i took my doggy to a rescue shelter last night, because he's much to aggressive/violent to keep in our home. they promised me they'd help him, only to call me later and tell me they cant help him and he will be euthanized.
seriously? how insensitive is that??? why couldnt they let me have peace of mind assuming he was helped and adopted? and if they KNEW they were going to euthanize him when i brought him in, why couldnt they do it then so he would have someone with him when he went?
it makes me feel worse that he went alone without his mama there by his side.
needless to say, i dont feel like talking today.
Pierce's Poopy
January 2, 2004-January 18, 2005
seriously? how insensitive is that??? why couldnt they let me have peace of mind assuming he was helped and adopted? and if they KNEW they were going to euthanize him when i brought him in, why couldnt they do it then so he would have someone with him when he went?
it makes me feel worse that he went alone without his mama there by his side.
needless to say, i dont feel like talking today.
Pierce's Poopy
January 2, 2004-January 18, 2005
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
I will reiterate. I'm in Min Pin rescue and have worked in shelters. By rescue I mean I invite in people's dumped problems ... so I have to say honestly, unequivocally and with no reservation, HELL YES I have dealt with a dog acting like that towards me. Again, I'm in rescue so it's becoming both my specialty and my scar.
Although unbelievable to many, I had a Dobe for 14 1/2 yrs and he left this world never having bitten me. I've been in rescue, transport, and fostering since 2000 and have lost a decent amount of blood due to munchkin butts, rarely due to the big guys.
My Min Pin Jake is a biter. He was dumped in Norther KY due to this. He was rescued by IMPS and I adopted him. He was one that would have had a hard time being adopted out since he was not very trustworthy. He had food aggression. This is not uncommon and can be dealt with, rarely cured.
What no one knew at the time his biting was due to failing eyesight. I didn't realize it either until a few instances of him not wanting to jump off the couch when the lights were off. The same when he wanted off my bed in the dark. He'd bark and bark, I'd grit my teeth and turn on the light and he'd hop down. In my mind I would think, "you little shit you wanted me to wake up for that." I knew better but I was half asleep.
Now, behaviours are not shown just to piss people off so I did research on night blindness. One predominant disfunction in many breeds is PDR (progressive retinal degeneration) so his biting was a result of failing eyesight.
My foster Chutes was a biter. He came from a home with children. Any sudden movements and he bites.
Winnie bites when surprised. It's a fear-based issue.
Many of the min pins that come into our program are biters. Also many of them are both child and men haters. We have a wonderful couple in our program and the husband turns them around ... most of the them. Men are usually louder with less patience. Dogs usually respond poorly to them and the same goes with kids.
Trust me when I say, when a dog is a biter it is usually a fear based issue. Some biting is considered a protest bite. When they protest you taking something from them let's say.
They see themselves as the boss and they try to prove it by biting, snarling, snapping etc. This again is a people problem, not a dog problem. Just like kids, they learn how they can train you. Certain breeds are good at it. Very good. You can put any Terrier atop the list.
Animals learn behaviours from pack leaders from the alpha dog and in this case that would be the upper family unit (you, boyfriend etc). You see in my home, I am the Alpha bitch. They tend to run the show but they know when I mean business. lol
It isn't uncommon that biting or other behaviour problems are cause by medical issue. I promise I won't go into all of them but let me give you an example.
My Bronson at age 5ish started displaying behaviour unlike himself. He was more nervous and upset by noises and movements. Had I been ignorant of his postures, I am quite certain he would have bitten me. Bronson was like a part of me so I could see there was a problem. I was pretty sure I didn't initiate this behaviour so I took him in for a complete blood workup.
Voila!!! He suffered from hyperthyroidism. Not an uncommon problem with a 5 yr old doberman. So I put him on the meds and although he had learn some fear based behaviours that I couldn't erase, his main problems were solved. His fear of thunder and loud noises stayed with him on some level until I let him ago last year (due to age/health) at 14 1/2 yrs old.
Also just a word of wisdom here. This comes from working in rescue and at shelters and relationships in general. When love says 'dump it' instead of 'let's figure this out,' think twice about 'love.' I'm not saying he's a bad person. I'm saying anyone who'd rather dump quickly than put time and effort finding the root problem ... just think long and hard about love. I hope you get what I'm saying. This is not something I'm trying to get you defensive about. I know I don't know him but trust me when I say .. I don't have to know him personally. I've met him more times than I care to remember.
When there is a problem either human or animal, the behaviour or problem is usually secondary. The primary problem is usually a socialization or 'in-home' issue or it can be medical. If medical you can sometimes cure the primary problem.
If socialization you can't contend with that issue, that time is long gone, you can only work on the secondary issues. If the problem exists 'in-home' then you retrain the 'in-home' problem and if they can't be retrained you dump it.
And yes, that does mean what you think it means. You may have dumped the wrong problem. In this case and many I've seen, the "dog problem" is secondary and the primary problem continues to exist ... an usually is fruitful and multiplies. Yet another good reason to neuter. Sorry that was uncalled for but I've been known to spout that for which is considered uncalled.
Since socialization initiates many behaviour problems, was your JRT a puppy when he came into your home?