Dog gone
It was an interesting 54 hours.
The visiting Boxer was basically sweet, but after awhile you could kind of tell that he had either been left alone a lot or crated way too much. Kind of neurotic need for attention, and not in the sweet puppy way, but in the "If you don't love me I'll kill myself" way. He drove Ripley crazy, and Ripley is Mr. Mellow who loves everyone.
He was a gorgeous dog, so I was surprised that no one ever called about him. I took off a couple of hours early Mon afternoon to 1) get him checked for a microchip, 2) put many, many more signs out in the neighborhood, and 3) call in an ad to the paper if no chip.
There was a chip, though! How cool is that? "He'll be out of here in a couple of hours," I thought. Turned out the breeder had chipped him; the vet left a message, then by the time I called she was home. Nice lady, though seemed like a pretty typical BYB type of person; lots of those here in SW MO. She thought this was a dog she'd sold to a couple who'd moved to Florida, but she heard they'd moved back. She'd call them and have them call me.
6 hours pass; I'm thinking, "I'm going to bed in an hour, and no one has called about this dog." The breeder called just as I was starting to fume a bit, saying she couldn't raise the woman she'd sold the dog to, but if she couldn't get her the next day, SHE (the breeder) would come pick him up herself. Sounded good.
Sunday night had been a bit challenging...visitor could not wind down at bedtime, and I finally said in a stern voice, "GO LAY DOWN." He cried and went and crawled up on the couch. Monday night was horrible. He would not go to bed, walked around whining and crying. I finally had him get up on my bed, and he settled down.
Tuesday I had to be out of town all day on a day trip. I hated to do it, but had no choice...I crated him for the day. When I got home, he was a neurotic mess. Still hadn't heard from anyone. Got a call from the breeder...the owners had divorced, she got ahold of the woman who said the ex husband had taken the dog, but she didn't know if he kept him or even where ex lived. She would have loved to have taken him back, but couldn't...told the breeder, "I really shouldn't have let him take the dog anyway...he was always mean to it, kicking it, yelling at it..." What a couple of swell pieces of humanity. The breeder and I had spent a lot of time on the phone by this point, and we seemed to hit it off. She said, "If you want him, he's yours."
Had he not had such obvious problems from past neglect or whatever, I would have taken him, as I've loved wrecks back to good dogs before, but right now my life doesn't allow me to take a dog like this and give it a stable, consistent life. She understood, and said, "We'll be up to get him this evening" (they lived about 2 hrs away).
I liked the couple when they got here; on the ride up, they had decided they would keep the dog. They came in and stayed for about 30 minutes; we had a good visit, I felt very good about their sense of responsibility to this creature who'd been brought into the world through their actions. I think when I do retire, I will certainly give them a call and see about getting a puppy.
Get those dogs microchipped. As weird as the situation was for a bit, it sure turned out well. I know he's happy now.
The visiting Boxer was basically sweet, but after awhile you could kind of tell that he had either been left alone a lot or crated way too much. Kind of neurotic need for attention, and not in the sweet puppy way, but in the "If you don't love me I'll kill myself" way. He drove Ripley crazy, and Ripley is Mr. Mellow who loves everyone.
He was a gorgeous dog, so I was surprised that no one ever called about him. I took off a couple of hours early Mon afternoon to 1) get him checked for a microchip, 2) put many, many more signs out in the neighborhood, and 3) call in an ad to the paper if no chip.
There was a chip, though! How cool is that? "He'll be out of here in a couple of hours," I thought. Turned out the breeder had chipped him; the vet left a message, then by the time I called she was home. Nice lady, though seemed like a pretty typical BYB type of person; lots of those here in SW MO. She thought this was a dog she'd sold to a couple who'd moved to Florida, but she heard they'd moved back. She'd call them and have them call me.
6 hours pass; I'm thinking, "I'm going to bed in an hour, and no one has called about this dog." The breeder called just as I was starting to fume a bit, saying she couldn't raise the woman she'd sold the dog to, but if she couldn't get her the next day, SHE (the breeder) would come pick him up herself. Sounded good.
Sunday night had been a bit challenging...visitor could not wind down at bedtime, and I finally said in a stern voice, "GO LAY DOWN." He cried and went and crawled up on the couch. Monday night was horrible. He would not go to bed, walked around whining and crying. I finally had him get up on my bed, and he settled down.
Tuesday I had to be out of town all day on a day trip. I hated to do it, but had no choice...I crated him for the day. When I got home, he was a neurotic mess. Still hadn't heard from anyone. Got a call from the breeder...the owners had divorced, she got ahold of the woman who said the ex husband had taken the dog, but she didn't know if he kept him or even where ex lived. She would have loved to have taken him back, but couldn't...told the breeder, "I really shouldn't have let him take the dog anyway...he was always mean to it, kicking it, yelling at it..." What a couple of swell pieces of humanity. The breeder and I had spent a lot of time on the phone by this point, and we seemed to hit it off. She said, "If you want him, he's yours."
Had he not had such obvious problems from past neglect or whatever, I would have taken him, as I've loved wrecks back to good dogs before, but right now my life doesn't allow me to take a dog like this and give it a stable, consistent life. She understood, and said, "We'll be up to get him this evening" (they lived about 2 hrs away).
I liked the couple when they got here; on the ride up, they had decided they would keep the dog. They came in and stayed for about 30 minutes; we had a good visit, I felt very good about their sense of responsibility to this creature who'd been brought into the world through their actions. I think when I do retire, I will certainly give them a call and see about getting a puppy.
Get those dogs microchipped. As weird as the situation was for a bit, it sure turned out well. I know he's happy now.