Friday, March 4, 2011

SAD

I came home from studying last night to find my Shih Tzu dead. My Pit Bull was the culprit. I am sick to my stomach as writing this. I love my dog so much and I can't stand the thought of euthanasia or even getting rid of her. She has been showing some aggression for a few months now. I never really believed it would lead up to the death of one of my little dog's. She was raised with them, they knew each other.


Here is the email I received from our Vet, he isn't anti-pit. He has cared for her several times. Keep in mind that he is a Vet that lives in Oklahoma. This doesn't mean that he is an English teacher.
Kayla,
Per your request pertaining to your Pit Bull, I cannot and would not encourage you to keep a dog that has attacked and killed another  dog. I had the same situation, same breed of dog, problem occur when I was in practice in Montana. The people thought that Pit's are the way because of the way they are raised. InMontana, the formerly nice Pit attacked and killed a little Poodle. Within a week the folks caught the dog with their 3 month-old baby girl's head in its mouth. That is the potential problem one live's with when they have a Pit that has attacked. It may or may not happen again and it may or may not be a child, but I would never be the one to encourage someone to keep that breed of dog which has an attack and kill history. I would advise euthanasia for the dog, otherwise you are liable  for any and all damages that dog may do AND...you could face criminal charges were it to bite a person. Hope my input will be helpful to you guys. Yours...Doc Collins

Reading this just makes my heart break. I don't know how I could ever have her "put down", I have only had to have one dog put down because he had parvo and the $400 treatment was not successful. I didn't want to see him suffer any longer so we decided to put him down. Ashley is my baby though, she is almost three years old. She was raised with other dogs, I thought this would "socialize" her, so she wouldn't have aggression towards dogs later. WRONG answer. I am learning the hard way that it is just their "nature", it plain sucks. If it was just her I would NEVER consider have her "put down", but I have my niece and nephew to worry about. They come over quiet often, I have my Pug Bob to worry about also. He is so little and she would surely kill him just like Molly.

Ashley is in the kennel right now howling this sad pitiful howl, but I can't let her in because I am scared that she will kill Bob. All of our dogs are inside dogs but they go outside while we are gone, or when it's nice so they can get some play time in. I have been rotating her between the kennel and the leash all day today, she has never been outside for this long besides when we went to Corpus last year.

My heart is literally breaking, I know most of you will think it is stupid because it is "just a dog", but she is my baby. We have no kids, these dogs are our kids for now. I got this dog to keep until she died, now my vet is telling me to have her "put down".

I got this breed because I think they are beautiful but I also wanted to be able to prove people wrong. I wanted to show people that we could raise an even tempered animal. She is great with humans, she has never showed any aggression towards a human, {except my father-in-law, but you really don't want to know the story. I don't blame her for trying to growl at him and warn him not to come closer though}.
She is a good dog and I don't want to kill her. Maybe my compassionate nurse is coming out now, I thought I had no compassion until now.

RIP Molly
"Jolly Molly"


Ashley the Pit Bull


What do I do? Have any of you ever dealt with this?

13 comments:

  1. Gosh, that's awful. I'm so sorry. I don't have any experience, but if a Vet who knows your dogs is advising this, I wouldn't ignore what he's saying. I'm sorry. What a horrible situation.

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  2. I am seriously so SAD for you. My heart is breaking. :( I know what you mean by you dog is your "baby". Because Lola is my baby since I don't have any kids either.
    I am so SORRY. But I know that won't make anything better. As for your dog Ashley that killed for little Molly, I am sorry to say this but I would either A. put her down or B. give her away. I know this must be so hard to read, but she killed your dog! If they grew up together you'd think she wouldn't dare hurt her, but she did.
    I personally, do not like pits because it's in their nature to be like that.
    So it's entirely up to you!
    But that's just my opinion. I feel bad for Ashley anyways, regardless. It's a sad situation. I'm so sorry Kayla, hope you have a better night/weekend. :(

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  3. This is SO sad :( My heart seriously breaks for you, Molly and Ashley. ALL dogs have a little aggression. My little baby short leg Jack Russell has bit someone before...she was just not big enough to do any damage. Animals know when they've done something wrong and you can see it in their eyes when they're sorry! Seriously about to cry as I write this! I can't give you any advice, because I honestly don't know what I would do in this situation. It's hard to even talk about putting your baby dog, who is like your child down because of one incident that went VERY wrong. But it's also hard because you have to think about if it could happen again. Life is so not fair sometimes. Sorry this is so long, this blog just really touched my heart... I'll be thinking about you and praying for you

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  4. Oh my gosh, I am SO sorry to hear this. My heart is breaking for you and your dogs. I am like you, my dogs are my children and I could never imagine putting one of them down. It sounds like you have a lot of work ahead of you. I once read an article about a guy who owns a shelter specifically for aggressive dogs. He only takes in dogs that come from fighting rings or have aggressive backgrounds. I have been looking for a website for him but I can't find anything. There is a TON of helpful literature out there though. There are countless books on animal behavior. Here are some good articles I found...

    http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_FightsBetweenDogs.php

    http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_AggressionDogsInSameHouse.php

    http://www.petplace.com/dogs/inter-dog-dominance-aggression/page1.aspx

    However, it does sound like Ashley might be better off in a one dog home. Most shelters out there will immediately euthanize a dog with a history of aggression, but there are a few that won't...or you could start asking around to find her a new home. I have heard that Best Friends Animal Society takes in fighting dogs...here's their website. Or maybe you could call them for better advice.

    http://www.bestfriends.org/

    I'm so sorry you are going through this. I can't imagine how you feel. :-(

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  5. what a sad situation...I'm so sorry :(

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  6. My friend's pit attacked her, and her dog. She sent it to live on a ranch for the breed. It won't be killed. Let me ask her the information about it and I can pass it a long.

    I am not anti-pit, but I also wouldn't keep a dog that has attacked another pet or person. Regardless of the breed. It's just too dangerous to tell if it would happen again.

    I'm so sorry hun. I hope you find what's right for you.

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  7. I'm so sorry - that is absolutely heartbreaking. I feel so badly for you and for little Molly. I know that you love Ashley, but you seriously can't keep a dog like that. The safety of your family is so much more important. A friend of a friend's daughter was recently killed by a dog - she was an 8 year old child. Like you said, Ashley has been showing aggression and she killed a dog that she was raised with and knew well. I wouldn't be able to trust her again with other dogs or children. If you don't want to put Ashley down, you should look into a Pit Bull Rescue organization. I'm so so so so sorry that you are going through this :(

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  8. I am so sorry to hear this, I know it is definitely dreadful to find your little shit-zu not there. I hope what ever you choose to do with Ashley will work out best for you and your family.

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  9. I am so so sorry. That is awful. I can't imagine having to put my dog down. Like Sarah said, I think you should look into various resources so you won't have to. I used to have a German Shepard that was great to the family, but vicious to everyone else. We loved him and couldn't let him go. However, we dropped him off with the state police and they trained him to work in a state prison. I know it is a different breed, but there has got to be something available so your baby can still live a long life.

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  10. omg that is so awful I am so sorry you have to deal with this. I hope the right answer will come to you whatever it may be.

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  11. I'll be posting about an award I'll be giving to some of my fave blogs this week, and yours is one of them. :)

    Email me at jessica@proudlifeofachiefswife.com to get your award.

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  12. Hey i just came across your blog and it breaks my heart to read this :( im so sorry. I think there are always more options then just putting a dog down. I hope you figure something out what makes you both and the pit happy.

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  13. I am so sorry. something similar happened to us. My sister's pits killed my dad's boxer puppy while she was deployed. They chose not to put them down (2 of them). Unfortunately, the dogs turned on her and another dog when she returned from deployment. It tore our family apart.

    Check into the legal ramifications of the dog attacking another human or pet in your state. Where my sister lived, if she had adopted the dog out, and the dog attacked another person or pet, she would still have been held legally liable for any damages. That made the final heart wrenching decision for her, because she loved her dogs so very much.

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