I have done a lot of reading and soul searching since Arthur was put down. I have read every post several times. I have very mixed feelings about everything that has happened. Our first rotti was Nikita, we got her from the local shelter, she was roughly 2 years old at that time. Nikita hated other animals. She would try so hard to pull me on leash to get to another dog, it was embarrasing and going to the vets was worse when the waiting room was full. About 1 week after we adopted her I took her to a pet store. At this time I didn't know she was animal aggressive. The girl that worked there also had a rotti. She saw Nikita try to go after another dog that came in the store as well as a big stuffed dog that was sitting near the cash. Nikita tried so hard to kill that stuffed dog. The girl working abruptly told me that my dog should be destryed due to her aggression. I of course said I think not. She told me that if my dog ever went after hers she would kill my dog, that Nikita was not a good dog and i had better take her to the shelter and put her to sleep. At this point my blood pressure was rising quickly...this girl was getting on my nerves, she was one of those opinionated no it alls. I stopped going there!!
Now I knew we had a problem with our girl and we took every precaution to make sure she would never hurt anyones dog. She was an awesome rotti who loved us, our grandchildren, all people so very much. We knew as long as we had her we would not be able to get a second dog or any other animals but that was okay because we loved her so much and everything else about her was perfect. Had she been aggressive to my grandchildren or people my decision may have been different. Or I would have crated her when need be. She was our baby and the love of my life along with my kids, grandkids and hubby. She was family. Well we had her almost 6 years and during that time she never touched another animal. We just made sure she couldn't. I made sure I had complete control over her on walks because to let anything bad happen would have meant losing my baby. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I likely would not have had Arthur put down but would have tried other things like crating him until I could get profesional help with the aggression, working with him using positive training, or at worse finding a home without other dogs or dogs similar to the type he was aggressive towards. My dogs don't like small dogs but are great with other large breeds.Kiki will not accept another female in the house except for my sons dog. Knowing these things we just work with any issues as best as we can because no way in he** would I put either of my babies down. I guess my only real problem with Arthur being put to sleep is that maybe there was a different way to solve the existing problem. it's too late after the fact. I'm trying to not judge because I feel that is up to God not me. But I do have my own feelings and have expressed them.I'm fairly new here and feel like an outsider still as so many of you have been together for such a long time. I don't want to offend anyone or make enemies here. I enjoy being a part of PT and hope to be here a long time making new friends. It's tough being a newbie in a tight group of people and I thank everyone who has made me feel welcomed here.
I guess that's about all I have to say.
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