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More on Guinness
Sep. 28th, 2010 09:39 pmThank you all for the concern and support. Delta's mommy is willing to bring Guinness back to his momma and give him time for meds to kick in, however long that may be. Yay!
Andrew is out of town now, but when he gets a moment to catch his breath we'll take Guinness to the base vet to be evaluated. I'm praying that being able to say "we already have an alternate home lined up" will buy us the time we need for the bloodwork to get done.
I want to know why this is happening. Guinness has received more training (individual and professional) than any dog I've had before - including both the husky* and the chow mixes**. He's been socialized and put through basic obedience from the day I brought him home (yes, an 8-week-old puppy is perfectly capable of learning to sit on command). He's had the best food of all my dogs - kibble, but high-quality kibble with as low grain content as we can get. Admittedly most of my dogs have been "softer" temperments (retrievers and sighthounds), but not all of them. I'm not exactly unfamiliar with dogs. This is the first time I've had to deal with unprovoked biting. I don't think the problem is my inexperience. That leaves medical issues.
More than anything, I want him to be better. He's such a good dog - smart, loving, incredibly empathic to my needs. He deserves better than to be thrown away, which is what the base housing will want done with him. If he can get to the point where he can be our family pet again, that would be wonderful. If not, he deserves a person who can give him the best life possible, where he will be safe and loved and far away from kids that could be hurt.
*Mumbles was my first dog after I went to college. I found her and a few of her littermates dumped in the field near my mailbox. She was the only survivor. Her big blue eyes and shading were pure husky, but her coat color was peach. Not rust, peach. One of her littermates was blue with spots. She went with Scott when we split. I have no idea what happened to her after that.
**Hershy was Andrew's "consolation prize" after telling his mother we were getting married. She was a chow/GSD cross abandoned at the animal shelter in Athens. She went with him in the divorce, and unfortunately had to be put down due to severe hip displaysia.
Andrew is out of town now, but when he gets a moment to catch his breath we'll take Guinness to the base vet to be evaluated. I'm praying that being able to say "we already have an alternate home lined up" will buy us the time we need for the bloodwork to get done.
I want to know why this is happening. Guinness has received more training (individual and professional) than any dog I've had before - including both the husky* and the chow mixes**. He's been socialized and put through basic obedience from the day I brought him home (yes, an 8-week-old puppy is perfectly capable of learning to sit on command). He's had the best food of all my dogs - kibble, but high-quality kibble with as low grain content as we can get. Admittedly most of my dogs have been "softer" temperments (retrievers and sighthounds), but not all of them. I'm not exactly unfamiliar with dogs. This is the first time I've had to deal with unprovoked biting. I don't think the problem is my inexperience. That leaves medical issues.
More than anything, I want him to be better. He's such a good dog - smart, loving, incredibly empathic to my needs. He deserves better than to be thrown away, which is what the base housing will want done with him. If he can get to the point where he can be our family pet again, that would be wonderful. If not, he deserves a person who can give him the best life possible, where he will be safe and loved and far away from kids that could be hurt.
*Mumbles was my first dog after I went to college. I found her and a few of her littermates dumped in the field near my mailbox. She was the only survivor. Her big blue eyes and shading were pure husky, but her coat color was peach. Not rust, peach. One of her littermates was blue with spots. She went with Scott when we split. I have no idea what happened to her after that.
**Hershy was Andrew's "consolation prize" after telling his mother we were getting married. She was a chow/GSD cross abandoned at the animal shelter in Athens. She went with him in the divorce, and unfortunately had to be put down due to severe hip displaysia.
