consider rescues, the animal shelter, or even euthanasia...
So please, if you will, just say a little prayer that I can find a home for this GREAT dog in the next few weeks. Life has already been cruel to him, starving to death among a hundred other dogs on a concrete pad without shade in the summer heat.. He is such a great dog with so much potential to be a drug or bomb dog, search and rescue, or even a bite dog.
I just needed to vent, this has been one of the most frustrating things I have had to deal with.
-Kim
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