[Please welcome Rachel back to the Wiener-free weekend line-up! This time she shares some tougher times that she experienced pre-Moxie.]
About six years ago I was visiting my aunt down in Southern IL when she presented me with a puppy. And when I say presented I should say pressured me. She had rescued this little scamp off of a farm. She was the runt of a litter of 12, they had to fight for their food and she was losing. My aunt found her under some cardboard, shivering. After a story like that how could I say no? We named her Cassie.
Here's the thing, I had NO experience with dogs. Dan knew some, but he wasn't the one that was staying with the dog during the day. I figured that love would be the best training tool. After a while though we figured out that this was not a normal dog. She was submissive to the point of being jello. If you looked at her she peed. A noise outside would send her on a growling, shaking fit for a while afterwards. With the my lack of experience I didn't know what to do, in fact I did everything wrong. I loved that dog, but I just couldn't understand her and what she needed.
When I got pregnant I hoped that things would get better since I heard about dogs being maternal, protective over babies. For a while things were good, things were cute. They were buddies! Cassie was still peeing, still skittish, but she was good enough with Diana that we looked past all of that.
Then one day Diana was crawling around. Cassie was laying in front of us as we sat on the couch. Diana decided she wanted to be by us so she crawled over Cassie. We heard Cassie yelp and looked down just in time to see her lunge at Diana. Time stopped as we watched this and we thanked the gods when all she did was air bite at Diana. But it was a serious air bite, it was a serious warning. I grabbed Diana and we were in motion. Dan grabbed the leash and said "I'm taking Cassie to my parents" and was off. On the way there I called Dan and we agreed that this was it, we couldn't risk it, Cassie couldn't come back. I broke down in tears. No matter how scared I was right then my heart was breaking because I knew I was losing a member of my family. The guilt was like a knife, a sword, an ice pick in my heart.
When Dan came back we weighed our options. We knew there was no way we could take her to a pound or rescue, with her peeing tendencies she would never get brought into a home. We were thinking of my other aunt that rescued animals, had a pack of dogs and plenty of land. As we decided on what to do we got a phone call from Dan's Dad.
"We'll keep her."
So do not worry dear readers, this story does have a happy ending. Right now Cassie is living with my in-laws, getting fat and spoiled.
Did I learn my lesson? You betcha. When we started considering getting a puppy for Diana I researched for days, checking every book on dogs out of the library, watching hours of the Dog Whisperer. When we went to pick out the puppy I knew exactly what to look for. Submissive to me, but strong to others so that she would recognize me as her alpha but protect my family. Tough since Diana was going to be all over it. Large to make any strangers thinking of harming my daughter nervous, but not too large so that we wouldn't have to deal with medical bills (hip problems, poor heart health, etc).
In the end we made the right choice.
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5 comments:
That must have been the hardest choice. I'm glad you were able to find a puppy that perfectly worked with your family. The right dog is the perfect compliment to a family.
It was very tough on all of us, but now things have worked out for everyone.
This is not at all similar, but we had to give a cat to Eric's parents because we got Adley, and Adley just didn't understand that a cat was NOT a dog. It was tough, but now that sucker is so spoiled--he gets to travel with them all the time (Belize for two months?) and they got teary eyed at the thought of us taking him back. It was the best thing we could have done for him.
Also, I ADORE boxers. I had one growing up, and they are the sweetest, quirkiest pals.
Awww, I am glad that Cassie found a good home, even if it couldn't be with you. How is she with kids now? Moxie is definitely a great family member for you!!
Elizabeth- Boxers are an AMAZING breed for families
Mandy- She's fine with Diana now, but we don't see her that often (only because of the family drama, not because of her)
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