Wednesday was a very difficult day. Actually, the last week has been difficult off and on. We said goodbye to our beloved dog Dodger on Wednesday as we sent him off to find a new home. He is a miniature American Eskimo and we got him the November after we got married, so we’d had him for 4 and 1/2 years. He is 5 and 1/2 and really is a wonderful dog, he just no longer fit into our lifestyle. He lived part of his first year of life with a man in an apartment and it wasn’t working out so the man gave him back to the breeder. He was “free to a good home” when my parents found him and told us about him. I was still devastated over the loss of my sweet Peanut that August (2 weeks before we got married) and needed to have another dog. I did research on the internet, including the AKC website which states:
“Temperament – The American Eskimo Dog is intelligent, alert, and friendly, although slightly conservative. It is never overly shy nor aggressive, and such dogs are to be severely penalized in the show ring. At home it is an excellent watchdog, sounding a warning bark to announce the arrival of any stranger. It is protective of its home and family, although it does not threaten to bite or attack people. The American Eskimo Dog learns new tasks quickly and is eager to please.”
This sounded perfect. I don’t think Steve really wanted a dog at that time but he let me have him anyway. Of course, I was expecting him to love me more than Steve. I was wrong on that front. He bonded with Steve immediately. As he became more comfortable in our home, he started to show some behavior problems. We didn’t have the dog described on the AKC website. Although he was extremely smart and definitely barked when he heard noises, he also had some aggressive tendencies and did not seem conservative unless we had to muzzle him. We’ve seen Eskies walked in our neighborhood and asked how they got them to be so calm and friendly. The owners didn’t have any tricks. That’s just how their dogs are. We didn’t have too much concern at the time because we didn’t have any kids so we had plenty of time to work with him. When I was pregnant with Josie we took him to obedience school to work out some of the issues, such as teaching him to lie down, decrease the barking, stop jumping on people, and basically to learn some commands that would help us all to be happier. He did well and we learned some new things to do with him and some ways to deter bad behavior. This worked for a while. While Josie was very little he was on his good behavior. As soon as she started to move around he gradually started having more and more problems. He became accustomed to the deterrent methods and they no longer worked. His barking increased to the point that if our neighbors shut a door he would bark uncontrollably. He would lie down in the middle of Josie’s play area and not move. He would get so excited and run around that he wouldn’t notice Josie and knock her down. Or so we thought. Steve talked with our vet about these issues in January. We were thinking he had anxiety issues and wondered if there was anything we could do about it. While he may have some anxiety problems, the vet said this is just who he is and how he’s going to be for the rest of his life. He might slow down eventually as he gets older but the behaviors, such as the incessant barking, won’t stop. He also said that with this type of dog, he needs to be the center of attention and the things he does, like knocking Josie down or laying in her way, are intentional acts he is doing to show he’s top dog and to get attention.
With the new baby coming soon, we had to make a very difficult decision. None of us were happy, including Dodger. He wasn’t getting the attention he needs and we were becoming more aggravated with his behavior. We decided that this living situation would not work for any of us when the new baby gets here. So, with many tears from me and even a few from Steve, Dodger went off to his new life yesterday. Josie hasn’t seemed to notice although she did ask about him yesterday when she got up from her nap and he wasn’t laying in her play area. That makes me happy because I was worried about how she would take it because she was so in love with him. We got a lot of good pictures and videos in the last couple days of her playing with, hugging, and kissing him. We know he’ll be happier in his new home. It’s so hard to go through this though. Anyone who knows us and knows about the situation knows how long we fought having to give him away and how hard we worked with him over the last few years in order to make our home one that all of us would be happy in. We love you Dodger and know you’ll find what you need.
Here is one of my all time favorite pictures of Dodger. This was taken shortly after we brought Josie home from the hospital:
