oohh..im so sorry for what happened to the dogs.

Oh Joy I am so sorry to hear your story. That is such a terrible thing to do! I can hardly believe it. How sad for his brother too when he realized what he had helped do. What kind of awful excuse for a human would take advantage of his mentally disabled brother to do such a terrible, cruel thing to an animal and you. A guide dog especially. It makes me sick just hearing about these people. I am so sorry for your loss.

Thanks Katie.

The year before he was poisoned, a man who didn't want to wait on the long waiting lists for a guide dog, offered me $50,000 for Gandalf. (The average cost of training a guide dog is $35,000 to $45,000. I turned him down saying Gandalf is not for sale. Now I wish I had accepted. Even if I didn't have him anymore, at least he would not have suffered poisoning.

I think I am in GSD withdraw. My new dog, Zar, is a chessy. I'm afraid he just doesn't do it for me.

Don't let yourself regret that decision. You gave Gandalf a great life, who knows what would have happened if you had sold him! I'm sure Zar is a great dog to have around, but I know what you mean. Dogs, like people, are irreplaceable. My sister-in-law's mother is the same way. She grew up with Collies, and she will just never love another dog the same way. It doesn't mean she can't find a great companion, just will always have the difference. Maybe if the time comes Zar can have a GSD companion?

 Quote: Joy van Veen

I think I am in GSD withdraw. My new dog, Zar, is a chessy. I'm afraid he just doesn't do it for me.

You've mentioned this in most of the posts you've put up here since you joined recently. It's a sad situation.

This is such an important relationship, with a service dog. I would guess there are lots of people who need service dogs who might find your Chessy perfect. What about finding that person, and then, finding your next GSD service dog?

leih

Hey Joy,

Just ignonre this post. I just saw your other one looking for a GSD...good luck with that!

leih

 Quote: leih merigian

What about finding that person, and then, finding your next GSD service dog?

leih

That's what I've been thinking of doing. I know that a lot of people would prefer a soft dog, which I didn't think I would get with a chessy.

My dog mysteriously got very sick last year. I took him to the vet, mentioned possible poisoning, but they said it didn't look like that and didn't test him. He pulled through it just fine, but had stuff coming out both ends for about a week.

I couple of months later, my wife said she saw him pick up something in the ditch across the road that looked like lunchmeat and swallow it. I watched him closely for the next couple of days, but he was fine. So I'm not sure what it was. It was just out of view of my surveillance cameras, but I saw a big contractor pickup pull up just out of view and leave after about 5 minutes on the previous day. Could have been a couple of guys on lunch break finding a quiet spot to finish their lunch and just tossed the rest of it.

I also found a piece of rolled up gauze, soaked with something, and tied to a bush where I normally walk the dog. I put it in a baggie and kept it, no idea what was on it.

Bottom line is that if you have a dog, especially a breed that people might be afraid of, then you need to train food refusal. I need to work on this with mine, but he's really good about NOT picking up random food found in the ditch or on walks. Now if he was in the yard and there was a big steak sitting there taunting him for hours, he'd probably eat it.

Of course, my cameras would see who did it, but by that time, the damage is probably already done.

 Quote: John Stopps

Bottom line is that if you have a dog, especially a breed that people might be afraid of, then you need to train food refusal.

And/or never, ever, ever, ever (and did I mention never ever?) leave your dog outside unsupervised.

Just one of many reasons, IMHO