This weekend has be long, over whelming, and sad.
Today we said good-bye to our puppy pal, Asher.
Asher has been getting more and more aggressive in the last few months. We noticed changes in him when I fell pregnant with Silas in 2009. He was glued to my side until Silas was born. When we brought Silas home, Asher was so protective of him. Thing were good. But then there were more changes. It started with barking at strangers, then charging people we know and then suddenly snapping at people. We started separating him from people who came over, but then he snapped at Josh. Then this morning while Josh was on the couch with his mom drinking coffee, Asher bit Silas.
It was unprovoked. Silas was sitting next to Asher and was patting him gently and then out of the blue he turned around and snapped. Josh was watching the two of them and said it was like any other time Silas would pet him. This time Asher turn and snapped in his face, his teeth grazing Silas' face.
No skin was broken and Silas is physically alright, but afraid to go near Asher.
I was upstairs when it happened. I heard Asher bark and then Silas cry and Josh yelling. He came up a few moments latter and told me Asher had bit my son.
I ran down stairs and collected Silas from Donna, my MIL, and called my dad, who was a dog handler in the military. His suggestion was to contact the shelter we adopted Asher from and seek assistance, as his behavior was out of characteristic for a Lab.
I knew the only option was to find him another home. I couldn't have an animal in the house that I couldn't trust with my child. Although I knew and still know that this was the right decision, it didn't make it easier for me. We've had Asher for almost four years. He is just as much apart of our family as any other member, but I can't keep an animal that bites or is aggressive with children.
Fortunately the shelter we adopted him from is No Kill and when I explained what had happened they told us that the safest situation was to surrender him to the shelter.
Mema came over to pick up Silas because my MIL was feeling unwell. I cried on my mom's shoulder when she got home. I cried into Josh's chest. I cried the entire time I gathered Asher's belongings. His pet bed, bowls, toys, food, and treats. I cried in the shower as I cleaned myself up. Asher appeared so remorseful. He walked with his tail between his legs and hung his head low. I cried as we loaded him and his things into the car. I cried all the way to the shelter. I cried as we filled out paperwork and when a shelter employee came in to interview us about Asher.
They let us spend some time alone with him as they set up a kennel for him. We hugged him and shook hands and let him give us kisses. When the employee returned for him she assured us they would find him a good home and would even ask his new family to give us occasional updates.
As we left Asher tried to follow us and a new bout of crying started. I feel awful that we left him, but what were we suppose to do?
I hope his new family contacts us. He really is a good dog, just not good for little kiddos.
Good bye pal.
1 thoughts:
We had to do the same thing with our cat, Mushu, when we moved to Alabama. She was older and was tolerant of Sophie, but after we settled here, she became aggressive and would seek after Sophie, looking to attack her. The day that Mushu attacked ME, I knew something was wrong. We called vets and shelters and they wanted to run a bunch of tests to see if it was illness but she was 14 years old. There was no way we could justify spending that kind of money for something potentially inconclusive and we knew no one would adopted a grouchy 14 year old cat.
We had to make the choice to put her down. And we know it was for the better.
Be glad that Asher is cute enough and young enough to be placed in a good home. And be glad that he didn't hurt Silas when he bit him!
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