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How long does it take?
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I had a terribly bad emotional hit the other day. My wife and I had to put our two dogs down. The unfortunate thing is that it was under terrible circumstances.

You see, we had our one dog, Crystal, from when she was a puppy. We got her from the Humane Society. She was a black Lab/(and we later found out)Pit Bull mix. She was a pretty good puppy, easy to train, but we really had to work some aggression out of her. We always used positive reenforcement techniques and never hit her. When she was about a year old, we thought she was ready for a companion.

So we went back to the Humane Society and found Diva, a 2 year old Rhodesian Ridgeback. Diva was a very cool dog and SO affectionate with us. She also seemed to get along really well with Crystal. Of course there were the expected territorial "arguments" between them at first, but after about an hour they settled in nicely. Before long they were like sisters and would cuddle up with each other and sleep. They were seemingly inseparable.

Of course, within a couple of weeks we noticed Diva had some kind of problem with her hind legs. We took her to the vet expecting to hear that she had hip dysplasia or something. The good news was that there was no dysplasia, the bad news was that she had old bilateral ruptured cranial cruciate ligaments. Off to the MSU vet surgical hospital, and $3000 later, Diva was doing great. Within 6 months she was out running Crystal.

Everything was great for 2 years until this past January. For whatever reason the two "girls" had a pretty serious altercation that required a trip to the emergency vet for some minor stitching. It was a pretty viscious fight, but within seconds of gettting them apart they were licking each other wounds with no inkling that they had just been attacking each other. For about 2 days you could sense that things were a little stressed between them, but it all settled down.

My wife and I had some pretty serious discussions at that point. Of course we were most nervous about our dogs attacking some of the kids in the neighborhood, but they really had never given us the thought that that happening was a worry. We decided to take our chances and hope that this fight was just an anomaly.

Unfortunately, we were wrong. On Wednesday of this past week, Diva and Crystal really got into a very serious fight. Neither my nor I have any idea what caused the altercation. I was yelling at both of them and giving them "COME" and "HEEL" commands, but it was like they could not hear me. Diva had Crystal by the neck and was throwing her around like a rag doll. It was awful. Diva then had pinned Crystal down, while Crystal was trying to push her off and was biting her front leg. I finally got to Diva and grabbed her collar and made eye contact. This ended it. But there was blood everywhere. Crystal's neck was opened and bleeding. Diva couldn't put any weight on her front leg. I think this was the worst thing I had ever seen in my life. We put both dogs in the truck and took them to the vet. Of course, they seemed to be the best of friends again, which I think made doing what we had to do even harder. My wife and I stayed with them right until the end and hugged them and kissed them and held them until they took their last breath.

So now I can't even explain what a huge hole I have in my heart. I know that this is just a normal grieving process, but there just seems to be so many irrational things about it. I haven't slept good because I keep having that scene go through my mind. I know that at that moment they ceased to be my pets, but no matter how many times I think that, it doesn't seem to make it better.

If you've read this far, thanks. I really want to leave you with the thought that I loved these two dogs in an amazing fashion. We really tried to provide a great home for them. I just really don't know what happened.

Bernie

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"Slowbern has always made astute observations."-Casey 03/10/2009
2013-2014 Detroit Lions---13-3 until proved otherwise.
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Re: How long does it take? [slowbern] [ In reply to ]
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wow, I'm really sorry to hear that.

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Re: How long does it take? [slowbern] [ In reply to ]
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That is a sad story and will give you nightmares for years. It's always tough putting dogs down.

It looks like there was an aggressiveness in them that is hard to understand. As you noted, it would have been a disaster if that aggressiveness showed up with a child.

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You sir, are my new hero! - Trifan 11/13/2008

Casey, you are a wise man - blueraider_mike 11/13/2008

Casey, This is an astute observation. - Slowbern 11/17/2008
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Re: How long does it take? [slowbern] [ In reply to ]
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You did the responsible and really only thing you could do under the circumstances. I'm so sorry for your loss.
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Re: How long does it take? [AmyCO] [ In reply to ]
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AmyCO,

Thanks. I know that it is the "responsible" thing, but that is not making it any easier. Like I said, I'm pretty irrational about it right now.

Bernie

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"Slowbern has always made astute observations."-Casey 03/10/2009
2013-2014 Detroit Lions---13-3 until proved otherwise.
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Re: How long does it take? [jhc] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks, jhc. It is appreciated.

Bernie

______________
"Slowbern has always made astute observations."-Casey 03/10/2009
2013-2014 Detroit Lions---13-3 until proved otherwise.
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Re: How long does it take? [Casey] [ In reply to ]
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It looks like there was an aggressiveness in them that is hard to understand. As you noted, it would have been a disaster if that aggressiveness showed up with a child.

Bewildering. I think they just snapped. That is the easiest way for me to think about it right now. Still I feel like there is more that I should have done training wise, or something. I guess it is that guilt phase.

We were concerned about the dogs going after one of the neighbor kids, but our worst fear was that they would start a fight at our house while our kids were there. That would have been terrible for them to see. I'm glad that they did not have to see it.

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"Slowbern has always made astute observations."-Casey 03/10/2009
2013-2014 Detroit Lions---13-3 until proved otherwise.
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