Gus:
http://www.sbacc.org/DOGS%20Current/gusfull.jpg
was found, shot and dying, near his murdered owner. Our shelter has
spent $10k on surgery which has been painful and traumatic to him.
There are those who would say this is a waste of resources when so many
other dogs are dying. and I don't disagree. But, this is who we _a
an animal is safe with us.
The result? A beatiful, brilliant, lethal dog. (Gus can be clicker
trained to do anything in minutes, but the emotional problem over-rides
it.) Until a thread last week about PBs luring other dogs in with
friendly overtures in order to attack them, I didn't believe what I was
seeing with Gus: he uses his charm to get close enough to chomp, both
canine and human.
We have a behaviorist and her 3 interns working with Gus daily: not
much result, so far. The shelter environment is too stressful for him.
When Gus accepts someone, it's total devotion. SOMEWHERE there must be
someone who will accept Gus and work with him. They will get a
brilliant dog.
I have no idea why I'm posting this. I just need to talk.






















http://community.webtv.net/k9apple/Howloweenies

----------
In article ,
(Chris Williams) wrote:


Gus:
http://www.sbacc.org/DOGS%20Current/gusfull.jpg
was found, shot and dying, near his murdered owner. Our shelter has
spent $10k on surgery which has been painful and traumatic to him.
There are those who would say this is a waste of resources when so many
other dogs are dying. and I don't disagree. But, this is who we _a
an animal is safe with us.
The result? A beatiful, brilliant, lethal dog. (Gus can be clicker
snip

Oh Chris, this is a hard one. You should start by trying to forget about
the $10K for a minute. If you hadn't spent any money on him, what would you
do?

This dog, if you aren't going to have him PTS, sounds like he should be in a
savvy foster home for awhile. Somebody who can observe him and work with
him without the stress of the shelter. What does the behaviorist think is
up with him? A trainer, plus 3 interns, plus the shelter, sounds like it
could be a bit much for him. If you can't get him in a foster home, could
you limit his handlers to one or two?

Have you been able to find out anything about his previous life? Was his
owner's murder a domestic violence situation, which could mean he lived with
unpredictable human violence? Was his owner a street person? The street
people here take as good care of their dogs as they are able, but the life
would be hard on a territorial dog. If you are able to find out something
of his background, it would help you know which direction to take.

Keep us posted. And I am still pulling for Hilde, too. jdoee

----------
In article ,
(Chris Williams) wrote:


Gus:
http://www.sbacc.org/DOGS%20Current/gusfull.jpg
was found, shot and dying, near his murdered owner. Our shelter has
spent $10k on surgery which has been painful and traumatic to him.
There are those who would say this is a waste of resources when so many
other dogs are dying. and I don't disagree. But, this is who we _a
an animal is safe with us.
The result? A beatiful, brilliant, lethal dog. (Gus can be clicker
snip

Oh Chris, this is a hard one. You should start by trying to forget about
the $10K for a minute. If you hadn't spent any money on him, what would you
do?

This dog, if you aren't going to have him PTS, sounds like he should be in a
savvy foster home for awhile. Somebody who can observe him and work with
him without the stress of the shelter. What does the behaviorist think is
up with him? A trainer, plus 3 interns, plus the shelter, sounds like it
could be a bit much for him. If you can't get him in a foster home, could
you limit his handlers to one or two?

Have you been able to find out anything about his previous life? Was his
owner's murder a domestic violence situation, which could mean he lived with
unpredictable human violence? Was his owner a street person? The street
people here take as good care of their dogs as they are able, but the life
would be hard on a territorial dog. If you are able to find out something
of his background, it would help you know which direction to take.

Keep us posted. And I am still pulling for Hilde, too. jdoee

----------
In article ,
(Chris Williams) wrote:


Gus:
http://www.sbacc.org/DOGS%20Current/gusfull.jpg
was found, shot and dying, near his murdered owner. Our shelter has
spent $10k on surgery which has been painful and traumatic to him.
There are those who would say this is a waste of resources when so many
other dogs are dying. and I don't disagree. But, this is who we _a
an animal is safe with us.
The result? A beatiful, brilliant, lethal dog. (Gus can be clicker
snip

Oh Chris, this is a hard one. You should start by trying to forget about
the $10K for a minute. If you hadn't spent any money on him, what would you
do?

This dog, if you aren't going to have him PTS, sounds like he should be in a
savvy foster home for awhile. Somebody who can observe him and work with
him without the stress of the shelter. What does the behaviorist think is
up with him? A trainer, plus 3 interns, plus the shelter, sounds like it
could be a bit much for him. If you can't get him in a foster home, could
you limit his handlers to one or two?

Have you been able to find out anything about his previous life? Was his
owner's murder a domestic violence situation, which could mean he lived with
unpredictable human violence? Was his owner a street person? The street
people here take as good care of their dogs as they are able, but the life
would be hard on a territorial dog. If you are able to find out something
of his background, it would help you know which direction to take.

Keep us posted. And I am still pulling for Hilde, too. jdoee

----------
In article ,
(Chris Williams) wrote:


Gus:
http://www.sbacc.org/DOGS%20Current/gusfull.jpg
was found, shot and dying, near his murdered owner. Our shelter has
spent $10k on surgery which has been painful and traumatic to him.
There are those who would say this is a waste of resources when so many
other dogs are dying. and I don't disagree. But, this is who we _a
an animal is safe with us.
The result? A beatiful, brilliant, lethal dog. (Gus can be clicker
snip

Oh Chris, this is a hard one. You should start by trying to forget about
the $10K for a minute. If you hadn't spent any money on him, what would you
do?

This dog, if you aren't going to have him PTS, sounds like he should be in a
savvy foster home for awhile. Somebody who can observe him and work with
him without the stress of the shelter. What does the behaviorist think is
up with him? A trainer, plus 3 interns, plus the shelter, sounds like it
could be a bit much for him. If you can't get him in a foster home, could
you limit his handlers to one or two?

Have you been able to find out anything about his previous life? Was his
owner's murder a domestic violence situation, which could mean he lived with
unpredictable human violence? Was his owner a street person? The street
people here take as good care of their dogs as they are able, but the life
would be hard on a territorial dog. If you are able to find out something
of his background, it would help you know which direction to take.

Keep us posted. And I am still pulling for Hilde, too. jdoee

This dog, if you aren't going to have him
PTS,
Not an option, here. The worst case is that a volunteer will drive
him to Best Friends sanctuary in Utah.
sounds like he should be in a savvy
foster home for awhile.
So right, and we're lookin'. No prospects so far.
Somebody who can observe him and
work with him without the stress of the
shelter.
That's part of the rehabilitation problem. Gus is very reactive, and
there's too much noise and activity for him.
What does the behaviorist think is up
with him? A trainer, plus 3 interns, plus
the shelter, sounds like it could be a bit
much for him. If you can't get him in a
foster home, could you limit his handlers
to one or two?
Not one or two (nobody is available for that much time), but four --
who call themselves "Team Gus". They're hunkering down for the long
haul. A big problem is his unpredictability. What causes him to react
one time, won't the next. They're observing closely to try to pinpoint
the difference. Their additional problem is that he seems to disguise
his intent.

This dog, if you aren't going to have him
PTS,
Not an option, here. The worst case is that a volunteer will drive
him to Best Friends sanctuary in Utah.
sounds like he should be in a savvy
foster home for awhile.
So right, and we're lookin'. No prospects so far.
Somebody who can observe him and
work with him without the stress of the
shelter.
That's part of the rehabilitation problem. Gus is very reactive, and
there's too much noise and activity for him.
What does the behaviorist think is up
with him? A trainer, plus 3 interns, plus
the shelter, sounds like it could be a bit
much for him. If you can't get him in a
foster home, could you limit his handlers
to one or two?
Not one or two (nobody is available for that much time), but four --
who call themselves "Team Gus". They're hunkering down for the long
haul. A big problem is his unpredictability. What causes him to react
one time, won't the next. They're observing closely to try to pinpoint
the difference. Their additional problem is that he seems to disguise
his intent.

This dog, if you aren't going to have him
PTS,
Not an option, here. The worst case is that a volunteer will drive
him to Best Friends sanctuary in Utah.
sounds like he should be in a savvy
foster home for awhile.
So right, and we're lookin'. No prospects so far.
Somebody who can observe him and
work with him without the stress of the
shelter.
That's part of the rehabilitation problem. Gus is very reactive, and
there's too much noise and activity for him.
What does the behaviorist think is up
with him? A trainer, plus 3 interns, plus
the shelter, sounds like it could be a bit
much for him. If you can't get him in a
foster home, could you limit his handlers
to one or two?
Not one or two (nobody is available for that much time), but four --
who call themselves "Team Gus". They're hunkering down for the long
haul. A big problem is his unpredictability. What causes him to react
one time, won't the next. They're observing closely to try to pinpoint
the difference. Their additional problem is that he seems to disguise
his intent.

This dog, if you aren't going to have him
PTS,
Not an option, here. The worst case is that a volunteer will drive
him to Best Friends sanctuary in Utah.
sounds like he should be in a savvy
foster home for awhile.
So right, and we're lookin'. No prospects so far.
Somebody who can observe him and
work with him without the stress of the
shelter.
That's part of the rehabilitation problem. Gus is very reactive, and
there's too much noise and activity for him.
What does the behaviorist think is up
with him? A trainer, plus 3 interns, plus
the shelter, sounds like it could be a bit
much for him. If you can't get him in a
foster home, could you limit his handlers
to one or two?
Not one or two (nobody is available for that much time), but four --
who call themselves "Team Gus". They're hunkering down for the long
haul. A big problem is his unpredictability. What causes him to react
one time, won't the next. They're observing closely to try to pinpoint
the difference. Their additional problem is that he seems to disguise
his intent.

"Chris Williams" wrote in message
...
I have no idea why I'm posting this. I just need to talk.

{{{Chris}}}
That's what we're here for . It's very difficult doing rescue work ,
and it costs emotionally . Remember you do a good job and where would
the dogs be without people like you ?
Alison