Tanner lived with a little dog who allowed to harass him to the point of biting at his genitals. One day the owners fiance was tossing food to Tanner and the little dog. They don't know enough dog behavior to specifically say whether Tanner grabbed for the food and got the little dog by mistake or if he went for the little dog on purpose but either way it wound up in Tanners mouth. Even though Tanner let go of it and backed off right away it didn't take more than that one crunch to kill it. The dog only weighed two pounds.

Tanner caught the full blame for the little dog dying. The fiance is terrified that he will kill her other little dog so Tanner moved in with me today. If he was returned to the rescue he would be put down for aggression. I'm his 6th home that we know of. He'll stay with me for the rest of his life. He's a very sweet 7 year old Boxer boy and was actually used as a service dog at one point. He's been allowed to lose all the good manners he learned so we'll be working on that. He's also overweight, has chronic yeast ear infections, and was free fed. All fixable through diet and exercise. He starts portion feeding with a grain free food tonight.

So far he's being kind of whiny but I'm just ignoring it. I'm really glad to have him especially since I live alone. We have a large feral cat population over here and I'm hoping his presence will keep them off the roof. It's hard to sleep in a loft bed when cats are fighting 2 feet over your head.

He'll also be the first dog that's truly mine. We'll start marker training once he's more comfortable with me and his new home. Hopefully I can eventually start competing with him but that's a long way down the road.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11/CathyG/IMG_0497_zps5e06a4f0.jpg

How lucky you both are to have found each other! I love to read stories like yours. Such a handsome boy. Congrats.

What a lucky guy Tanner is !!!

It sounds like it was a very sad situation for all of the dogs in the previous household. The owners allowing Tanner to be tortured by the little dog, the little dog ending up being killed (all I can say is it's my belief the humans bear all the responsibility for that happening).

But the good news is Tanner has a new lease on life. It sound like he has finally fallen into the right hands with someone who is going to take care of his health issues, brush up his manners, and show him what a good life is all about.

Congratulations on your new family member, Cathy. Looking forward to updates!

 Quote: Cheri Grissom

It sounds like it was a very sad situation for all of the dogs in the previous household. The owners allowing Tanner to be tortured by the little dog, the little dog ending up being killed (all I can say is it's my belief the humans bear all the responsibility for that happening). .... Congratulations on your new family member, Cathy. Looking forward to updates!

Absolutely. Completely agree. But "I'm his 6th home that we know of" really worries me, unless you know what's been happening over and over and over and know that you can deal with it and fix it.

His last 4 homes were due to circumstances beyond his control, including this last one IMO. Divorce, moving, financially unable to keep him, etc. My mom's known him for a long time and says he's a perfect gentleman when rules are enforced. That's partially why I took him. I don't know about his first few homes.

He's a very vocal boy. He howls, barks, and "talks". I can see him losing a few homes to that. I rent myself so he might end up wearing a bark collar when I'm not home.

" ..... Divorce, moving, financially unable to keep him, etc."


OMIGOD.

Good luck with Tanner, Cathy!

Handsome boy! Congratulations on the new family member and kudos to you for giving him a good home.

I'll bet the vocalizations decrease as he relearns his former manners.

He's being a velcro dog right now. Following me from room to room and barking when I leave. I did some practice runs last night with leaving and then coming back in when he was quiet. His last owners said he does much better not left in a crate but I'm not sure about doing that with him just moving in with me. He's chilled in the crate next to me all night.

Bad timing. This morning I have a registration/orientation for mechanic school that I absolutely can't miss. Tanner will have to be home alone for about 3 hours and it's early enough to disturb my neighbors if he starts barking. I'm going to have to leave him a stuffed kong and hope for the best.

On the positive side of things Tanner has been great at meal times. He sits and waits until he's released to eat and then eats it all. He was taught to do that before being switched to free feeding and I'm glad he remembers it.