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Friday, November 14, 2014

PIT BULLS NEED FRIENDS

I just realized it was 3 months yesterday since I have posted. So much has happened in that time.  Boychik did not stop presenting us with reasons to wonder why pit bulls have such a bad reputation.  I just didn't have time to write about them.

I will say, with his size, he can knock you over by bumping you when he walks by.  We had to make a trip to the vet yesterday and he weighed 83.5 pounds.  He is a mass of tightly bound muscle.   Which is the reason for the vet trip.  We have an extremely steep hill behind our house.  He charges up and down it chasing squirrels and falling leaves.  

He was limping terribly, not putting weight on the foot.  It was off to the vet to find out he has broken the foot on the outside edge where the toe attaches and there isn't a thing we can do about it but give him an anti inflammatory. 

The last two articles I wrote were about the New Dog Shayna.  It is the first dog we have ever had to return.  We worked for 6 weeks trying to socialize her and teach her to be a house dog.  She was totally incorrigible.  If you were watching she obeyed; if you weren't, she did whatever she wanted to.  
There were a couple of last straws.  Keep in mind, she and Boych had the best time when they were playing by her rules.  She began attacking him if we were around.  He wouldn't fight back.  He wasn't afraid of her, he just didn't want to fight.  When he did fight back she became more aggressive.  She started claiming us as her own property and wouldn't let him near us. 

The two last straws happened within 24 hours.  They were let outside to potty and play (their play became extremely rough for inside play).  Thirty minutes later I went and called them because no one had knocked on the door to come in.  No one answered the call.  Two hours went by and Boychik came home wet and muddy to his knees.  There was no Shayna.  I called and called and went out and blew the car horn (we have 20 acres of woods), sometimes the sound doesn't carry well and the car horn sound does.  The dogs think someone is here and come running.  Still no Shayna.  I am getting worried and Boychik is pacing back and forth and looking out the door for her.  He was worried to.

Three hours went by and no Shayna.  The phone rings and it's the vets office.  They said, "Are you missing a dog?"  I said, "Yes, how did you know?  I've been calling and calling and she hasn't returned"  They said, "We have her here at the office."  I said, "How in the world did she get there.  That is over 7 miles away".

They proceeded to tell me a couple was there with her and they had found her in their garage.  They had to give her a bath before they could put her in the car.  She had been in sewer mud.  She had her rabies tag on and they took her to vet.  The people live over the hill from us.   It is about a mile as the crow flies.   Doc said they'd bring her out to the gas station where our two roads meet.  

I retrieved her from them and we got home.  I realized I would not be able to let the dogs outside together any more because she would lead him off again,  so it was musical dogs all day.  The next morning was Saturday.  We were fixing a late breakfast, technically it was lunch.  We were discussing how we were going to train her to stay home.  Boychik walked up (he always likes to watch me cook and just wants to be close to me.)  He doesn't beg he just wants to be where we are. 

Out of the Corner of my eye I see Shayna walking over.  No problem we have a big kitchen with lots of room for dogs to be there.  She gets beside Boychick and it was like a lion was in for the kill.  She grabbed his ear with growling that was not play growls.  He was yelping and then she went for his throat.  There was no way she was stopping I grabbed the leash and decided it was grab her and risk getting bit because she was trying to kill Boychik.  

She did not try to bite me but she was still trying to get him.  He stopped fighting back the minute we pulled her off him, but she wouldn't stop trying to tear into him.  I threw her out side.  I figured she would calm down and then we could let her back in.  

Ten minutes later I let her in and she ran to look for Boych and started attacking him.  We put him in the den and left her out in the living room and called the Vet and told him what happened.  He had told us when he gave her to us that if it didn't work out we could bring her back.  

The trip to the Vets was very hard.  I had fallen in love with her and was so upset that I hadn't been able to fix her.  When we put her in his kennel she knew she was being left, she did everything she could to get out of the kennel.  He had to give her a tranquilizer shot to calm her down.  

When we returned without her, Boych was looking all over for her.  For over a week, when he went outside he looked down the drive to see if she was returning.  He has tried to make friends with our multitude of cats.  Two of them will let him get within an inch of them but if he tries to sniff them they run away, leaving him standing there.  Yes, he stands there and watches them go, he whines and whimpers.  He has never tried to chase them.  He has even tried to befriend the Parrots which is another shaggy dog story needing a blog article of its own.

Now back to the objective of this blog, a friend for Boychik.  As you can see in the above picture we have resorted to stuffed animals.   He adores them.  We have to cut out the eyes and then he un-stuffs them.  He carries the empty bodies around.  He takes them to bed with him.  Sometimes they get a little chewed.  But he doesn't want us to throw away the pieces he tears them into.  He keeps all his babies in a pile when he isn't playing with them.

We have decided we need to find a real friend for Boych.  
Yesterday we put in an application for a puppy we found at:

We called and they said it might be 48 hours before we hear anything.  If we are accepted, then we will take Boychik and us for a "meet and greet".....to see if it is a possible fit.  If this puppy doesn't work out, you can see there is quite a list of friends who need homes.

This is a possible new family member.

If you're looking for a new friend please don't forget to look at the forgotten dogs.  
Check out your local shelters.

other blogs by me:

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com
A blog mostly about quilting,
cooking, poetry, prose and a little gardening,
 Tutorial on how to make 5 panel Boxer Shorts.
 Check out "A MYSTERY IN THE MAKING"
A mystery quilt designed with the novice in mind.
Where I have stories of my cats and other pets
a blog about my courtship with my husband,
and a blog about my most embarrassing moment.
A "Soap box" blog where I do air my opinions.

blogs about the wildflowers on our farm
Organic methods we use, some cooking and some poetry,
blogs about Seed sprouting, insects, and garden pictures
Blog about an endangered beneficial beetle

All recipes, pictures, and writings are my own.
I give credit for items which belong to other people in my blogs .
Please do not copy without permission

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