(This story has been sitting in the edit section since October, so I had to date it. And believe it or not, it's the short, short version.)
Finally, a story about Jackson. But it's a sad one. Sad for me. Sad for him. Sad for our whole family.
Five years ago, we got a puppy. A Standard Schnauzer so cute except for the disgusting way that the breeder butchered her ears. (Why do dogs need to be altered?) But Ruby turned out to be an awful puppy, as all puppies do.
Her fetish was plants. Any and ALL plants.
She would even pull up rose bushes despite the huge honkin' thorns all over the stems. Weird.
She would pull up plants out of the ground and rip them to shreds on the lawn, to the tune of about $800 worth.
Then Max the Yorkie came into the family. And a year and few months later he left to go live out his life happily on a farm where he could run and play.
Okay, not really, but I made your eyes widen.
Max went to live in Utah with my sister and became king of the household and beloved by everyone in the family, except for Chris. Shame on you Chris! And thus with the departure of Max, there was no more pee on my sliding glass door.
Then a year and a half later, for some reason (which I really blame on Dog Whisperer) we chose to rescue a dog. And she had *issues.* We resolved most of them, but guarding food was never one that we could fix. Crazy Maisy.
There is a point to all this, I promise.
And then one day I noticed that my favorite black shoes were completely worn out. Fearing that Stacy and Clinton would be secretly watching me, I decided to go to San Tan Mall and check out the shoe department at Dillards. As I was walking out of Dillards, actually wearing my new shoes, feeling like the world was right, and for the most part very spiffy, I had to pass by a pet store.
Never, never again will I ever enter a puppy mill pet store.
But that day I got suckered. I felt so sorry for the beautiful yellow lab turning in circles because it was the only way to get exercise. I thought, "This is just what my dad needs! Something to take care of!"
The shoes must have been too tight, cutting off oxygen to my brain, creating non-specific white matter changes. I don't know what I was thinking. But it was a mistake, for so many reasons.
As first my parents loved Penny. Even when she pooped in her kennel. Even when she had parasites because of the deplorable puppy mills. And then they loved her not so much as she chewed on the house, the sprinklers, and pretty much everything.
My dad has some health issues which I will not mention here, and though Penny was not particularly the only problem, the worry and stress of a yellow lab puppy was too great for him. My mom loved her. Penny was always happy, always willing to play and give and get love. She was great for my mom.
So I took Penny for my parents. We live 4 houses down the street, so at least my mom could come visit. Somehow we'd manage.
And we did for a while.
Maisy has issues with other dogs. It is apparent that she had to fight for food wherever she had come from. So at first Maisy has issues with Penny. But Penny had a happy-go-lucky attitude and a little 15 lb dog couldn't really do much harm to a 65 lb yellow lab with super model legs. So Maisy relaxed and began to really like Penny. Penny was like doggie therapy. Maisy came to depend on Penny.
Then they bonded.
So when Maisy picked a fight with Ruby, at first Penny seemed to just defend Maisy. And then each time it escalated. We tried to identify issues that caused the fights - mainly food. We came up with solutions to avoid placing the dogs in those situations. It worked for a while, but it still continued. Ruby wasn't blameless either. She is a goat. She eats anything and everything. And she wants to be the boss.
There is more to the story than I can type. So here's the punchline.
I struck a deal with Jackson. If he did certain jobs around the house while I was at Target, I would give him back his wireless adapter for his Xbox. He finished his jobs and texted me, so I told him to pick up dog poop and play with the dogs. I would be home soon.
And so he picked up poop, and threw the tennis ball for Penny.
And Ruby joined in.
And at some point it went from "I'll happily retrieve the ball if you'll throw it again" to a knock down drag out fight between Penny and Ruby. And then Maisy joined in.
Then Jackson thought Ruby was going to be killed and so he tried to break up the fight. He got bit by both dogs.
Ruby was just about torn to shreds. Gaping wounds left my heart racing, my mind wondering whether an anxiety attack was the appropriate response. And I wasn't even home when it happened. Jackson called his grandparents, who couldn't quite understand him on the phone because he was so upset. But they rushed over and saw what had happened. They called me and luckily I was already pushing my overloaded cart to my car to load up and come home.
It was a heartbreaking site, seeing Ruby so torn up and hearing Jackson plead with me to take care of her. Her wounds were beyond my skills so I made the decision for my parents to take Jackson to Phoenix Children's Urgent Care while I took Ruby to the 24 emergency animal hospital. I asked them to take her so I could go be with my son, because he is my priority, even though his wounds were not terrible. He just had a few puncture wounds and needed no stitches.
Ruby wasn't so lucky. I think she had around 50 or 60 stitches and some wounds could not be stitched closed because they needed to drain. She had 3 drains at the the bottom of the 3 worst wounds. She had them for almost 2 weeks.
When we brought Ruby home that night she was so sedated and so we made a bed for her that simulated the safety she feels in her kennel. The next morning when we let Maisy out to go to the bathroom, even though Ruby was sedated, Maisy tried going after her. I had no problem grabbing her tail and swinging her out the door. She has never liked Ruby. Penny, on the other hand, laid tied up with sad eyes, watching Ruby and whining. It was like she knew she did something terrible. Maisy didn't care.
Maisy had taken control of Penny. A little 15lb dog told a 65 pound dog whether she was allowed to eat or not. And so Maisy decided she was the pack leader and Penny was her second in command. My solution was to get rid of both of them. Don't get me wrong, we all loved Penny. She was beautiful and great with the kids and she swam with us. She would pull the kids around the pool while they held onto her tail. But we just couldn't take the chance that Ruby and Penny would fight again.
Our landscaper had offered to take her 6 months prior and while I was tempted (3 dogs being 3 too many) I declined because of how attached my kids were to her. So I called him up and explained everything to him. He was hesitant at first, but I told him if it didn't work out that he could give her back. So he agreed. I was gone when he came to get her, so I never got to say goodbye, but from what I was told, she had no hesitation getting in his truck and going with him. While I secretly hoped that she missed us, I wished that she wouldn't. And she did just fine with him. In fact, she is better with his young boys than his German Shepard is. Penny may be an ADHD dog, but she still was awesome. Thank you Edgar!
Maisy I tried to adopt her out on the weekends at Petsmart, and many people had an interest in her, but wouldn't take her b/c of her issues with other dogs. She's great with people and kids, she just doesn't like other dogs.
So Maisy ended up with a metaphorical "stay of execution". She got to stay with our family. And she has learned to play with Ruby and have fun, but when the food comes out, so does Crazy Maisy.
Where is the Dog Psychology Center when you really need it?
And Jackson healed quite nicely.
Sneak preview:
Coming up next post - 2 days after the dog fight, my husband collapses and ends up hospitalized. Stay tuned because its better than ER or Grey's Anatomy!
Ahhh, isn't it picturesque?