I have got to get this story finished so I can move on. The people from Duke Energy have still not come to cut down the tree that is precariously balanced across our driveway and held in place only by the questionable strength of the power line to my house. They estimate the power will be restored to everyone in Guilford County by 11:00 PM tomorrow night, so one would hope they will then have time to rescue me. At least I have power. Bud stopped by the Food Lion on the way home last evening, but the store was closed because they had no power. I wonder what happens to all that refrigerated and frozen stuff in a grocery store when it goes for hours without power?
Anyway, back to the heartbreaking part of my doggie tale. We went for a reasonably long time with just Bailey and Logan. When we finally decided to get another dog, we decided we didn't want a small puppy. We wanted a young, female dog because I wasn't anxious to go through all the training and maintenance involved in raising a puppy. So in January, 2009 we went to the Guilford Country Animal Shelter in search of a dog to add to our family. Of course, I wanted to give a home to every one of the poor babies there, but being realistic and looking only at dogs that fit our criteria, I was disappointed to not find a dog we could adopt. I was trying really hard not to cry on the way home, and that wonderful man I'm married to said "Why don't we stop by PetSmart? Sometimes they have dogs from the shelter there and maybe we'll find our dog if we go by there." So we stopped, and sure enough there she was. The perfect little girl for our home.
We named her Abigail. Abby was a 13 month old little black dog, probably mostly lab, but on the small side. She had black spots on her tongue, but I later learned that does not mean she was part Chow. She was enthusiastic and playful and we fell in love immediately and took her home with us. The introduction to Bailey and Logan went well, and soon we were one happy family again. I'm sorry I don't have a better picture of her. I know I took some, but mysteriously they have disappeared. I don't even want to think about what that means. Abby had some odd little personality quirks. Whenever I would put all the dogs outside after breakfast so they could do their morning thing, when I would let her back in she would jump up on me and scratch my arms and legs with her sharp little claws. At other times she would jump on me normally, but every morning she found some new place to leave a long scratch. No amount of discipline or rewards would make her change this behavior. She also had a thing about men. It took her several days to warm up to Bud. Whenever any of our male friends would stop by the house, Abby would go bonkers barking incessantly at whoever it was. She did not behave like this toward females, so we assumed she had been abused by a guy and tried to work with her to fix this problem. Eventually, she settled down and quit barking at the guys who are regular visitors to our home, but she never got over barking continuously at any other male who approached our home. Abby was a very hyper girl and she and I would play chase games while I tried to wear her out. Unfortunately, once I became a dizzy broad, chase games were extremely difficult.
We also put our name on the list of people interested in getting a dog from the Chesapeake Bay Retriever Rescue Group. There were lots of dogs available for rescue, but most of them were so far from North Carolina, transportation was a major issue. Also, we specifically wanted a female dog between one and five years old who got along well with other dogs. It was during this period that I got in the shower one morning and leaned back to rinse my hair after lathering with shampoo and my whole world went to Hell. I got so dizzy, I almost fell down. I have continued to be dizzy, all day every day since. That shower took place on August 27, 2009. I started seeing doctors and specialists and more doctors and more specialists and yet more doctors and more specialists until finally in March of 2010 someone discovered SCDS was causing my dizziness.
In November of 2010, we found the perfect Chessie for us and went about arranging Georgia's adoption. Georgia is a purebred Chessie who was apparently picked up as a stray in southern Alabama. She had heartworms and had not been neutered, so the rescue organization was taking care of these problems before putting her into the system. In early December, Ann, Rita and I made a trip to Atlanta (see Three rubes take a road trip) to pick up Georgia and bring her back to her new home. Georgia is such a sweet little girl and she blended into our family almost seamlessly. Once again we had our four dogs - two purebred and two mutts, and three girls and a boy. All was right with the world again.
In February of this year things started changing in the dynamic of our pack. I noticed Bailey was growling at Abby much more often and Abby was often being downright mean right back. It usually was just a growling match, but I still didn't like it, and we started taking measures to put an end to the problem. Some rivalry is natural. Bailey is getting old. She is probably pretty much past her heyday, and Abby was just reaching the age where she was starting to feel her oats. Because of Abby's aggressiveness, I noticed Georgia becoming a bit more forceful with both Bailey and Logan. Now you don't want to mess with Logan. He's not gonna play silly little games with you. He will let you act ridiculous up to a point and then he will put your little arse down on the ground, no more questions asked. He is not vicious, and once you have been put in your place, he will walk away, but he will only stand for so much before he lets you know he isn't too old to whip your ass. Bailey on the other hand, has never been aggressive and until recently had rarely growled. This went on for awhile and though it was disturbing, it wasn't a big problem.
Until things went to Hell in the middle of the night in late March. The dogs had all been sleeping in the house and about 3:00 AM decided they wanted to go out. This is not unusual, and I'm just stupid enough to get up and let them out whenever they ask to go out in the middle of the night. It really doesn't bother me. I let them out and fall back in the bed and I'm back asleep within seconds. Except for this night. For whatever reason, the minute they all got out the back door, Abby went for Bailey with a vengeance and started trying to tear Bailey's ear off. I ran back in the house and woke Bud up. By the time we got back outside, Georgia had joined in and had hold of Bailey's other ear. Logan had taken one look at the fighting women and wandered off into the yard. We separated the girls, took Bailey back in the house, and made everyone else stay outside. At 4:45 AM when I got up to start my day, I got everyone's food ready, just as I normally do, and set the bowls out in the proper places on the kitchen floor. Bailey was still in the house, so she had begun to eat her breakfast. I opened the back door to let the other dogs in for breakfast and Abby went straight for Bailey and started trying to tear her up again. That's when I made the mistake of sticking my hand into the fray in order to separate them, and Abby tore into my hand just like she was tearing into Bailey. And, Georgia once again decided to jump in against Bailey. Of course, by now I was screaming for Bud and he came racing down the hall. He jumped into the middle of it all, while I backed Georgia up into a corner. Bud threw Abby out the back door and checked Bailey to see how bad it was. She had torn both of Bailey's ears, but it wasn't serious enough to rush her to the Vet. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for me and my hand. After we got the bleeding to stop, Bud bandaged my hand as best he could to hold until I could get to see my doctor later in the morning. After the three dogs in the house finished their breakfast, we brought Abby in the house and put the other three outside. Bud dropped Abby off at the Vet's office on his way to work. We wanted the Vet to examine her to see if there was some reason she had suddenly turned violent. And this obviously blew gigantic holes in our theory that female dogs don't have violent dominance issues.
The Vet kept Abby from Tuesday until Saturday, when we came in with the other three dogs, all of whom were scheduled for their annual physicals. Our Vet could not find anything wrong with Abby. We put Abby and Bailey in pens out back of his office. They were separated by a fence, but there was no growling or posturing and they seemed to get along okay. We took Bailey, Logan and Georgia back home and then Bud went back and got Abby. Her took her to PetSmart where he bought a muzzle and a crate for her. He brought her home and we put the muzzle on her and let the other dogs in. She immediately started growling and trying to snap at Bailey, but, of course, she couldn't because of the muzzle. But she kept pawing and digging at the muzzle and finally managed to get it off her nose. We knew then the muzzle would never offer the protection Bailey would need if they were all outside at night. So we started playing musical dogs. We would put Abby in the crate whenever Bailey was in the house. Then we would lock Bailey in the bedroom so we could let Abby out of the crate so she could go outside. Then we'd let Bailey have the run of the house until it was time to swap again. At first, Abby was okay when she was with Logan and Georgia. But on Wednesday last week she grabbed Georgia around the throat and started snapping and growling. I was able to get her off Georgia and back into the crate without any bloodshed (doggie or human), but I spent the next half hour shaking all over from the experience. I was no longer willing to allow Abby to be with any of the other dogs. I doubted she would do any damage to Logan, but I was terrified he would kill her if she attacked him. So for the rest of the week, we shuffled dogs in and out of crates and closed off bedrooms and closed off bathrooms and I got virtually no sleep. By the end of the week, my last nerve had been shattered and I was crying constantly. That's when we made the awful decision to do the one thing I swore I would never in my entire life ever do. We decided to take Abby back to the animal shelter. Bud took her back and surrendered her to the shelter on Sunday.
It broke both of our hearts and I'm not sure if either of us is ever gonna get over this. My friend Ann tries to tell me it was best for all of us, and I suppose that's true but I can't help remembering that precious little girl and how great she was until she went nuts. I miss her terribly and I feel as if I've let her down -- deserted her. I should have been able to find a solution. I pray some kind family with no other dogs will adopt her and take her home. I worry about her all the time.
Our household is calm now. Dogs come and go as they please. Georgia does not show any aggression toward Bailey. We believe her behavior was just part of the pack mentality when Abby was being so aggressive. We have peace and quiet and happy doggies. I'm no longer a nervous wreck and I am able to sleep at night. I just can't look at myself in the mirror.
Anyway, back to the heartbreaking part of my doggie tale. We went for a reasonably long time with just Bailey and Logan. When we finally decided to get another dog, we decided we didn't want a small puppy. We wanted a young, female dog because I wasn't anxious to go through all the training and maintenance involved in raising a puppy. So in January, 2009 we went to the Guilford Country Animal Shelter in search of a dog to add to our family. Of course, I wanted to give a home to every one of the poor babies there, but being realistic and looking only at dogs that fit our criteria, I was disappointed to not find a dog we could adopt. I was trying really hard not to cry on the way home, and that wonderful man I'm married to said "Why don't we stop by PetSmart? Sometimes they have dogs from the shelter there and maybe we'll find our dog if we go by there." So we stopped, and sure enough there she was. The perfect little girl for our home.
 |
| Abby |
We also put our name on the list of people interested in getting a dog from the Chesapeake Bay Retriever Rescue Group. There were lots of dogs available for rescue, but most of them were so far from North Carolina, transportation was a major issue. Also, we specifically wanted a female dog between one and five years old who got along well with other dogs. It was during this period that I got in the shower one morning and leaned back to rinse my hair after lathering with shampoo and my whole world went to Hell. I got so dizzy, I almost fell down. I have continued to be dizzy, all day every day since. That shower took place on August 27, 2009. I started seeing doctors and specialists and more doctors and more specialists and yet more doctors and more specialists until finally in March of 2010 someone discovered SCDS was causing my dizziness.
 |
| Georgia |
In February of this year things started changing in the dynamic of our pack. I noticed Bailey was growling at Abby much more often and Abby was often being downright mean right back. It usually was just a growling match, but I still didn't like it, and we started taking measures to put an end to the problem. Some rivalry is natural. Bailey is getting old. She is probably pretty much past her heyday, and Abby was just reaching the age where she was starting to feel her oats. Because of Abby's aggressiveness, I noticed Georgia becoming a bit more forceful with both Bailey and Logan. Now you don't want to mess with Logan. He's not gonna play silly little games with you. He will let you act ridiculous up to a point and then he will put your little arse down on the ground, no more questions asked. He is not vicious, and once you have been put in your place, he will walk away, but he will only stand for so much before he lets you know he isn't too old to whip your ass. Bailey on the other hand, has never been aggressive and until recently had rarely growled. This went on for awhile and though it was disturbing, it wasn't a big problem.
Until things went to Hell in the middle of the night in late March. The dogs had all been sleeping in the house and about 3:00 AM decided they wanted to go out. This is not unusual, and I'm just stupid enough to get up and let them out whenever they ask to go out in the middle of the night. It really doesn't bother me. I let them out and fall back in the bed and I'm back asleep within seconds. Except for this night. For whatever reason, the minute they all got out the back door, Abby went for Bailey with a vengeance and started trying to tear Bailey's ear off. I ran back in the house and woke Bud up. By the time we got back outside, Georgia had joined in and had hold of Bailey's other ear. Logan had taken one look at the fighting women and wandered off into the yard. We separated the girls, took Bailey back in the house, and made everyone else stay outside. At 4:45 AM when I got up to start my day, I got everyone's food ready, just as I normally do, and set the bowls out in the proper places on the kitchen floor. Bailey was still in the house, so she had begun to eat her breakfast. I opened the back door to let the other dogs in for breakfast and Abby went straight for Bailey and started trying to tear her up again. That's when I made the mistake of sticking my hand into the fray in order to separate them, and Abby tore into my hand just like she was tearing into Bailey. And, Georgia once again decided to jump in against Bailey. Of course, by now I was screaming for Bud and he came racing down the hall. He jumped into the middle of it all, while I backed Georgia up into a corner. Bud threw Abby out the back door and checked Bailey to see how bad it was. She had torn both of Bailey's ears, but it wasn't serious enough to rush her to the Vet. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for me and my hand. After we got the bleeding to stop, Bud bandaged my hand as best he could to hold until I could get to see my doctor later in the morning. After the three dogs in the house finished their breakfast, we brought Abby in the house and put the other three outside. Bud dropped Abby off at the Vet's office on his way to work. We wanted the Vet to examine her to see if there was some reason she had suddenly turned violent. And this obviously blew gigantic holes in our theory that female dogs don't have violent dominance issues.
The Vet kept Abby from Tuesday until Saturday, when we came in with the other three dogs, all of whom were scheduled for their annual physicals. Our Vet could not find anything wrong with Abby. We put Abby and Bailey in pens out back of his office. They were separated by a fence, but there was no growling or posturing and they seemed to get along okay. We took Bailey, Logan and Georgia back home and then Bud went back and got Abby. Her took her to PetSmart where he bought a muzzle and a crate for her. He brought her home and we put the muzzle on her and let the other dogs in. She immediately started growling and trying to snap at Bailey, but, of course, she couldn't because of the muzzle. But she kept pawing and digging at the muzzle and finally managed to get it off her nose. We knew then the muzzle would never offer the protection Bailey would need if they were all outside at night. So we started playing musical dogs. We would put Abby in the crate whenever Bailey was in the house. Then we would lock Bailey in the bedroom so we could let Abby out of the crate so she could go outside. Then we'd let Bailey have the run of the house until it was time to swap again. At first, Abby was okay when she was with Logan and Georgia. But on Wednesday last week she grabbed Georgia around the throat and started snapping and growling. I was able to get her off Georgia and back into the crate without any bloodshed (doggie or human), but I spent the next half hour shaking all over from the experience. I was no longer willing to allow Abby to be with any of the other dogs. I doubted she would do any damage to Logan, but I was terrified he would kill her if she attacked him. So for the rest of the week, we shuffled dogs in and out of crates and closed off bedrooms and closed off bathrooms and I got virtually no sleep. By the end of the week, my last nerve had been shattered and I was crying constantly. That's when we made the awful decision to do the one thing I swore I would never in my entire life ever do. We decided to take Abby back to the animal shelter. Bud took her back and surrendered her to the shelter on Sunday.
It broke both of our hearts and I'm not sure if either of us is ever gonna get over this. My friend Ann tries to tell me it was best for all of us, and I suppose that's true but I can't help remembering that precious little girl and how great she was until she went nuts. I miss her terribly and I feel as if I've let her down -- deserted her. I should have been able to find a solution. I pray some kind family with no other dogs will adopt her and take her home. I worry about her all the time.
Our household is calm now. Dogs come and go as they please. Georgia does not show any aggression toward Bailey. We believe her behavior was just part of the pack mentality when Abby was being so aggressive. We have peace and quiet and happy doggies. I'm no longer a nervous wreck and I am able to sleep at night. I just can't look at myself in the mirror.
Okay, not gonna lie, had a little like hop skip in my brain when I read my name on your blog. Thought I had a whole post dedicated to me. Woops
ReplyDeleteAbby, though you are an amazing young woman, I don't yet know you well enough to do a whole post on just you. I will probably do a post on you, your sister, your mom and your dad some day about how you all came back into my life.
ReplyDelete