Experienced Dog Owners: I Need Advice

[#1hoosierfan]

I loved our beagle & love hound dogs, but the beagle was just too much to handle. After he died, we said no more beagles. But, I just told DH, that we might do a basset one day for the exact reason you said!

I have fostered for years. I make sure that potential beagle and lab puppy adopters know what they are getting into. Both great breeds, just a lot of patience and training needed for both.

If you get a Bassett, be ready for lots of SLOBBER.

 

[robinb]

I’m glad you took the dog back right away. That was the right choice.

Instead of trying to rescue ‘needy’ dogs from rescues that save dogs from the south or PR, why not pick a breed or two that have lower prey drives and work with breed specific rescues. Or reach out to the breed club in your state and ask if they know of anyone who is looking to rehome an adult.

 

[donaldbuzz&minnie]

I just wanted to add my voice to the others who hope you don't beat yourself up about returning the dog. You're making what may be a 15 year decision, not just for your family, but for the dog too. A dog with a strong prey drive needs to be with someone whose lifestyle can keep a dog like that happy. I'm a big believer in matching dog characteristics with people personalities - the best way to keep humans and dogs living well together!

 

[LSUmiss]

I have fostered for years. I make sure that potential beagle and lab puppy adopters know what they are getting into. Both great breeds, just a lot of patience and training needed for both.

If you get a Bassett, be ready for lots of SLOBBER.

Yeah ours was a good dog. He was just noisy & high high energy. We knew that going in, but once he died, we didn’t think that breed was a good fit for our current situation. We originally had Goldens & preferred to go back to that breed. We got the beagle after our golden died b/c we wanted a breed with a longer life span. Well joke was on us b/c our beagle had cancer & died at 6 years old .

 

[Sarah'sMomfrom PA]

We have had dogs my entire life. I currently have 2 shelter dogs from a shelter in South Central Virginia (where my daughter lives) and they are the loves of our lives! We live in Pennsylvania and my daughter lives in Virginia (she had just moved there) and she adopted our first dog while she lived in an apartment and sometimes worked 13 hour days as a pharmacist. She left the dog alone for the 13 plus hours and came home to poop everywhere (not the dogs fault) and he had ripped the blinds right off of her windows! She called me at 9:15 p.m. crying that she didn't know what she was going to do with Duncan and she had to be at work at 8:00 a.m. and the shelter wasn't open yet, etc. I told my husband to gas up our car and I told my daughter to meet me half way (it would have been a 7 hour drive for me) and after driving 3.5 hours, we met up at a Sheetz at Exit 12 in West Virginia and I took Duncan and he is the sweetest 70 baby that you would ever want to meet! Every time we pass by Exit 12 in West Virginia (on I-81), we say "Here is Duncan's exit!! We got our other shelter dog at the Charlottesville shelter...there were 2 male dogs who had come in but the shelter insisted that they be adopted together..(These 2 dogs came from a kill shelter on the Kentucky border)...my daughter wanted one of them and I took the other one (Jack Russell mix) and he is our other baby. We think that he was abused because he hates our dishwasher and every time my husband opens it, he has a fit and he won't walk on tile floors but I love him just the same!
The reason for my post is this ...we adopted a stray that was dropped off at the pound in Virginia....he should have been a 70-80 lb. dog and weighed 27 lbs. He was skin and bones. We brought him home and we did everything to bring him back to health. He gained weight and many of his teeth were rotten but our vet pulled several rotten teeth and that visit cost me over $2000.00. Long story short, he had a very nasty streak and was a very heavy sleeper and if disturbed, he would lunge at you and show his teeth and we could never gain his trust even though we were nothing but kind to him. One day, my husband bumped the chair that he was sleeping in and he lunged at my husband and grabbed his arm and wouldn't let go and we were very fearful of him. We were going to try to give him to our local shelter in Pennsylvania but they wouldn't take larger dogs. We took him to our vet to be neutered and while there, he went after our vet. After much soul searching, we had to make the very hard decision to euthanize him (at our vets urging) because we felt that if we gave him to a shelter and he went after a small child and killed or hurt them, we would never forgive ourselves. Many tears were shed over this decision about Grady but we know that he is in a better place (since we think that he was severely abused and just couldn't learn to trust us) and only wish that it had worked out better because our other 2 babies have the run of the house and we would sooner do without then to deprive them of anything! We love our Duncan and Dublin unconditionally...Duncan gets car sick which I only found out when I picked him up in West Virginia and he threw up all over my car (!!) so we give him motion sickness pills whenever we travel with him to my daughters! They have made the transition from being Virginians to being Pennsylvanians!

OP...please don't feel guilty for doing the good thing for this puppy. We also feel very bad for trying to adopt and help Grady and I feel what we did was far worse than what you did but we felt it was our only option and in the whole scheme of things, if someone else adopted him, they may have abused him even worse for his nasty behavior but at least we felt that we gave him all that we could and gave him a good 9 months of life in a good home with good food and warmth but it wasn't meant to be. I cried many tears over this decision and felt like I was a bad pet parent but when you adopt from a shelter, you never know the true personality of the dog. I will close now as I give my two fur babies and kiss and a belly rub!

 

[Christine]

Sarah'sMomFromPA - a very nice story indeed. Sometimes I have to wonder what goes on down in SW Virginia. This rescue I work with pulls a lot of dogs from there (Russell and Scott counties). Tons of dogs, strays, being picked up. Way more than where I live.

The dog that I got over the weekend at least seemed to have been well-cared for. She was at a good weight and healthy with no fear or personality issues. But, yeah, probably not a good breed for being in the house all day.

 

[jsmith]

So I come at this kind of conversation from a different slant. I rescue birds. Exotics to be precise. Exotic birds live very long lives. If any fool out there says that animals do not have souls then they are indeed fools. My personal slant on this is that the dog was taken to a new home, started to become acclimated, and then due to no fault of his/her own was ripped out of that bright future. Now imagine yourself as a 10 year old child in that same situation as a foster child. That is about the approximate age mentally as that dog. From your posts you are looking for a thing, not a person. Each animal is a person, not a thing. Before you adopt please think before you act as this kind of confusion does affect the poor animal way longer after you've forgotten the episode.

Also since I am on this thread, do not adopt exotic birds and think it is cute to teach them foul adult language. They live very long lives and if you end up getting rid of them because they become a hindrance to you they will have a very hard time finding a future home.

This is first class anthropormorphizing which is dangerous for both the birds you foster and any dog. They are not humans. They do not process information or emotion the way humans do. Part of the reason people have such guilt when they do have to return an animal to foster because they don't
work out is that they have been lead to believe that dogs experience human emotions and function mentally like humans-they are not persons-they are animals and experience emotion ( which I most certainly agree they do) like dogs and not like humans. The perception that they do experience emotion like humans has cost many a dog its life.

The other thing I am is a advocate for responsibly bred pure bred dogs. Shelter dogs are wonderful but they are not the right answer for every family. Sometimes rescues-particularly from overseas with no defined temperament and no defined history make amazing pets and sometimes they do not. Not every shelter is honest about why dogs were relinquished and many times shelter dogs-especially those that are like the one in the post above get recycled many times because they are not suited to being in a family but everyone wants to 'save' them. And the sad truth is not every dog can or should be saved.
When you are ready to get a dog it might be worth looking into a puppy-or older dog-from a responsible breeder. if you are looking for specific temperament or behavior ( i.e no prey drive) dogs bred to a breed standard for that characteristic are a good choice. and responsible breeders will know which among their dogs will fit that paradigm. Also, if for some reason you are not unable to keep the dog either because your circumstances change or the dog is not a good fit a truly responsible breeder will take it back without reservations and ensure that it has a great life no matter what. And they will be honest about whether or not a dog could live with your guinea pig I, for instance have two beautiful, sweet Bernese Mountain dogs. One of them has 0 prey drive-he would be the GP's best buddy. Both live and cuddle happily with cats-but one of them I would not trust with the GP because he does have prey drive. And I have known that since I got them at 9 weeks old-because my breeders knew their dogs and their lines and temperament tested puppies prior to placing them. Just something to consider when you feel ready.

 

[Sarah'sMomfrom PA]

I honestly have no idea what goes on in that part of Virginia but it does really break my heart. Both Duncan and Dublin (my two) and Kerry and Molly (can you get that my daughter was going with the Irish theme with names...she has 4 dogs and the other two are Murphy and Aiden!) were the next dogs to be euthanized at the original shelter. The shelter that we got Duncan from was willing to take him back because they didn't tell us that he got car sick (and I mean really car sick!!)--I was like, are you kidding me....nothing that a little motion sickness pill won't help! The Charlottesville shelter and the new Lynchburg shelter are absolutely beautiful....you could live in them! I felt like such a failure with Grady but I honestly never owned a dog that I was afraid of. Our dogs sleep in the bed with us and we are always kissing and hugging them and I honestly was afraid to get my face near Grady for fear that he would go after me. Not a dog that should have been saved but in hindsight, I feel like we did save him (after spending lots of money on him for vet care) because now he can run free in doggie heaven and have lots of beautiful days free from whatever demons (I'm sure from abuse) that he had. When we first got him all he did every day in the summer is run around in circles and our vet said that this was behavior exhibited because he was probably just chained up all day long and could only run in circles for a certain distance. We have a large fenced in yard but it took him months to get used to it.

Duncan is definitely a prey animal....we have squirrels and rabbits running underneath our fence and many of them have been caught by Duncan and he shakes them to death (and I do feel badly about this but someone told me that some dogs just have that instinct). Dublin is afraid of his own shadow so he doesn't go after anyone but both Duncan and Dublin are really good buddies and love one another.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

The pet overpopulation situation in our country is a national disgrace.

The bad guy here isn't the well-intended person trying to rescue a dog! It's the person who was responsible for this young homeless dog in the first place!

I see many shelters and rescues raising LOTS of money to help dogs who find themselves in HORRENDOUS living conditions and suffering neglect and abuse. But we, as a nation, really need to be pushing things like spaying and neutering, education in the proper care of pets, regular veterinary care and help for those who can't afford it, reporting neglect and abuse, etc. Right now it's just a free-for-all and too many pets are suffering and being euthanized daily due to lack of a home and to make more room in shelters. It's sickening.

I agree with the above poster that not all dogs, and not all rescues, are stable dogs. I understand the desire to save and help them. But if they show themselves to be unstable, it may be a kindness to give them a humane death, because these are the types of dogs that are either going to wind up in abuse situations again, or doing damage to other pets or humans. I hate that this is the case, and wish every dog born could be stable AND have a loving home. But it is a difficult issue because everyone has their own ideas about pet ownership and you simply can't force others to be good pet parents.

 

[LSUmiss]

The pet overpopulation situation in our country is a national disgrace.

The bad guy here isn't the well-intended person trying to rescue a dog! It's the person who was responsible for this young homeless dog in the first place!

I see many shelters and rescues raising LOTS of money to help dogs who find themselves in HORRENDOUS living conditions and suffering neglect and abuse. But we, as a nation, really need to be pushing things like spaying and neutering, education in the proper care of pets, regular veterinary care and help for those who can't afford it, reporting neglect and abuse, etc. Right now it's just a free-for-all and too many pets are suffering and being euthanized daily due to lack of a home and to make more room in shelters. It's sickening.

I agree with the above poster that not all dogs, and not all rescues, are stable dogs. I understand the desire to save and help them. But if they show themselves to be unstable, it may be a kindness to give them a humane death, because these are the types of dogs that are either going to wind up in abuse situations again, or doing damage to other pets or humans. I hate that this is the case, and wish every dog born could be stable AND have a loving home. But it is a difficult issue because everyone has their own ideas about pet ownership and you simply can't force others to be good pet parents.

Also, ppl get a lot of flack for saying animals are like ppl or like their children to them. But, I think most ppl know they are not, but it’s the best way to describe how important they are to them & convey that they are not just objects we own. I say that b/c I think if more ppl appreciated that they are not objects, ppl would be less likely to just get rid of them when things don’t work out. Then again, many ppl abandon & abuse their actual children so....

 

[Hills4diz]

This is first class anthropormorphizing which is dangerous for both the birds you foster and any dog. They are not humans. They do not process information or emotion the way humans do. Part of the reason people have such guilt when they do have to return an animal to foster because they don't
work out is that they have been lead to believe that dogs experience human emotions and function mentally like humans-they are not persons-they are animals and experience emotion ( which I most certainly agree they do) like dogs and not like humans. The perception that they do experience emotion like humans has cost many a dog its life.

The other thing I am is a advocate for responsibly bred pure bred dogs. Shelter dogs are wonderful but they are not the right answer for every family. Sometimes rescues-particularly from overseas with no defined temperament and no defined history make amazing pets and sometimes they do not. Not every shelter is honest about why dogs were relinquished and many times shelter dogs-especially those that are like the one in the post above get recycled many times because they are not suited to being in a family but everyone wants to 'save' them. And the sad truth is not every dog can or should be saved.
When you are ready to get a dog it might be worth looking into a puppy-or older dog-from a responsible breeder. if you are looking for specific temperament or behavior ( i.e no prey drive) dogs bred to a breed standard for that characteristic are a good choice. and responsible breeders will know which among their dogs will fit that paradigm. Also, if for some reason you are not unable to keep the dog either because your circumstances change or the dog is not a good fit a truly responsible breeder will take it back without reservations and ensure that it has a great life no matter what. And they will be honest about whether or not a dog could live with your guinea pig I, for instance have two beautiful, sweet Bernese Mountain dogs. One of them has 0 prey drive-he would be the GP's best buddy. Both live and cuddle happily with cats-but one of them I would not trust with the GP because he does have prey drive. And I have known that since I got them at 9 weeks old-because my breeders knew their dogs and their lines and temperament tested puppies prior to placing them. Just something to consider when you feel ready.

No jsmith it is not. It is recognizing that animals are not things to be gotten and discarded and they have feelings. The idea that dogs or other animals do not experience emotion has cost many more animals their lives.

OMG you have got to be kidding. Dogs are not people. Look it up in any dictionary.

 

[disykat]

My current dog is a rescue and I got her immediately after a failed adoption. I think they had her five days. I don't know exactly what happened (they said too much barking and I don't consider her that much of a barker) but I'm so happy she is in our home - exactly where she should be! She went through a lot to get to us, but I DEFINITELY think the people that briefly owned her did the right thing so she could end up in a best case situation (IMO) in our home!

 

[Hrhpd]

Thanks. I think I'm done for a while.

This rescue does seem good. They seem to do very well with vetting out the older dogs. They've been very upfront about the various issues of the older dogs; hence, why I haven't been able to find one in weeks. For the puppies, they know less. All I know is that this one was a stray, picked up in rural southern Virginia just last week. No one claimed her and she was sent up here. So no history and she had not yet been fostered. A lot of the older puppies do end up getting pulled into foster and maybe someone will do that with her.

Right now, though, I feel like the worst person ever. I hope I'm being overly dramatic but all I can think about is how I must have confused that poor dog.

First of all, you are not the worst person ever. You did what was best for the dog and best for you.

Some other lesser known places to get older dogs that are highly trained and well vetted.

Another avenue you can explore is show breeders. (Caveat, we do show ourselves, so am familiar with the great dogs that are placed.) Often they have adult dogs that didn't quite grow up to be the perfect specimen for showing or breeding. Their bite may not have come in as expected (dropped lower front teeth is common in our breed) or a top line is not what it should be. There is absolutely nothing wrong with these dogs except that they are not the best of the best so will be spayed or neutered. The breeders want the best for these dogs so will seek out a family for their own.

You will reap the benefit of extensive training and an extremely well bred dog who has a lot of health history behind them. Plus a mentor in the breeder to help you.

I have one now. Her littermate is the #1 dog in the country but she is not as perfect. And her breeder is ethical so will only breed to better the breed, not to make money. She has an outstanding temperament because that is what the breeder breeds for and she comes from the same litter that produced the best of the best. I know her genetics 5 generations back. The breeder has become a dear friend. When I got her at 2, she was being used as a 4h dog for some neighbor children so was well socialized and incredibly well trained as they were doing obedience and had show trained her. I would get another failed show dog in a heart beat.

Another avenue for getting a well trained dog with a known history is to get on the waiting list for the dogs that fail service dog school. They only fail being a service dog, not a highly trained family pet.

 

[tzolkin]

Rant time:


I am super over "rescues". These people have such an attitude. I want a dog. I can take care of a dog. I can walk a dog. I can take a dog to a dog park. I can train a dog. No, my yard isn't fenced. Yes, I work. But the rescue people? Oh, no, that's not good enough.

Well guess what, rescue people? You got too many dogs to take care of and you are too darn picky!

It definitely depends on the rescue and the people running it.

There’s a Great Dane rescue near me that has a very strict policy requiring a fenced yard if you own a home. But they have no problem adopting to people who live in apartments without any yard. I cannot understand the logic in that at all.

Every other rescue I have worked with may have requirements for a specific dog, but not across the board. For example, Spot is super high energy so he needs a fenced yard. Rex is big and hasn’t learned manners so he can’t be in a home with small children, etc. If there’s a logical reason to it I have no problem with them denying a family that would not be a good fit.

That said, the part you quoted was about greyhounds. That I can definitely understand their hesitation about adopting to people who work very long hours. Retired racing dogs have NEVER been alone even for a few minutes since they were born. So the transition into a home where they would be alone for most of the day would likely result in major separation anxiety (and probably the dog getting returned).

 

[Christine]

My current dog is a rescue and I got her immediately after a failed adoption. I think they had her five days. I don't know exactly what happened (they said too much barking and I don't consider her that much of a barker) but I'm so happy she is in our home - exactly where she should be! She went through a lot to get to us, but I DEFINITELY think the people that briefly owned her did the right thing so she could end up in a best case situation (IMO) in our home!

My last dog was a "failed" dog, if you can say that. Her first owner got her from somewhere when she was 6 weeks. Kept her for a couple of months and turned her in to our county shelter. She was there for a few days, adopted by a family, then returned because she jumped on their kids. I got her a few days later and she worked out well for us (she was 7 months old at the time). She did end up having a high prey drive and I had a very unfortunate situation between her and a small dog I got later. I had no idea. I'm sure this is why the guinea pig issue sent me over the edge. But back to your point, in every other way, she was a perfect dog for us and lived until she was 18 years old. So, I get the good fit thing. I just never wanted to be the person who sends a dog back. Just really disappointed in myself for not being more careful. I admit that I got caught up in things and tried to push my fears aside. I won't do that again.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

First of all, you are not the worst person ever. You did what was best for the dog and best for you.

Some other lesser known places to get older dogs that are highly trained and well vetted.

Another avenue you can explore is show breeders. (Caveat, we do show ourselves, so am familiar with the great dogs that are placed.) Often they have adult dogs that didn't quite grow up to be the perfect specimen for showing or breeding. Their bite may not have come in as expected (dropped lower front teeth is common in our breed) or a top line is not what it should be. There is absolutely nothing wrong with these dogs except that they are not the best of the best so will be spayed or neutered. The breeders want the best for these dogs so will seek out a family for their own.

You will reap the benefit of extensive training and an extremely well bred dog who has a lot of health history behind them. Plus a mentor in the breeder to help you.

I have one now. Her littermate is the #1 dog in the country but she is not as perfect. And her breeder is ethical so will only breed to better the breed, not to make money. She has an outstanding temperament because that is what the breeder breeds for and she comes from the same litter that produced the best of the best. I know her genetics 5 generations back. The breeder has become a dear friend. When I got her at 2, she was being used as a 4h dog for some neighbor children so was well socialized and incredibly well trained as they were doing obedience and had show trained her. I would get another failed show dog in a heart beat.

Another avenue for getting a well trained dog with a known history is to get on the waiting list for the dogs that fail service dog school. They only fail being a service dog, not a highly trained family pet.

I practically could've written the bolded. Ours is from a top breeder, too, and was destined for show but had a cosmetic issue. Our gain. His breeder and I have also become good friends. I love sharing information back and forth with her! And pictures and videos! Health was of utmost importance to me since my last two dogs had suffered from genetic problems. Before I got this dog we tried twice to adopt. I mentioned here earlier that the first dog had bitten my old, paralyzed dog on the way out of the shelter and the shelter manager nixed it for the sake of my old dog. We also attended an adoption fair looking for a small-ish dog and DH asked the person running the event if the dog we were interested in was lap aggressive, and she said no. The foster mom happened to overhear and pulled my DH aside to say he was, in fact, lap aggressive! So that would've been an issue for us had we figured this out once we got home. In putting lots of feelers out for a dog, I got a call from this breeder whom I'd contacted months earlier, my dog was available, and the rest is history. This woman and I always say that our dog is very fortunate he had a great beginning and a great forever family. As I said earlier, I've been trying to adopt a GSD for a long time, and haven't made a connection yet. I figure it's just not the right time for our family, but it has been frustrating trying to communicate with some of these rescues and adoption agencies. I figure when the time is right, we will find the right dog for our family. To me, it's so important to have the right dog in order to have a good relationship.

 

[Christine]

No jsmith it is not. It is recognizing that animals are not things to be gotten and discarded and they have feelings. The idea that dogs or other animals do not experience emotion has cost many more animals their lives.

I think most people here, as well as most dog lovers, know animals are not "things" and have feelings. I truly believe they have souls as much as we do. I think the other poster was pointing out that a dog, though, does not think and reason like a 10 year old child.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

My last dog was a "failed" dog, if you can say that. Her first owner got her from somewhere when she was 6 weeks. Kept her for a couple of months and turned her in to our county shelter. She was there for a few days, adopted by a family, then returned because she jumped on their kids. I got her a few days later and she worked out well for us (she was 7 months old at the time). She did end up having a high prey drive and I had a very unfortunate situation between her and a small dog I got later. I had no idea. I'm sure this is why the guinea pig issue sent me over the edge. But back to your point, in every other way, she was a perfect dog for us and lived until she was 18 years old. So, I get the good fit thing. I just never wanted to be the person who sends a dog back. Just really disappointed in myself for not being more careful. I admit that I got caught up in things and tried to push my fears aside. I won't do that again.

This thread jogged my memory about something else today. When my kids were little, their babysitter's cat had kittens. I'd always wanted a cat, but never had one in part because we always had German Shepherds and some of then didn't always get along with cats. But at that time my two Shepherds were really friendly and liked cats, so we decided to put them outside the slider on the deck and let all the kittens walk around the kitchen to see if there were any that didn't mind the dogs. One kitten went right over to the door and was fascinated with the dogs, and vice versa. I was so happy! So the kitten came to live with us. Well, the mewing bothered my mother even though she had a separate apartment. And my kids loved the kitten but they were only about two years old and didn't really understand that the kitten was fragile. They wanted to hold it. Then one day I saw my DS toss the kitten up into the air, and I knew that it wasn't fair to the kitten to live with two two-year-olds. So we made the decision to bring him back. DH (also a huge animal lover, who grew up with cats) and I cried the whole way over to the babysitter's house. When she came to the door and I handed the kitten back, I was so upset I couldn't even speak. I just bawled and left. She totally understood. But still, it was hard, and the memory of it makes me feel terrible. I was just saying to DH I would still love to have a cat some day. Not sure how our little Toto would be (although I have faith in him as he is an amazing dog), but if we could find a cat that could hold its own, we might get it to work. Maybe some day.

 

[Christine]

This thread jogged my memory about something else today. When my kids were little, their babysitter's cat had kittens. I'd always wanted a cat, but never had one in part because we always had German Shepherds and some of then didn't always get along with cats. But at that time my two Shepherds were really friendly and liked cats, so we decided to put them outside the slider on the deck and let all the kittens walk around the kitchen to see if there were any that didn't mind the dogs. One kitten went right over to the door and was fascinated with the dogs, and vice versa. I was so happy! So the kitten came to live with us. Well, the mewing bothered my mother even though she had a separate apartment. And my kids loved the kitten but they were only about two years old and didn't really understand that the kitten was fragile. They wanted to hold it. Then one day I saw my DS toss the kitten up into the air, and I knew that it wasn't fair to the kitten to live with two two-year-olds. So we made the decision to bring him back. DH (also a huge animal lover, who grew up with cats) and I cried the whole way over to the babysitter's house. When she came to the door and I handed the kitten back, I was so upset I couldn't even speak. I just bawled and left. She totally understood. But still, it was hard, and the memory of it makes me feel terrible. I was just saying to DH I would still love to have a cat some day. Not sure how our little Toto would be (although I have faith in him as he is an amazing dog), but if we could find a cat that could hold its own, we might get it to work. Maybe some day.

Another story...

My coworker has two cats and a few years ago introduced a retriever puppy to the mix. The puppy was very curious with the cats and bugged them and one day the cats just basically beat him up. The dog learned to respect them and the dog and the cats now live in harmony. But, about a month ago, my coworker's son's girlfriend (if you can believe this) decided to "gift" her boyfriend (who still lives at home after getting out of the military) with a German Shepherd rescue. This dog is a mess. The cats went fleeing and actually ran upstairs and lost control of their bowels over this dog. The cats have remained terrified for a month and have been sequestered upstairs. It's a bad situation and my coworker, who is very nice and IMO being taken advantage of is putting up with this. I couldn't manage it.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Another story...

My coworker has two cats and a few years ago introduced a retriever puppy to the mix. The puppy was very curious with the cats and bugged them and one day the cats just basically beat him up. The dog learned to respect them and the dog and the cats now live in harmony. But, about a month ago, my coworker's son's girlfriend (if you can believe this) decided to "gift" her boyfriend (who still lives at home after getting out of the military) with a German Shepherd rescue. This dog is a mess. The cats went fleeing and actually ran upstairs and lost control of their bowels over this dog. The cats have remained terrified for a month and have been sequestered upstairs. It's a bad situation and my coworker, who is very nice and IMO being taken advantage of is putting up with this. I couldn't manage it.

Oh, boy...not good.