This is a true story that recently happened to me. I'd to share it to help you in your decisions you make when raising your puppy.

 

THE STORY OF GEORGE

 I recently took in what I'll call a "rescue" dog.  This was an incredibly well bred and absolutely gorgeous ACD male that was 6 years of age.  He had bitten his owner, bit his wife twice and they had become afraid their young children would be next.   They searched in desperation for a home and I (silly me) was the one who came to their aid.  I had no doubt that I could "fix" this dog and turn him into a respectable pet/family member.  After a long and painful adventure, I was sadly mistaken.  I’d like to share this story with you to prevent this sad situation from happening to you or your future pet.

This dog, I'll call him George, was raised by his owners to be a spoiled rotten brat with absolutely no respect for his owners or anything else that came into his life.  Any dog is prone to attaching themselves to one person or one family.  This is just fine if you live in a remote hut in the outskirts of Alaska!  Living in a normal society requires us to socialize and train our dogs to be just like we are.  This means tolerance, patience, kindness and respect for others.  These qualities should be demanded from your dog, without compromise, just as we all demand from our children.

 George had been raise to bark for cookies, bark when the doorbell rang, told to “sick-em” when someone was lurking or riding a bike, etc.  He also was never taught respect.  He would jump at the owner’s truck so he had to purchase special magnetic stickers for the truck so he wouldn’t scratch his brand new paint.   If George wanted inside a gate or door he’d complete tear it down to get through it.  He had absolutely no respect.  This part of the story could go on and on but I’m sure you can get the idea so I’ll stop here.

People forget that dogs, even to this day, have a “pack” mentality.  They look for a leader.  If a leader is not found then they will resort to what their instincts tell them must be done.  They themselves will become the leader.  There is no gray area here.  It’s a simple fact.

So, back to George…he was taught that it was just fine to be the leader of his human family and all society he was exposed to.  This family then had children and tried to do what we all do, which is live a normal life.  George would have none of this.  Once the kids were born he wasn’t the center of attention, he wasn’t the boss who could bark at the door (because the babies were asleep) and he couldn’t boss people around like he’d been used to doing over the first 3 years of his life.  He couldn’t chase kids on bikes and he couldn’t tear down doors.  His owners found themselves dumbfounded and looking for help. 

They hired a trainer, whom he bit in the process of training because the trainer was trying to be the boss.  Trainer gives them further instructions and they did everything the trainer told them to do.  No luck.  George still wasn’t happy.  He wasn’t the ruler of his roost anymore.  Therefore, the family wasn't happy.  Are you seeing the cycle here?

I then walk into this picture.  Silly me, thinking I could save this dog. I took him into my home and introduced him to my family.  After many sleepless nights and many long days George seemed to really be coming around and learning respect and was learning what it was like to be a dog that was not the king of the castle. All was going well.  Or so I thought.

We’ve all heard the expression “take one step forward and two steps back”, right?  This is a classic example of that expression.  

To make a very long story short, George ended up biting my son, my daughter and this sad story ends with him attacking me in the pasture at feeding time.  His mind snapped and he attacked me in the middle of the night when I was feeding the horses alone.  He had every intention of killing me and shredding my body into little pieces because he’d completely had it.  He wasn’t the king of the castle anymore and just couldn’t handle it.  I was the new ruler and he was going to take me down.

 He tore my hand apart and would have kept going had I not stopped him.  It’s amazing what a person can do in a time of crisis with their adrenaline flowing.  I was able to stop this dog from killing me but not without the help of my Husband.  Had it not been for Brett I’m sure I wouldn’t be here to share this story with you.  George was going to teach me a lesson. 

 Because of his early training and behavior I had absolutely no choice but to put George to sleep.  He was a danger to all that came in contact with him.

This is a classic example of poor training.  Do NOT allow this to happen to your future pet!  Raise them as you would a child.  Demand respect, kindness to all creatures and do not let them be the boss of your house.  Teach your puppy rules that everyone can live by and don’t compromise.  This is the simple law of nature. Don’t allow your puppy to become another George.

   Rest well, George.  You were a good dog with bad training.  I truly miss you.

Looking back on it all…he did teach me a lesson