We had decided that we didn't want to take Sophie to Spain with us. Even the vet discouraged us. Mario contacted a search and rescue group that trains dogs, but Sophie didn't meet the criteria. He had a coworker that was interested in her but his wife wasn't really wanting another dog. The lady that came to look at her for search and rescue told us she could help find her a home so we were happy and relieved that she'd be well taken care of by new owners.
Unfortunately, Sophie has gotten quite aggressive this past month. She has always (even from first week) been a good watch dog and probably a little too aggressive. We got her at about 14 months old. She had never been socialized with other dogs or people. So we began to take her to the dog park to socialize. She kept getting sick at the dog park so the vet told us to stop taking her there, because the lake was filthy. For the past year, Mario and I have just walked and ran her through the hills where she hasn't been socialized. These past few months, Sophie has gone through so many injuries starting with that horrible corn cob. The most recent being the stitches that took at least a month to heal. She had to spend 24/7 in her small kennel because any movement would cause fluid buildup and her huge cut wouldn't heal.
In hindsight, we realize now that the time in her kennel made her even more aggressive and territorial. She started getting even more aggressive with people and dogs walking by the fence on the side of our yard. Mario thinks that she tried to bite a dog as it walked by. During this past month since getting out of that kennel, she seemed to be doing much better with us and listening. So we had high hopes for her. But unfortunately, on Thursday, when a sweet older lady from church stopped by, Sophie bit her hand. I was holding her by the collar so she wouldn't run out the door. Deb put out her hand for Sophie to sniff it and Sophie bit her. I was shocked and obviously very upset. Deb brushed it off like it was no big deal.
Mario and I knew it was time to say goodbye. We just don't know how to train her properly. Mario and I are probably the biggest worriers you'll ever meet. So of course, we immediately worried that we could get sued if she bites again. So even if we took her to classes and taught her, we didn't feel we could ever really trust her again. After a little research, we decided the best way to protect ourselves was to turn her over to the Humane Society. They would try to rehabilitate her and adopt her out. It was heartbreaking to take her there. Nate and Zach decided to go with us even though it was probably one of the hardest things they have ever done (they weren't with me when I put Buzz down). We found out that they will have to quarantine Sophie because of the bite. Because she had her shots, they said we could quarantine her at our house but we were already there so I didn't want to go back 8 days later. That would be even harder. Plus I would worry everyday about her biting a friend or anyone that came over to our house. Mario really wanted to bring her back home.
Even now, Mario is wanting to go get her. I've never seen him so sad. He was sad about Buzz but we weren't really given a choice with Buzz. So this was extra hard when we had a choice with Sophie. The kids are all begging to have her back. But I keep refusing. I love her too but she was getting to be out of control. And we are moving. We just can't keep her.
The kids (and Mario) don't want me to vacuum because they like to see her dog hair. Her cage is still up and she has her things laying around. I don't know how long to leave those things laying around.
Eric came down yesterday morning and commented on how quiet the house is now. It made me break down in tears. We are all sad, but I think this is for the best. Now I have to go vacuum up all the popcorn that dropped on the ground last night. We aren't accustomed to having to vac and sweep up food. That's going to be a big adjustment. But I won't have to sweep up dog hair anymore.
