rescue dogs, so far too much trouble to deal with
- Thread starter Stoner4Life
- Start date
a little Scooby/Alice update. Alice goes in for a shearing next week, there's enough fur on her for me to make a warm vest.
Alice could have her choice of pillows but Scooby's butt works best.
neat thing about Scooby is that she smiles, she can be in the middle of some scratches and have her usual look on her face and then when you look over to her face again her eyes have squinted and the back of her lips have turned way way up.
several friends have noticed the same & suggested it to me as if I hadn't already noticed, a very comical dog.......
dogs smile with their eyes, and see straight through yours..
nice bitches to share a bed with!
nice bitches to share a bed with!
G
greenmatter
the look on her face and her ears say " do i hear bubbles?"
i'm pretty sure she gets her share of second hand smoke
maybe she is catching a contact buzz but I never blow any smoke her way, she's certainly seems to have a never ending case of the munchies. if I even think of giving them a biscuit she knows before I say a word.
it's snuggle time.......
so tonight Scooby was needing her snuggles but wouldn't settle down once I lay down in bed, she kept looking up/picking her head up in an anxious kinda way, finally it dawned on me that she was missing Alice (resting on the floor) who usually takes up a position snuggling on Scooby's thigh.
I talked to Scooby for a minute or so before asking if she wanted Alice to load up in bed, as soon as I mentioned Alice her tail started pounding the bed furiously; once Alice joined us she let out a sigh of contentment, settled right down and fell asleep.
sorta cute to see pack mentality in little Scooby, she generally has a very independent streak in her ways.
honeybooboo
Member
Kudos to you Stoner and everyone who rescues a dog from a shelter.
My next dog is coming from a shelter.
My next dog is coming from a shelter.
funny you'd put it that way, Scooby dreams every day/night and too often while she's dreaming she's barking in an aggressive way, she doesn't bark normally (only twice at the door) and so I'm wondering what memories haunt her so much.
when she goes into her sleep-barking routine I go over to the bed and gently wake her up telling her everything's OK.
but yeah, she's on easy street now.......
just woke her from another ferocious dream sequence, I wonder what her previous life was like, she's not scarred up so she never really fought, even a handful of street fights would have shown some wounds.
I need rescuing. as much as I love her I can't allow her to attack Alice even one more time, btw in this case 5 was the limit.
first 2 times were forgivable squabbles over meaty bones, understandable and since fight #2 neither has gotten a meaty bone again, such is life; I figured it was simple to eliminate the catalyst.
the last 3 times are unforgivable as Alice has done NOTHING to elicit the attacks put on her. Alice has been bloodied, punctured & injured but thankfully not in tonights attack.
previous to tonight the last attack was in June, at that point I put my foot down and made sure that Scooby knew that Alice was mine. I took possession of Alice by scolding Scooby away from Ali every time she got near her for a solid week, I diminished my intensity gradually after that, it seemed to work.
She has attacked Alice all 3 (non-bone) times as they were lying peacefully in bed, tonight Alice hopped up on the bed and as she lay down next to Scooby she was attacked. The time before they were both laying still in bed & in my line of sight when Scooby jumped up and attacked her, neither dog was moving until Scooby made her move. How the fuck can I possibly guard against that?
I have not left Scooby & Alice alone without one or the other being kenneled securely, not ever once since getting Scooby. When I need to step outside for even a minute or two it's kennel time for whichever dog is closest to it, a nice big carpeted kennel.
there is now no doubt in my mind that if I were not around some time and I left the dogs un-kenneled that I'd walk back in to find Alice dead. I can't live this way, living in suspense for the next 6-7-8 months until there's another attack.
Scooby has lost her lease here in my home. I've told you all about the good times & fun we've had because I believed in Scooby & I loved her with all my heart, to be perfectly honest I feel betrayed and bewildered by her behavior. Aside from perhaps scolding her when it happens how do I work on a bad behavior trait if it's only going to manifest itself 2 times a year? it's a trait that could cost my old timer her life.
Alice is 10 years old this week.
Scooby's always had nightmare dreams as I just wrote about above, not dreams with some woofing & running, no, it always sounds like real scary shit going on. I wake her gently every time talking to her softly & making sure she wakes enough to break the dream sequence so it doesn't start again when she puts her head back down.
to be perfectly honest I've never completely trusted Scooby as she lies down in bed with me. I base that opinion on many decades of canine companionship and being able to read my dogs behavior. Scooby has gained a lot of confidence but is lacking in her actual comfort level, she seems to be on edge constantly and in anticipation of I don't know what. I see it when she's reluctant to obey simple commands that she's familiar with, her posture or body language, she averts her eyes from mine in defiance.
I can't tolerate dissension w/even simple commands because it only fosters the same behavior exponentially and perhaps in times when it's imperative to obey or perilous for her not to. My front yard is the ditch on a state highway, I can easily underhand a stone from my front door onto the center line of the 55mph roadway. No! means no the very first time in my world, the phrase 'it's my way or the highway' has an ominous meaning @ my home.
Scooby has been leash walked by me even in my great pain every day 6 times a day because we were working on trust before she could be unleashed near the highway, 9 months and she never got her chance. No! would never mean no if we weren't tethered.
Alice is so forgiving, this pic is exactly 2 hours after tonight's attack, btw, that's guilt written all over Scooby's face, she wouldn't meet my eyes for over an hour. Aside from kenneling Scooby after separating them I didn't even scold her, the guilt she suffered is from knowing herself that she fucked up bad.
my own health needs surpass those of Scooby Doo, the risk and anxieties of owning her far outweigh any benefit Alice or myself can glean from the relationship, I tried and tried hard. Most of you know I suffer from back, leg & nerve pain due to severe arthritis of the spine, peace in my life is of utmost importance or I can never begin to heal, if I don't/can't heal then my condition can only deteriorate as everyone's condition is naturally compelled to move one way or the other.
tonight her behavior is quite submissive, again, I never even scolded her aside from yelling at her to stop the attack. it's 6 hours later and she knows she screwed up.
I'm broken hearted but not ashamed to say it's over.
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G
greenmatter
no magic words here brother S......... we all know how much you care about your dogs
take care of yourself
take care of yourself
thanks gm, I've been crying an awful lot over this. my post above might sound cold or detached but it took me over 3 hours to compose between the tears. I feel like I failed Scooby somehow. We have a very very mellow household and as mentioned being up in bed (no food ~ no bones) there is no reason for what's happened. You all have seen the pics of the 2 of them in bed, two peas in a pod 99.99% of the time, but that 0.01% is the trouble, can't be predicted or risked.
since before June when I'd realized that Scooby would attack Alice for no reason I had this troublesome thought, if I had a heart attack or stroke (I've already suffered both) and died or lay incapacitated then Scooby would suddenly be the alpha dog w/no one to keep her in check, she would take Alice out in a heartbeat.
it's not a mean streak it's just in her nature, a very knowing friend I called on tonight said it's her pack mentality to pick on the weakest dog to move them out. the last 3 times she went after Alice my REALLY LOUD shouts did nothing to stop Scooby, she waited until I got there to break it up, same w/tonight. no doubt she'd finish the job if I wasn't there. oddly enough the first two fights over meaty bones were both broken up by my yelling to stop, she did, very obedient I thought.
I'd like any of you to consider any of the sweet pictures above of the 2 of them resting in bed, then blink & imagine that in that instant they went from dear friends to Scooby viciously attacking Alice w/zero possible provocation. Alice deserves comfort in her final years and I need some time to do some healing myself.
I don't hate Scooby, I love her dearly. I'm gonna do my best to find her a big farm to stretch her legs on and be the only dog on the premises. she deserves another chance in a slightly different situation.
EDIT:
btw, my vet runs a very nice immaculately clean well staffed kennel, even a midnight attendant & then Dave every 6am, Dave has worked there 20+ yrs. Scooby will stay there until I/we can place her. His kenneling system is state of the art style, sanitary enough to use for post op holding. the staff there loves Scooby already. this vets office has 5 doctors & about 12 tech staff & front desk personnel, Scooby will get a lot of attention.
another btw, in the past hour I've had to wake her from 2 more traumatic dreams.
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Stoner, I've had to make some really tough calls with some dogs we've owned in the past. Had a springer spaniel once that kept getting into it with my three legged golden. She had to go. Just like you say, most of the time she was perfectly fine, but we couldn't trust her so she had to go. Some dogs just don't play well with others. Doesn't change the fact that now you're attached and it hurts to give them away. I understand.
If you know a good breeder with even-keeled dogs, that is your best bet IMHO. Sounds like the rescue shelters are looking out for their charges, but that is very intrusive.
If you know a good breeder with even-keeled dogs, that is your best bet IMHO. Sounds like the rescue shelters are looking out for their charges, but that is very intrusive.
S
SeaMaiden
Stoner... you've done the very best for the dog you could. But I agree with your stance on this. Alice is an old dog, she came first, you have health issues that disallow spending more physical time with what sounds like a demanding dog and so a choice must be made.
I would like to remind you that dogs live in the NOW. That's where Scooby is and that's where Alice is. That's why Alice trusts enough to jump up into bed with Scooby again and again. The eyes averting is submitting to you, not defiance (my dog will *not* avert her eyes, she will stare you DOWN, that's not only defiance, that's dominance). There is something going on between Alice and Scooby though that you're just not able to get a handle on and smoothed out, so it really is better for Scooby to go to another home, probably one where she'll be the only dog. It's not wrong, it's not cruel, it just IS.
Scooby will well be able to move forward, don't let those thoughts of her previous life and what must she have gone through darken your hours anymore. She's had a good run with you, she'll do just fine at the vet's kennel and once she's properly re-homed, she'll live a good life, I'm sure.
I would like to remind you that dogs live in the NOW. That's where Scooby is and that's where Alice is. That's why Alice trusts enough to jump up into bed with Scooby again and again. The eyes averting is submitting to you, not defiance (my dog will *not* avert her eyes, she will stare you DOWN, that's not only defiance, that's dominance). There is something going on between Alice and Scooby though that you're just not able to get a handle on and smoothed out, so it really is better for Scooby to go to another home, probably one where she'll be the only dog. It's not wrong, it's not cruel, it just IS.
Scooby will well be able to move forward, don't let those thoughts of her previous life and what must she have gone through darken your hours anymore. She's had a good run with you, she'll do just fine at the vet's kennel and once she's properly re-homed, she'll live a good life, I'm sure.
You've got a very hard decision to make. You tried your best with Scooby. There's know telling what her problems are but Alice isn't one of them. Alice MUST be protected. You can't physically keep breaking up dog fights or your going to do your back in. Good for you S4L, you did the right thing.
I am real sorry to hear that things have developed into this . Do not regret your decision to find Scooby another home you have no choice .
You have given Scoobs unconditional love & a loving home but somewhere in the past there has been some real trauma to this dog , i`m thinking Scoobs was bullied b4 . Not all dog fights end up with scars particuarly if a bigger dog had the dominance & provoked the fear then little dog will back down . You know something is troubling Scoobs because of the dreams but you ain`t ever likely to know what . Do not beat yourself up over it , the fact that you are so upset over this issue shows what a great man you are to the dogs & in my book any person that loves their dogs is a good-un .
Remember me talking to you about my rescue AB ? well i have suffered 3 bad attacks to my hand totally unprovoked , the last one resulting in 50% disablement & like the attacks on Alice from Scooby for no known reason . My dog is on her last chance so can never be rehomed but i`m sure Scoobs would get on great as an only dog lapping up the attention .
I really feel for you but Alice came with Kayla so is the most important to you , just remember that .
Take care .
