Last February, we acquired two beautiful little puppies. These were supposed to be terriers and remain small. What we didn't know is that the terrier mother had bred herself with one of the bigger breeds of dog. (We suspect Dane or Malamute.) As these two beautiful puppies grew, so did their intense dislike for each other. When they were small, it was manageable. I could simply pick them up and tell them both no. Within minutes, the fight would be over. As they got older though, it got more dangerous because we couldn't separate them as easily. We were putting ourselves, our other animals and our children at risk with that situation. We had to choose which pup to keep, and which to rehome.
Nate wound up being the dog to get rehomed. We missed him, but we knew he was doing well. That dog had the best of everything from the best food, to the best toys to the best brisket in Texas. He just wasn't allowed to be inside.
We kept the other pup, Rocky. Over time, Rocky became more and more aggressive until finally, he snapped at a small child when we were at the vet's office. We knew then that despite the training we had been giving him, despite the constant socialization and positive reinforcement, Rocky had gone too far and needed more specialized attention. We made the very difficult choice to take him to the shelter where he was to be screened for more specialized training programs. If he had the right temperament, then he'd go into one of the training programs. I manage to convince myself each day that he had the right temperment.
It's a bit thing for us to willingly take an animal to the shelter, instead of rehoming the animal or keeping it. We don't like the shelter. In fact, we despise the shelter. It's not them so much as those who abandon their pets for no reason, instead of using the shelter for the intended purpose: assisting with situations like ours. So a situation has to be pretty bad before I'll turn one of ours over.
One week after we turned Rocky in, Nate showed up. The dogs were in the back barking. I went outside to see what they were barking at, and could see the shadow of a dog in the neighbor's yard. At first, I thought it was their dog but it was too fat. Then, he barked. Nate has this deep brk that you cannot mistake for any other dog. Once you hear it, you know who it is. Within minutes, I was being covered in happy, sloppy puppy kisses.
We took Nate home and walked back. By the time we got back home again, Nate was waiting for us on our front porch. He was just wagging his tail like "You gonna let me in now?" We spoke with the family that had adopted him and discovered he was too big for them. The wife was having serious medical complications, and the husband didn't have the strength to handle Nate.
So, Nate is home now. He's been here for a week and a half and is settling in to old patterns very nicely. He's not trying to eat Zeus anymore, but now Sonny is being aggressive towards Nate when Zeus is around. I believe Sonny is protecting Zeus.
It is nice to have Nate back, but it was also very unexpected. He and Zeus both will likely be rehomded, if we find suitable homes worthy of them. For now, we're enjoying having him back.
Sometimes, things don't always work out how we think they will, but they always work out just as they should. I relearn that every single day. It's an important thing to remember. In your own life, what recent events have shown you that things don't work out as we think they will, but always work out as they should?
No comments:
Post a Comment