Show us your pets!

[Ritamarie]

JaniceG - That is one GORGEOUS dog!

+1 No kidding! Lovely. Makes me want to get the brush out and go spend some time with my dog!

[TsPoet]

Do you believe in karma??? Remember my rescue earlier this year, Rusty? After 4 months of trying to retrain his fear agressive behavior, we gave him to the trainer we had been working with. A week after he had him, he sent us an email saying he was doing well.

Wow. I think Tulip has some good advice.
I do believe in Karma, so if it were me, I'd give him another chance. But, that isn't the smart thing to do.
Do you have a dog training club? If you could get in touch with dog enthusiasts int he area, they might have training options and/or training advice for you.

[MartianDestiny]

Any thoughts, ideas, points to ponder?? I've always felt bad giving him up and my son has asked about him during this whole time. I thought maybe this was the worlds way of saying he belongs with us. Or worse, that Zeus didn't have much more time with me (he's healthy though).

I basically agree with Tulip.

If you are really interested in possibly keeping him you could give it a week or two and see how he is. You'll probably get a sense by then if his old habits are returning or if he's significantly better.

In that time look at rescues/no kill shelters/and other options. I don't remember his issues, but it could just be he needs a house with no small children and no other dogs. That's not a terribly uncommon request from independent rescues, so they'd probably be willing to work with you/him. Especially if you're willing to "foster" him while he's up for adoption.

I think I'd be very hard pressed to track down a "trainer" and give the dog back when that "trainer" never changed the dogs info, won't answer your phone calls, and lost the dog though.

Finding a good trainer would be a Godsend if you wanted to keep him, but could be expensive especially for one on one work (I pay $70 a session). That may or may not be feasible at this point.

Anyway, I'd say yes it is fate. I wouldn't say that means you have to keep him. Finding him a new home either independently or with the help of a reputable rescue is another option worth exploring; especially if his aggression is still showing.

[mtbdarby]

Thanks for the insight Tulip and TS. I called my vet and she said a similar thing but didn't have any rescues to recommend me to. I left messages for 2 rescues in the area I found on the internet and am waiting to hear back. If they could help me screen him I'd be more comfortable. I also posted an ad on CL to see if DTD will email back with a current phone number so I can see if he'll tell me what the heck happened.

When we worked with this trainer (who had good references) he did work with us as a family. His website has a lot of pix of Rusty in different scenarios so it's weird he updated the pix and not his phone number. Of course, that was his only job and in this economy in a sparsely populated area, maybe he had to give up his cell phone/business recently. Who knows. All I can do is try my best to find the best home for Rusty, regardless of where that ends up being.

This will be an interesting day!

[mtbdarby]

Rusty update - after serious thought, I decided not to take him back. I did talk to the people that found him and they were just a few blocks from the address on DTD website. They took him over and returned him. Guess he's still training dogs and Rusty seems to be fine there so he's "home".

It would still be nice for the guy to return my emails but what can you do?

Thanks for walking me through the dilemna!

[Zen]

he's all alone and no one knows!

[lph]

he's all alone and no one knows!

and he sounds like he's about to throw up Poor Lorenzo.

[Tuckervill]

One of my cats came RUNNING over here when I played that! Poor Lorenzo.

Karen

[Zen]

and he sounds like he's about to throw up

Are you particularly attuned to the 'cat-about-to-throw-up' sound?

[Tuckervill]

I am! But only one of my cats uses it.

Karen

[lph]

Are you particularly attuned to the 'cat-about-to-throw-up' sound?

God yes. You don't want to know why.

[Possegal]

Are you particularly attuned to the 'cat-about-to-throw-up' sound?

When my little renal failure girl was still around, that sound could wake me out of a sound sleep. Miss that little girl, though obviously not the restless sleep!

[Zen]

I've had three cats and I really don't remember that sound.

[lph]

maybe not all cats do it. I've had many make that ow-ow-ow-yowling sound and barf the next minute.

Funny thing is, when my son was small I remember him once or twice making a sound quite like it, a sort of non-stop verbalized crying for a minute or two before he, yup, puked everywhere.

[Possegal]

The cat in the picture to the left did not do it. The renal failure cat was an exceptionally vocal cat though. Some would say she was much like me - loved to hear herself talk!