On Clients I Would Like To Hurt

As you may know, I am a dog trainer. This is probably a post that could go on either of my blog's as there is a bad part, and a good part to it.

Any way, in April 2006, this adorable Great Dane puppy came here for some two week training on basic manners and housebreaking. Very sweet, friendly, well behaved guy who was no problem at all. On meeting the family, I had a very bad feeling regarding the relationship between the puppy and the husband/father of the family. The wife seemed to love Moose very much.

Due to this bad feeling, and because my husband fell in love with this dog too, I offered to pay the adoption fee, the vet bills AND refund the training for the dog. Never heard back from the family, until.....

This last Saturday, which is why I haven't posted. I did take Friday off, as we were getting ready for some guests to arrive on Saturday as well. The phone rang, and it was the husband/father. The dog has been circling between family homes, and now they don't want him. We have just adopted Jack awhile ago in the meantime, and our dog Jazz is a senior and needs much attention and love. My husband and I discussed it, and came to the conclusion that because of our responsibilities we could not offer this dog a home. However, I was determined to try to find him a better position in life. This guy is a lovely dog.

I called a client that used to watch us training, and had expressed an interest. I also take care of this client's other dog, also a Great Dane. Much to my surprise, they were very interested in this dog, and the next day they had him:) The dog came to them very thin, filled with whip worms, and lame in one leg. It's pretty obvious that he was not taken care of well, and most likely physically abused during his absence from here. It really makes me sick. They tried to tell my client that the reason that he would have "accidents" was from "seperation anxiety" (oh no, not from whip worm, and the fact that they left him alone for 10 hours at a time). Meanwhile, the dog has had no indoor accidents. It especially makes me angry as I offered them an out almost a year ago, and tried to follow up with this dog.

I have clients with dogs with behavioral issues, that completely take care of their dogs correctly. In fact, they stick with those dogs far beyond what I expect an owner would do with a behaviorally challenged dog. I am glad they do, as these are also the dogs that I get incredibly attached to, because the nature of the work is that these are the dogs that I spend most of my time and effort on. Also, I spend a lot of time and effort with the owners making sure things "go well". I also don't think you are going to do so well with a dog, if you don't find something to like about that dog, whether it's their drive, their stuborness, their wanting to protect their family, their work ability, et et. So as a trainer, it can truly suck when you have no control over how a dog gets treated, because you do give your heart to these dogs.

I wish I had told them their dog had run away, and that I was a horrible trainer. This dog wouldn't have had to live through the hell he probably went through for a little under a year last year.

God Damn People, sometimes.