What was the dog's name, Claudette?

Claudette, I understand that you are grieving and I understand that the dynamics of all families are different.

My parents are older and my father still possesses a very strong personality. But even with that considered I would of removed the dog before something happened or at the very least he would of left with me after I got him off my dad if I thought my dad caused it.

And there is no doubt that if I did that it would cause repercussions in my relationship with my father.

I would of made it my decision.

I'm sorry if I gave the impression that my dad tormented this dog. It was not like that at all. It's difficult to describe without overstating it. It's more like he would give the dog a quizzical look, and then act surprised if the dog barked at him. It's a very small detail but I think it was the seed of the eventual big problem. If I could have had the dog where I live, I would have taken him. We were also so worried about what had just happened none of us were thinking straight.

Yes, my dad is very stupid about dogs. The entire family has made this clear to him. I'm sorry I posted and dragged all of you into it. I have a heavy sense of guilt and remorse over the whole thing.

 Quote: Webboard User

At first, there was a growl, then a snap, then a bite, then an attack. In my eyes, it was predictable.

So, the dog growled- nothing stopped. The dog snapped- nothing stopped. The dog bit- NOTHING STOPPED. The dog attacked- the dog died.

Do I have this right?

Where the hell was this dog's leader? Where was his protection? If you "totally bonded" with this dog, and you saw the progression as "predictable" why the hell didn't you remove the dog? Rehome him if nothing else.

He was being harrassed. He TOLD you SO MANY TIMES and SO MANY WAYS... He did not get help so he took matters into his own paws and protected himself- and died for it.

That's not love. That's complete and utter failure. Don't get another dog until you understand this. You saw it coming but did nothing to stop the process that ended this dog's life.

Sorry if I sound harsh, but this dog was screwed from day one in that home... by no fault of his own. I am not here to boost and soothe egos.

The dog is in a better place now- free from harrassment.

entirely unsocialized

always suspicious of men, and unfortunately my father played into this by acting improperly

insecure

I saw this coming

it was predictable


I would have a heavy load of guilt and remorse too. The dog lived a life of insecurity, a life with no pack leader/protector, and then died in vain -- unless you learned something.

We've all done incredibly stupid things and caused bad things to happen. I know I have. The only way to redemption that I have found is to make sure I learned from it, and dedicated myself to applying the lesson so the bad thing(s) didn't happen in vain.

You're not hearing self-righteousness here. I think maybe you're hearing from people who are stunned at reading "not my fault" from you.


None of this sounded to me like you had wrapped your head around your own responsibility at all:

"I loved that dog. He was a wonderful dog that met a bad end at the hands of ignorant people. I guess I just really need to vent about it. Don't get a dog that you don't feel comfortable taming to your needs."

This all sounded to me like "not my fault; I told them so!"

Please honor this poor dog by giving his death some meaning.

I'm sorry for the pain of everyone involved, but I can't stop thinking of this insecure, unsocialized, unprotected dog.

It was his dog, didn't anybody actually read the post.

Yes.

And I read "The GSD that I totally bonded with" .... "We got this dog at 3.5 months old" and "I loved that dog."

And no, I don't see the phase "my parents' dog" as absolving responsibility of the one family member (who used to call him "my puppy") who "saw this coming" and called it "predictable."

JMHO.

Claudette, do you have a GSD?


Leave it/Drop it with Dangerous items and puppies #245365 - 07/04/2009 12:45 PM

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I love marker training, and my puppy is starting to 'get' the idea, etc. He is a GSD and is about 5 months old (I got him at
about 4 months to give an idea of the time I've had with himso far). As a bit of background, he seems a bit low on the drive-spectrum, so I have been working him often in short spurts in a motivational way with the things he loves best. This work is rewarding for the both of us and is having an impact.
I have a good HS prong collar for him, that for now
I have just been putting it on and off, for different times/
activities, in case I choose to use it later. I am not
against prongs but I feel if I can teach him this using
drives he will learn it better. I should mention I am in
New England and am facing some big problems with a forging
dog/ice on the street, and an older mother that will be
injured if we can't conquer this soon (we co-own).Thanks for your reply, Mike! I think he is from somewhat mixed
show and working. It seems the show is more apparent though, you
are right. I love the butterfly comment! So true, except for the
sky balls hehe. Nothing takes him off of those.

Hi everybody, thank you for your posts. I do wish to do Schutzhund with him, so I have been quite careful with corrections.

We have erred on the side of mild corrections in this respect. We always follow through, but we have never put the 'fear of
god' in this puppy. I'm not quite sure about the 'line' here for a dog we wish to compete with, so we have been cautious so far.

We do practice all the leader behavior in non-confrontational
ways...such as doorways, NILIF, protecting him from loose dogs, etc. But yes, he is definitely a brat that still tries...

Oh my. Claudette, I too would like to hear what his name was. And if you're up to it, maybe even a picture and how old he was.

I think what hit me the most was about his age:

 Quote: Webboard User

We got this dog at 3.5 months old, realized after it was entirely unsocialized (no exposure to houses, steps, leashes, etc. pretty sad).

3.5 months old. That's 14 weeks on this earth. Completely unsocialized and wow, not leash trained. 14 weeks.

Many people often have to wait a few extra weeks to bring their new pup home. My youngest came to me at 10 weeks. A good 3 weeks after what's strongly recommended with his type. To say he was unsocialized would have been an understatement. Leash trained? He didn't even know what a collar was. At two years old he started therapy work with the physically and mentally ill.

And I don't say this as any kind of brag or reflection purely on this animal but more of a question.

Had your father got this dog 6 short weeks earlier, or 5 or 4, do you think a younger pup being brought into this situation would have made that much difference?

What would your father have done differently in those 6 weeks that would have changed the outcome of this young german shepherd's life?

That quoted statement not only relinquishes blame from yourself and your parents but solely places it on the pup's breeder and the pup your parents chose to bring home and raise as their own.

I'm sorry Claudette but I must also agree with Connie and a few others here. Some good must come from the death of this fallen angel.

To not think that each and every one of the people that played a big part in this dog's life also didn't play a tremendous part in his death is to dismiss his life and somehow act like he deserved to die.

A big lesson for me would be to make sure that a puppy never set foot in my parent's home again. I would share this pup's story with anyone that was even thinking about handing a pup over to them.

Perhaps an active senior dog, that enjoyed your dad's antics, might be a good match but never any young, developing dog.

Your family has proven that they can't recognize the needs, limits and controlled effort that goes into raising a young dog. Or perhaps they do but no one was willing to step up or step on anyone's toes this time to get the points across or put any type of appropriate plan in place.

I think a lot of good can come from the death of this pup, beginning with a very open, candid discussion on what went wrong. And I would start that discussion off with the first boundary setting lesson.

DO NOT bring the 16 week old pup or his breeder into it.

Again, I'm sorry Claudette. I think more than anything I'm also mourning the death of this pup. Things didn't go well for him in life, let’s hope you guys can make some much needed changes in honor of his death.

I appreciate all of your comments, even the difficult ones. Some of you seem extremely balanced in your criticisms, and I'm grateful for that. I called the dog "my dog" because I loved him, I trained him, I helped my parents by exercising him. That was a deal we had together. They bought him and he lived with them. Part of the reason why they thought they could have a GSD was that I was willing (and happy) to have a hiking/jogging partner. We are together all the time because we have a family business.

I had many arguments throughout this long process with them trying to point out the problems I saw but they are old-school people who don't need any advice from anyone. When the behavior progressed beyond a bark to a snap I sat them down and told them how serious the situation was, and if they didn't immediately act to change how they managed the dog, it was going to get much worse. This happened after I actually witnessed (and stopped) the dog snapping at my dad for grabbing the trash bag the dog was trying to get into. I understand how serious this event was. I guess I also have to relate that even at the bark stage I scolded my father and told him why that was a bad behavior.

My father could have been killed just for walking around the house at night, even if he committed the crime of being a poor dog-handler. My dad is more of a child when it comes to dogs. He doesn't assert himself in any way. It wouldn't even cross his mind to hit a dog. He wouldn't even yell at one. I suspect he had a problem in his youth that he won't admit, but that's another story. Both my parents were extremely worried that the dog would attack my brother, who lives with them and is recovering from a freak stroke. I don't believe this would have happened, but from their understanding it was a risk they wouldn't take. They fully believe there was something wrong with the dog. In my opinion, it was a little of both the dog and the handling.

My dad says he didn't even have any interaction with the dog prior to the main attack. He was just going to the bathroom and noticed the dog had gotten up from where he was sleeping. He was exhausted when I found them. The thought is just horrible. Can you imagine how you would feel if you had to rescue your father from an attack? And your father was on his back yelling for help? And he had wounds all over his body? And he is 70? As sick as I am over the loss of the dog, I am twice sick over what my dad went through. Even if later on I can analyze things to death and find fault with my dad's handling.

I don't want to absolve anyone of guilt because we all had our parts to play, including me. I specifically encouraged them to get a GSD because it's my favorite breed, my dad liked the idea, and we together convinced my mom. I should have realized it was not a suitable breed for my dad. As I said, I am carrying a heart heavy with guilt and remorse.