dog gone

Homegrown Tomatoes · March 18, 2008, 08:43:18 AM

For those of you who've followed the saga of our little one-eyed Ornery dog since we were in Wisconsin and being harrassed by a neighbor who thought our little dog was abused because we let him out in cold weather to go to the bathroom.... since we moved, the fence between our house and our neighbor's house is pretty rotted, and all Ornery has to do to get out is flip one of the boards up. According to our lease, we are not allowed to tether, tie, chain or otherwise restrain our dog. So, Ornery has gotten out several times since we moved. On top of that, the neighbors down the street have a little female shitzu running loose all the time (the little temptress!) Anyway, Ornery got out again last night. I didn't worry too much because he usually comes back pretty quick, and he also is terrified of storms, one of which was brewing last night. I fully expected to open the door this morning and find him sitting on the front porch looking sheepish. However, because he has only one eye, he's really bad about running in front of vehicles, so I'm hoping he didn't get hit. We haven't seen him yet, and we've called him, and it's still raining, something that would usually send him straight home. Guess after I get the breakfast dishes done, we'll go hunt for him for a while...dumb, dumb, dumb little dog. $:-\$ My oldest daughter is crazy about this dog (I have no idea why as he's the biggest pain in the neck neurotic dog I've ever seen... I guess she feels like he "needs" her.)

Homegrown Tomatoes · March 18, 2008, 10:49:12 AM

He's back. Just as we were ready to leave to go look for him, he showed up at the back door, stained with red clay from the tip of his nose to his midsection. He stinks to high heavens and is filthy. I think he had to swim to get back under the fence. Don't know why he didn't come back to the front door.

Goofy spastic dog. I should take a picture of him. He acted like, "What? What did I do??" when I put him in his crate. Poor Grover, he's good and never does stuff like that, and yet he can't come in the house because of the light tan carpet (red clay + light carpet= disaster).

March 18, 2008, 10:52:32 AM

Glad he's back - I was going to suggest checking with animal control if you have one. Just a thought for the future.

Homegrown Tomatoes · March 19, 2008, 12:31:11 PM

He was trying to escape again this morning. I don't know what we're going to do with him. I guess the back yard just isn't big enough for all twelve pounds of him...

Finally, I had to put him back in the crate until I can go out and keep an eye on him. Don't know what else to do. The east fence is barricaded with everything we could find, and still he finds a way to dig stuff out and flip the fence boards up... I watched him pull out a concrete block the other day with his teeth!

ScottA · March 19, 2008, 01:40:28 PM

I'd suggest you tie him up when he's outside. We have a little dog that's the same way and that's the only way we can keep him out of trouble. We bring him inside at night and when the weather is bad to sleep in his crate.

March 19, 2008, 03:43:49 PM

I guess we're going to have to, though technically it violates our lease. However, if they don't want us to tie our dog, they oughtta have a decent fence. Dumb dog.

peternap · March 19, 2008, 06:56:49 PM

You could try a few strands of electric fence. Try to space the center one so it hits his nose.

glenn kangiser · March 20, 2008, 01:48:13 AM

I had a dobie who kept getting in the flower beds -- put up an electric fence, it hit her -- she ran 1/2 mile scared to death. I had to go get her and turned it back off -- She was a pretty good dog but not exactly on the overly bright side. Fixated on the small stuff.

Homegrown Tomatoes · March 20, 2008, 07:40:03 AM

That's kind of how Ornery is.... if you've ever read the cartoon "Mother Goose and Grimm" he is just like Grimmy, the neurotic, spastic little dog. One day I looked outside because he was just barking to beat the band, and it was a panicked, high-pitched bark like something was really about to get him. There he was totally cornered by none other than a box turtle! And he was absolutely freaked out about it. He went around barking at rocks for a while after that (it was right after he lost his eye about five years ago...I guess they looked the same to him.)

March 20, 2008, 09:43:32 AM

That's funny.

Suzy likes to bark at and eat moths if there is a light low to the ground -- also birds make her bark -- big low ones. Probably would bark at black helicopters too.

tanya · March 20, 2008, 09:48:59 AM

I teach my dogs to stay by telling them in a really mean voice to STAY when I put them outside, then I watch if they take off or even look like they are getting ready to take off I call them in and say BAD DOG you stay. If I have to go fetch them home I tie them up for the rest of the day and every time I walk by them I say BAD DOG YOU STAY!!! it works pretty good.

Homegrown Tomatoes · March 20, 2008, 06:48:45 PM

Ornery is kind of unteachable. I've never had a dog before that I couldn't housebreak, but he is the one. The "stay!" thing works if I am there and watching his every move, and yell at him every time he even looks at the fence, but I can guarantee you, the second I leave, he would be right over there digging at the fence again. The other day when my mom was up here, she decided to let him out of the crate for a little while because he'd been in for quite a while. He didn't stop to get a drink or pee or anything...he dove right for the fence and tried to get out.

Dorky dog. (I guess he didn't figure mom looked threatening enough when she yelled at him to stop.)

Homegrown Tomatoes · March 30, 2008, 08:54:48 PM

Well, seven years with Ornery, and DH has had enough. (I don't know if I ever explained that my mom sort of dumped him on us a long time ago... I think he's around 12 years old.) DH is giving my mom an ultimatum this week... either she takes the dog back, or he's taking him to the pound. We've been unable to keep him in and he's destroying the fence and the neighbor's yard and/or fence...if I were the neighbor, I would have been ticked a week or two ago. Thankfully he's a patient man. Stupid dog!! I feel bad because my older daughter is crazy about him, and it's going to break her heart to get rid of him. Wish I had a better solution, but I wouldn't wish him on anyone who didn't understand how he is... and mom sort of forced us to keep him seven years ago when I took him to get his shots because she hadn't done it.

glenn kangiser · March 31, 2008, 12:28:51 AM

You gotta do what you gotta do.

March 31, 2008, 07:14:50 AM

Two weeks ago I had to say goodbye to an old friend. She was a toy poodle(house dog) that I had for 17 years. But she got to the point that I don't think she was enjoying life. Seizures, couldn't hear, couldn't see, couldn't control her bladder anymore and had difficulty walking. She would get lost outside and walk to the wrong door to be let in. She never complained. I know you are wondering how I knew that but you can tell. It was a hard discission to make but it had to be done. All dogs go to heaven.

Homegrown Tomatoes · March 31, 2008, 10:16:28 AM

Red, that's hard when it is a good dog... heck, it's hard enough when it's a terrorist like Ornery. I am really hoping Mom will take him back and keep him. She has a huge fenced yard with a good chain link fence and inpenetrable roots below the fence line, so he really can't get out there unless he learns to climb. Here's the deal with how we ended up with him...we were newlyweds with a dog and two cats, and we really did not need or want any more pets at the time because we both were working all the time. In fact, my cousin asked if we wanted "a" cat and we agreed to help him out by taking the cat, and then he showed up with two cats! So, we were already stretched. Well, I made the mistake of mentioning to Mom that Doc Peterson was coming out to the rural town where we lived to do a shot clinic, and they were only charging about $5 for dogs to get their shots, and about $10 per cat. Mom mentioned that she should bring Ornery up and have his shots since he was probably 4-5 years old and she'd never had him to a vet. I told her I would take him and get his shots if she wanted me to, so I did. He got so freaked out by the vet that he stiffened up, almost hyperventilated, and then puked on the vet and me. I gave him a bath and got all the ticks and fleas off him, and then I took him back to my Mom, who said, "Oh, since you got his shots, you can keep him." I told her we didn't need and couldn't afford to take care of another dog, but no matter what, she refused to take him back. I was mad, but to avoid conflict, I brought him back home with me (1.5 hour round trip out of my way.) Later, my husband tried to get her to take him back, but she made excuses like the fact that he wasn't neutered (not our problem, as he wasn't our dog!) and she didn't want him to impregnate her female dog because she didn't want to have to find a home for the puppies, etc. Then it was that her other male dog would probably kill him and so forth... always some lousy excuse, and she knows he's caused a lot of headaches for us. When his eye was damaged, we ended up paying hundreds in vet bills, and it never would have happened if she hadn't forced us to keep him...and at that time we could barely afford groceries, let alone extra vet bills. She knows that we had issues in WI with him making enemies of our neighbors. Yet, she never seems to remember that we never wanted him, never asked for him, and have tried multiple times to get her to take him back... so, if he ends up in the pound, it is on her hands, not ours. He is her dog. My daughter is pretty attached to him. I remember when I was her age, our old dog died on Christmas morning, but she died of old age and natural causes, so as hard as it was, it was a little easier to accept. I can't imagine how I would have felt at her age if my parents had taken one of my beloved pets to the pound. My husband was ticked enough yesterday that he was ready to crate Ornery and drive him to Mom's house and drop him off without saying a word, but then he feels like he at least needs to say something and try to work it out peaceably. (Which is probably better than I would do!)

tanya · March 31, 2008, 06:53:16 PM

It is her responsibility to take the dog to the pound. But if you have to do it don't feel to bad most of the dogs that are taken to the pounds these days find a good home or at least foster care. I am pretty sure they at least try to find a good home for them. Maybe you can just foster him out until you buy your own place and build a kennel.

Homegrown Tomatoes · April 01, 2008, 10:15:48 AM

My husband always says he wouldn't wish this dog on anyone else... yet, at the same time, if he had some older person who wanted a little lap dog, he would eat up the attention and I'm sure, especially for someone who lives alone, he'd be great company. The two biggest things are that we've never been able to housebreak him (I've never seen a dog like this!) and because he is an escape artist. I thought about running a free to good home type ad, but then it seems like the people who answer those are usually dog "collectors" if you know what I mean. He doesn't seem to get dog social structure and rank, and he thinks he is bigger than anything. At twelve pounds, it's a boast he can't afford to make.

Last night DH talked to mom about the dog, and she flat refused to have anything to do with him, supposedly because Mikey, her big dog, would "kill" him. I thought, what's the difference if he goes to the pound anyway? He's old, he only has one eye, and he's crazy... they may not consider him adoptable. DH is pretty determined to take him to the pound. Meanwhile, back in Wisconsin, our realtor is holding a broker's open house in our house today, so I'm really hoping we get some good feedback that will help the house to sell more quickly. I'm holding out a little hope for Ornery dog to be spared. The good thing about him is that he's a good watch dog (for a one-eyed dog) and is better about letting us know what's up than Grover is, and so I'd like to have him if we do end up in the boonies somewhere.