A Sad Day

It's a sad day here in the Mootz household.  We are giving Brinlea to the Humane Society today.  We're are upset about it, but unfortunately, it is necessary.

Over the weeks she has become increasingly destructive and aggressive.  Lil Mootz is scared of her because of the number of times she's pushed him down.  She also "play" bites, but over the weeks those bites have gotten harder and harder.  We were concerned, but thought it was her puppyness coming out.  There were so many moments when she was loving and sweet and they seemed to more frequent.  We had an appointment yesterday to get her spayed and we hoped that would help calm her down a bit.

About an hour or so after dropping her off at the vet yesterday for her appointment, Stonewall got a call from the vet saying they wouldn't be able to spay her because she was so aggressive.  Apparently, when they were trying to get blood from her she repeatedly lunged at the vet and his assistant, growled and snapped at them.  They worked with her for about 40 minutes to try and calm her down and get her to relax, but she wouldn't let up.  They eventually called it quits.

We've been going to this vet for...oh gosh, I don't even know how many years.  I trust their judgment 150%.  When Pippy licked up antifreeze, they took her in immediately and got her squared away.  When Sarge was give about a 5% chance of living, they worked to figure out what was wrong with him and kept him for about two weeks to get him back up and running.  My parents have been taking their dogs their for as long as I can remember.  They've seen us through new puppies, random dog illnesses, old dogs, and even untimely puppy deaths.  The thought of taking my dogs anywhere else greatly upsets me.

Once they decided they wouldn't be able to spay Brinlea, the vet called Stonewall.  Stonewall spoke with them for quite a while, telling them about the problems we've been having with her over the past several week.  Several years ago the vet had the same breed in for spaying exhibiting the same aggressiveness as Brinlea.  The family decided to keep the dog.  Unfortunately, that dog turned on the family's daughter and caused serious injury.  The vet felt, based on her behavior in the vet's office and her behavior at home, that it wasn't a matter of if Brinlea goes off on one of us, but when.

I refuse to take that chance with Lil Mootz or Pippy.

We spent the afternoon yesterday calling rescues in PA, NY, and MD, trying to find one that would take Brinlea.

Here's where my rant begins...

If you are a rescue and you get your grant money and donations by posting on your site that you rehabilitate dogs INCLUDING aggressive dogs, then f**cking mean it!!  I can't tell you how disappointed I am in animal rescues right now.  I called so many rescues that claim they will not turn any dog away for any reason, including aggressiveness, only to be told, "Nope, we won't take her."

"But your site says you rehabilitate aggressive dogs.  And yet you won't take my dog."

"That's correct."

"So you're lying on your site then?"

"No..."

"But I have a dog showing signs of aggression.  You site says you rehabilitate aggressive dogs, but you won't take her. That sounds like lying to me."

"It's not lying."

"But you won't take her."

"No."

"Then you're lying."

"No, we're -" and then I hung up on them.

Our only option besides a rescue is euthanasia.  We're not satisfied with that option.

Rescues have this "No kill" stance, yet they refuse to help anyone that may have to go that route.  They're more than happy to say, "You're morally inferior to us because you'll put you're dog down."  Yet when asked, "Will you take her?" They say, "No."

Let me tell you something rescues... That does NOT make you better than me, better than pet shops, better than any dog owner that didn't "rescue" their dog.  No.  It's makes you liars.  Liars to all the people that donate to you because they think you help ALL dogs.  It makes you shameless.  Shameless because you have no problem turning down a puppy, that in the right environment and with the right help, could be a great dog, but then have the nerve to ask me, "Have you considered putting this dog down?" while flashing "No Kill" your website.

I'm angry at all of those rescues that I called and said that to me.

Okay... Calming down...

Stonewall eventually called the University of PA because they have a behavioral program for dogs.  After taking a test that all of their candidates take and talking to the director of the program, we learned that Brinlea is NOT aggressive.  She has fear anxiety.  In some ways that is better than being aggressive and in other ways that is worse.

It is better because she is not as dangerous as an aggressive dog.  Over time, a trainer/owner would be able to figure out her fears and there by control her anxiety.  It is worse because her major fear, separation, is one of the hardest fears to control in a dog.  It is very possible that even after years of working with a trainer, she will never lose that fear and will continue to be destructive.  And of course, in a dog you can't simply ask them, "What scares you?"  It is a trial by error process and we might think we have everything under control and then suddenly a new factor comes into play that brings out her fear.

*sigh*

It's a hard situation.

Well, after calling several rescues and being turned down we were starting to think we might have to go a route we didn't want to go.

Then we hit the jackpot.

Stonewall called a humane league in our area...a second time, actually.  The first time they said they wouldn't take her because we didn't live in their county.  He called them a second time to discuss the icky choice with them and also to talk to them about the test results from the behavioral dog school.  It turns out, they use the same test to determine if a dog is a dog they can adopt out.  After talking to Stonewall, they said that for a small donation they would take Brinlea and work with her and determine if she could be placed with another family.  If she couldn't be adopted out, they would decide the next move, but regardless, it was out of our hands at that point.

I sincerely hope she can placed with another family.  I have no doubt that in the right environment she could be a fabulous dog.  All she needs is time and proper training.  I feel strongly that the Humane League feels the same way, especially since they agreed to evaluate her after hearing the results of the test. 

I wish we could give her those things.  Like I said before though, I'm not willing to take a chance with Lil Mootz and Pippy.  My human child is far more important that any dog I could ever own.  If something happened to him that we could have prevented right now, I would never forgive myself.

So there you have it...

I realize that some people might judge us based on what they read in this post, especially since the subject of euthanasia came up.  To those people I say...

Then you take her.  Take my dog and prove that she can be trained to be an excellent dog.  Until you do that you have no right to judge us or our decisions from your moral high horse.