Friday, August 24, 2012

Throwing Caution to the Wind...

Yesterday, I told you about my getting pregnant paranoia, and then the overwhelming relief when I found out I wasn't.  I said that I went out and made a big, rash, un-thought-out decision... here is that story.

Usually, I am an over-thinker.  I  have to think about, and plan, and budget, and think some more before I do or purchase anything remotely big, remotely meaning over $50 or over a few hours time commitment.  I am not spontaneous in the least, and I really wish I was a more "throw caution to the wind" type of gal.    So with my overwhelming since of freedom I gained when I found out my period being 5 days late was not a pregnancy... I threw caution to the wind, but it backfired.

We adopted a shelter dog.


My daughter has been begging for another dog (in addition to our little Pomeranian, Leo) to call her own for months now.  She really has been wanting a Boston Terrier, specifically.  We had spent some time this summer with our family in Wisconsin and their Boston, Sparky, and we fell in love with him.   Then we doggy-sat our friend Ashley's Boston, Olive, and we fell in love with her.  So when KC pet project posted a picture of an adorable little orphan Boston up for adoption, on the same day I found out I wasn't knocked up...... I said, "Let's do it!  Why not?!"   So on a whim, we drove out to the shelter and made it there 5 minutes before it closed, paid $150 adoption fee and brought the little pup we called, Roxy, home.


She was such a well behaved, sweet, little dog on the car ride home.  I was smitten with her, and so were the kids.   When we introduced her to our dog Leo, a first red flag went up.  She lunged at him, trying to bite him, sort of viciously, at the neck.  Because of all his long, fuzzy, fur  she only got a mouth full of fur-ball and not his flesh.  It was going to take some time to get her acclimated.



We also noticed that when she would get playful, that her play would quickly evolve into aggression, and suddenly her playful growls were REAL growls.  She kept going after Leo, who is half her size, and has not one cell of dominance in his little furry body.

Finally, toward the end of the second day we had her, we were all in the living room watching TV.  My 4 year old son, Will, was sitting on the floor playing with his cars, and for no reason at all, she lunged at his face, attacking him.   As he cried, and flailed she only became more aggressive.   Thankfully, my husband and I were right there to get her off of him as quickly as possible.  His face was scratched and bloody, but not severely harmed.   It scares me to death to think what would have happened if Geoff and I, had not been there... If I was in the shower, or down doing laundry,  how bad it might have been.   We knew then, that we had to return little Roxy. 

Will, asleep, after the incident

My daughter was devastated, she cried and cried and did not want the dog to go.  Even Will, asked if she could have a second chance.  I felt sick to my stomach.  I was afraid that if we returned her to the shelter, she would be put down for her aggression, and I absolutely did not want that to happen.

We called the shelter, KC Pet Project, the next morning.  They were very understanding and assured us that nothing bad would happen to Roxy, and that they would have a foster lined up to take her when we dropped her off, so that she wouldn't have to sleep in a cage again.  They also said they would make sure she would be adopted out to someone with no other pets or children... Roxy needs to be an only child.  She is a really, really, sweet little girl, that just needs to be trained a bit, I just couldn't risk the safety of my kiddos.

I realize that despite, everything that happened, it was good that we had some time with the little pup.  I am glad that we were the family that discovered her issue.  I know many people out there would have hurt or abandoned the dog if it attacked their child.  I am also glad that Will didn't get hurt severely bad, if it had been a younger child, it could have been worse.  I also learned that if we are going to be adopting a shelter dog, it would probably be best to be a puppy.  I am not fond of training puppies, but raising a pup from early on with children, is the best way to know it will get along with them.  I am also more aware of what a good dog our Leo is. He has never been anything but submissive, and I've never had to worry about him hurting anyone.

Our little Leo

Anyway, this little bout of "throwing caution to the wind" has cost me $150 in adoption fees ( I am going to call that a donation to a deserving animal organization,)  $90 that I spent getting her checked out at the vet, and $20 I spent on pink  puppy accessories I bought at PetCo.   This was quite an expensive lesson.   I think I will go back to my over-thinking ways!


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