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#1
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Need Help Golden Retriever Rescue
My family has a purebred Golden named Darla. She has for the most part been a
sweet dog with a definite need to chew, which has been appeased with lots of toys and bones to chew on. In the last year if you see that she is chewing on something inappropriate and try to take it away from her she growls and snaps at you. A few months ago she was eating a tissue out of the garbage when my brother took it away from her she bit his hand. Darla gets car sick and needs to be medicated for the ride. Last week when my father arrived here from the trip he tried to coax the dog out of his truck and she bit him on the knuckle. We chalked this up to the medication and although he was afraid of her things pretty much went on as normal. Last night as we were preparing dinner Darla took a papertowel out of the garbage and dropped it on the floor as my mother bent to pick it up the dog grabbed onto her hand between the thumb and forefinger and would not let go, the gash has required 10 stitches to close up and there is a high risk of infection. When I approached my mother to care for the bite she lunged at me with her mouth open, my husband told her to go lay down and she went after him. I had to get the dog out of the house before my mother came back from the hospital. Animal Control picked her up (without incident) and have her quarantined for 10 days from today so we can decide what must be done. My father has a call into their vet and the breeder. Darla is 7 and has had some health problems mainly Lyme Disease for which she has been treated but it never actually goes away. We do not want to have her destroyed but my mother is now deathly afraid of her and we do not know what to do, having had dogs in our home all our lives and this being our 2nd Golden (the last died in 1996 at 13) we are beside ourselves. Darla is not aggressive in any other way other than if you take something away from her mouth. She LOVES water and is an avid swimmer, has never showed aggression towards my children until now. Cats do not bother her in the least, but she seems to be afraid of other dogs, but has showed no aggression towards them. I believe she would do fine in an adult home where they knew her boundaries, but I am not sure and you are the experts. We really need some advice on what to do, we are so heartbroken but feel we have no other choice. Thank you in advance for any help. Karen |
#2
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It sounds like she could have some kind of organic problem, like a brain tumor,
that is causing this change in behavior. Lyme disease can affect brain function also, at least in humans. Janet //Dear Artemesia! Poetry's a sna //Bedlam has many Mansions: have a ca //Your Muse diverts you, makes the Reader sad: //You think your self inspir'd; He thinks you mad. |
#3
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Karen
I appreciate all you have written here, but you "cannot" in all good conscience, ever give her up to rescue or place her with another family. Things might get worse and even if they don't you are basicly giving someone else the problem. That is, even if anyone "would" adopt her. With the thousands - millions, of available dogs with good temperaments, your hopes of finding her a home are very limited if not impossible. She's also not young. Personally, while you don't want to do it, putting her quietly to sleep is your only option I believe - and the correct one. If you were to give her to someone else and she did something terrible, I'm sure you would feel very responsible. It is also possible that anyone wanting such a dog, only would want her as a nasty "guard type" dog and possibly her life would not be as you would want it. In my opinion, hard as it is, you only have one choice now. Just as a side note...a long time ago, some people came to me with a Great Dane who exhibited much the same as your dog. I told them just about what I have suggested to you. They refused to put him to sleep and finally found a fellow in Texas who was willing to take him. The decided to drive him from Cal to his new home and on the way, stopped at a gas station. When they attendant reached into the car to take the money from the owner, the dog lunged at him and attacked him very badly. They were faced with a tremendous law suit and in fact finally lost their home plus their marriage broke up over the incident. I have written of that here before when people just couldn't face doing the correct thing in such cases. I know it's hard. I had to do the same thing myself many years ago. But after it was all over, I have always known it was the correct thing to do. Lizzie |
#4
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I'm sorry but I have to disagree with the poster below. Although I am in
noway qualified to answer your questions Putting your dog to sleep should be a final option I feel you have many others to try first. I would take her to the vet and rule out any medical problem first. If this has not always been her behaviour you need to find out why. If in the end you have to put her to sleep at least you know you have exhausted all other avenues and done all you could. "Elizabeth DeLeo" wrote in message ... Karen I appreciate all you have written here, but you "cannot" in all good conscience, ever give her up to rescue or place her with another family. Things might get worse and even if they don't you are basicly giving someone else the problem. That is, even if anyone "would" adopt her. With the thousands - millions, of available dogs with good temperaments, your hopes of finding her a home are very limited if not impossible. She's also not young. Personally, while you don't want to do it, putting her quietly to sleep is your only option I believe - and the correct one. If you were to give her to someone else and she did something terrible, I'm sure you would feel very responsible. It is also possible that anyone wanting such a dog, only would want her as a nasty "guard type" dog and possibly her life would not be as you would want it. In my opinion, hard as it is, you only have one choice now. Just as a side note...a long time ago, some people came to me with a Great Dane who exhibited much the same as your dog. I told them just about what I have suggested to you. They refused to put him to sleep and finally found a fellow in Texas who was willing to take him. The decided to drive him from Cal to his new home and on the way, stopped at a gas station. When they attendant reached into the car to take the money from the owner, the dog lunged at him and attacked him very badly. They were faced with a tremendous law suit and in fact finally lost their home plus their marriage broke up over the incident. I have written of that here before when people just couldn't face doing the correct thing in such cases. I know it's hard. I had to do the same thing myself many years ago. But after it was all over, I have always known it was the correct thing to do. Lizzie |
#5
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"Elizabeth DeLeo" wrote in message ... Personally, while you don't want to do it, putting her quietly to sleep is your only option I believe - and the correct one. you wouldn't take her to a trainer or behaviorist first? i'd at least try to see if the problem was fixable before killing her. maybe that's just me... -kelly |
#6
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She has been to behavior training and has Lyme disease. I have given my
parents all the information and the choice is in their hands. These choice are never easy. Thanks for you advice. Karen |
#7
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"culprit" wrote in message ... "Elizabeth DeLeo" wrote in message ... Personally, while you don't want to do it, putting her quietly to sleep is your only option I believe - and the correct one. you wouldn't take her to a trainer or behaviorist first? i'd at least try to see if the problem was fixable before killing her. maybe that's just me... -kelly It might be Kelly if it were "just" when someone is trying to take something from her. But she - is you read the owner's post, has now bitten several people and for different reasons. Karen originally said she only did it when someone was taking something from her, but then went on to say she bit others for reasons other than taking something she thought was hers. She even lunged at Karen for just trying to help her Mother after a very bad bite. A dog who bites for "no" particular reason as she has now demonstrated, will take a heck of a lot of work to fix, if indeed she can ever be fully trusted again. I'm not one to put every dog who bites, to sleep and have dealt with such dogs myself but this one "seems" to be biting indiscriminitely at the moment and is obviously posing a danger to anyone who comes in contact with her. An afterthought was that she "might" be having an eyesight problem. Lizzie |
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