[AShadow721]

A few weeks ago, my father (my abuser) called me and told me to throw his cats out on the street. He said he was getting a new couch and he didn't want the cats to scratch it up. So he thought abandoning them was the best option. Well, I didn't throw the cats out. He's already thrown one out who never came back. Then, he threw out the other girl cat and I kept letting her back in, because she kept coming to the door. He kept throwing her out whenever he came over. She still comes to the door, so I started feeding her. The male cat is still inside.

Well, I don't know when he got this puppy, but he only brought him over three weeks ago just to visit. But a few days later, my grandparents brought the puppy over. My father called and said I'd only be watching him for that one night. Well, he didn't come back until about a week later and the dog didn't have any food for two days. Then, he was acting like he was going to take him. He had his leash on him and everything, but then he sat down and acted like he was thinking. He said he didn't know if he should take the dog and I just said okay he can stay. He knew I was already having a hard time with the dog. The dog, for one thing always bothers my son, who is now 18 months old. He nips at him, jumps on him, pushes him down, take his food, and takes his toys. He also bites my feet if I have them on the floor when i'm sitting down. He bits my hair and pulls it if I ever sit on the floor. I don't anymore. But I constintly have to yell at him to leave my son alone. I have to push him away and tackle him down, because he tries to attack my son (only in a playful way now, but I fear when he gets older he'll really hurt him). My father says that my son just needs to learn that he's bigger than the dog. In a few months the dog will tower over him!!

Well the second week, he got even worse. He started tearing up the back of the new couch that my father wanted to throw the cats out because of. He gets into the garbage and tears up dirty diapers. Those are just his favorite. He tears up anything in his reach. Well, one day, I was trying to feed him and he put his head directly in the bowl and wouldn't move, so most of the food went all over the floor. So my toddler, goes and picks up the food and puts it in the bowl. The puppy started growling and barking like crazy, like he was going to really attack and hurt my son, who was just trying to help. So I picked up my son and took the dogs bowl away from him.

Then, I looked up about what kind of dog this is, to really just to see if he was a good dog to be around kids. He's a border collie and blue heeler mix. I watched a video about border collies and blue heelers (Australian Cattle Dogs). The video about border collies said that they are one good with kids if their needs are met. Their needs being to herd and be in a big yard, preferably a farm. We live with in a trailer that has no fence, so he cannot run around outside. So it's pretty much like an apartment, and they are not supposed to be apartment dogs. They said if their needs don't get met, they will try to herd the family, by biting their feet and destroy everything you own. Well, the blue heeler video was even worse. The border collies were bred to herd sheep. The blue heelers were bred to herd cattle! To make them that aggressive to do the job, they bred border collies with dingoes! Then they bred the offspring with dalmations to get their spotted coated. In this video the blue heeler was biting the cows on their noses. And the person said blue heelers are known for their quick bite! Gee, that's a great dog to be around a toddler!

Well, Easter night my father brought the dog back to his girlfriend's place (yeah they got back together, probably because he was stalking her and making her feel guilty for leaving him, the last one actually called the police when he tried to do that). Anyway, he brought the dog back over the next night. The dog's been here ever since. I'm really so glad that my father bought this Turner & Hooch dog and then realized he couldn't handle it and then abandoned it with me so he could terrorize me and my son.

I know that I have everyright to be mad at my father for everything he has done. But do I really have a right to be mad at the dog? I feel like I never even gave the dog a chance. I liked him that one day he brought him just to visit, but about two days after my father left him here with me, I just don't even want to look at him. Whenever he gets to be too much, I just put him in the bathroom, because I can't deal with him play attacking my son all the time and my son can't deal with it. Not to mention, when my husband found out about the dog, he freaked out, because he's afraid of dogs and afraid for him to be around my son. He begged me to keep him away from him. I think that has influenced my opinion of the dog also, and also the fact that I had just learned months ago that dogs were used to kill and eat my husband's and my son's ancestors. But the main problem I think is that I'm directing my anger toward my father toward his dog. I might have reason to be angry at the dog, but I just wish that I could at least have the compassion I've had for every other dog toward this one.

Sounds as if this dog is not a good match for your household. It is unfair to him, and to your family to keep him . Aren't there any adoption places online, where you could upload a picture and find a good home, with a back yard and all he needs to have to make him have the basics that such a dog must have? I have seen such dogs--they are so wonderful in their element, when given their freedom to run and have their energy spent. It would be so much more humane to give him an appropriate home--
Wishing you well----theo

[lynn P.]

I love animals very much - I have my dog here on my signature and we just adopted 2 cats a month ago. Does your dad live with you? If you're taking care of this dog, I don't think it's safe to keep him, when you have an 18 month child. If you had a bigger place, with a large enough yard - then it would be alright and you could eventually train the dog. But in a confined space it would be a battle. If your husands not crazy about dogs and your son is too young to assert himself - it's better not to have the dog. Trust your instincts

unfortunately the pup does not sound like a good match for your family, everybody loses. And based off of what you've written he's not better off at your dad's either. Although just so you know pups are especially nippy because they have to learn that it's not acceptable so while grown dogs can be nippy and destructive puppies are even more so because they are still learning what is and what isn't ok.

[Evening]

I have studied and worked with animals for years so this is definitely my topic!
First of all, you are right about Collies and Aussie cattle dogs being highly active and can be difficult to work with. Border Collies are considered the most highly intelligent dog on the planet, and if their energy and intelligence aren’t tended to then there can be consequences.
As someone said earlier it might not be a suitable breed for your lifestyle. The size, energy and activity levels of the dog need to match yours.
I can fully understand that this dog is frustrating you, the reason he is acting this way is because he is not trained. I’m a bit iffy over dogs that don’t get trained properly, it really bugs me. I have a friend who thinks her dog is great but I can’t stand him because he jumps on me and it’s really painful, plus he never actually listens to commands when he is SUPPOSED to, i.e. when she decides to let him off a leash and he sees another dog.
Every one of these dogs behaviours can and should be fixed. It’s not fair on you and it’s not fair on the dog if he keeps doing what he does. If this dog is allowed to keep play fighting and hurting people that can lead to dominance, and with dominance comes aggression.
If you aren’t able to do it you need to take this dog to a shelter, the longer it takes the less chance this dog will have of going to a new owner.

As for the breed, does he look anything like this?-



(I was trying to picture what your dog must look like and this breed came to my head)
If he looks something like this then he is actually an Australian Shepherd (the colour is blue merle), oddly not originally from Australia but California.

If you weren’t prepared to care for this animal, If you aren’t able to take the time to train him, if you can’t afford to feed him, if he’s hurting people, and your husband is afraid of him, then I REALLY would advise taking him to a shelter, if you explain to them that someone left the dog with you then they will understand.

XxXx

[NuckingFutz]

Not a good combination.

[AShadow721]

The dog is mostly black. He has white patches with gray spots on his paws, face, neck, chest, back of the neck, and the tip of the tail. He looks very much like this dog, but with larger white patches with gray spots.



This one one the left is even more similar to his coloring. He has the same line on his face.

[Evening]

Well he looks nothing like I was picturing! haha

[AShadow721]

My father does not live here with me. He lives with his girlfriend, but I'm staying in the house he used to live in. His girlfriend does have a backyard, which would be better for him, but since he's abusive, negletful, and has abandoned his pets, he does not deserve to care for any living being.

Let me tell you how he kept his last dog. His last dog was a golden retriever and yellow lab mix. A better temperment to be around children, however another breed that is meant to be out in a farm like setting. First, the dog was never nuetered, so you know how that is. And he was not once ever taken to a vet. He's never taken any of his pets to a vet. I left my father's house when I was 13, didn't talk to him for 7 years. So for that time I'm not sure how he kept the dog. But when I moved in with him again, he had this dog chained up 24/7 in either his bathtub or his laundry room, so the dimentions on his living space were that of a crate at the most. He fed him 4 cups of dog food a day. I'm not sure if that was how much he needed. But in his last year at least, he developed a tumor on his rear. My father didn't care what so ever. He said he was gonna cut it off himself when I said something to him about it. He told me that was why he kept the dog locked up, so he wouldn't get blood or anything on his carpet. He told everyone else a different story. I looked up what it could have been and found out that dogs his size that were never neutered usually develop benign tumors in that area during old age. It said he needed to be neutered and that he needed to have the tumor removed. I told my father, he did nothing. The dog died a little over a year ago in the laundry room.

He's always been abusive to his pets, he even told me to hit this puppy for some reason already. He would beat his cats for urinating on his old couch that he got from a meth house. I thought the cats were doing this because of anxiety from being beaten, which is possible, because they were going in other places as well, but not as much as the couch. My aunt told me that meth smelled like cat urine and that's why they were going on the couch.

Just would like to mention, my father did have a dog (we didn't know what kind it was, we called him a minature doberman, because his body shape was not like a pinscher, but he could have been a min pin and chihuahua mix), who my sister later took with her when she moved out. But he was very aggressive. He actually bit threw my hand when I was about 7-8 years old. I still have the scars. I did not know that dogs can be trained to not be aggressive, so thank you for that information.

I was really mad when my father first told me he got a dog, for those reasons. I knew he was just going to ruin another living beings life. The dog didn't deserve that. I would hope to have the dog moved to a better home. The problem is my father. I'm afraid that he would kill me if I gave his dog away. I'm also afraid to talk to him about it. He stills has a key to this place, so he walks in anytime. I'm trying to get out of here.

[Evening]

Originally Posted by AShadow721

Let me tell you how he kept his last dog. His last dog was a golden retriever and yellow lab mix. A better temperment to be around children, however another breed that is meant to be out in a farm like setting. First, the dog was never nuetered, so you know how that is. And he was not once ever taken to a vet. He's never taken any of his pets to a vet. I left my father's house when I was 13, didn't talk to him for 7 years. So for that time I'm not sure how he kept the dog. But when I moved in with him again, he had this dog chained up 24/7 in either his bathtub or his laundry room, so the dimentions on his living space were that of a crate at the most. He fed him 4 cups of dog food a day. I'm not sure if that was how much he needed.

The amount of food being fed depends on the quality of the food, if it’s a cheap supermarket quality then the dog needs to eat more to get the right requirements it needs.

Originally Posted by AShadow721

But in his last year at least, he developed a tumor on his rear. My father didn't care what so ever. He said he was gonna cut it off himself when I said something to him about it. He told me that was why he kept the dog locked up, so he wouldn't get blood or anything on his carpet. He told everyone else a different story. I looked up what it could have been and found out that dogs his size that were never neutered usually develop benign tumors in that area during old age. It said he needed to be neutered and that he needed to have the tumor removed. I told my father, he did nothing. The dog died a little over a year ago in the laundry room.

If he ever does this an animal again I would really suggest reporting him to either the police or animal welfare because it is cruel. To attempt to remove a tumour on his own is life threatening, not just because it’s a horrible thing for the animal to experience, but the lack of sterility, the fact that the tumour may only be one part of an even bigger problem and the lack of medications and supportive care.

Originally Posted by AShadow721

He's always been abusive to his pets, he even told me to hit this puppy for some reason already. He would beat his cats for urinating on his old couch that he got from a meth house. I thought the cats were doing this because of anxiety from being beaten, which is possible, because they were going in other places as well, but not as much as the couch. My aunt told me that meth smelled like cat urine and that's why they were going on the couch.

Meth does pretty much smell like cat pee yeah, whether that’s would make cats go everywhere I wouldn’t have a clue. If these cats were being abused then that could be a reason, as well as medical conditions. You should never hit an animal for doing the wrong behaviour, the proper way to stop a behaviour is by teaching it the correct behaviour. If an animal never learns the right behaviour it will never stop the wrong.

Originally Posted by AShadow721

Just would like to mention, my father did have a dog (we didn't know what kind it was, we called him a minature doberman, because his body shape was not like a pinscher, but he could have been a min pin and chihuahua mix), who my sister later took with her when she moved out. But he was very aggressive. He actually bit threw my hand when I was about 7-8 years old. I still have the scars. I did not know that dogs can be trained to not be aggressive, so thank you for that information.

Was he just a black and tan Chihuahua? There are a few smaller black and tan breeds that looks similar but are different. But after my last failed guess...

If an adult dog is aggressive then teaching them not to be aggressive is not always an outcome. There are different forms of aggression, including food related, dominance, fear, pain, maternal, idiopathic (where the is no known cause, but this is rare), etc.
Depending on the cause of the aggression the outcome is different, so for a dog that has been allowed to be dominant and display these behaviours its entire life, then getting rid of these behaviours is not as likely. And if you have kids then it isn’t really isn’t worth the risk.

Originally Posted by AShadow721

I was really mad when my father first told me he got a dog, for those reasons. I knew he was just going to ruin another living beings life. The dog didn't deserve that. I would hope to have the dog moved to a better home. The problem is my father. I'm afraid that he would kill me if I gave his dog away. I'm also afraid to talk to him about it. He stills has a key to this place, so he walks in anytime. I'm trying to get out of here.

If he still has keys can you get the locks changed? You could also take the dog to a shelter and then tell him someone made a report about the dog and it was taken so there was nothing you could do. That’s really all I can think of. You shouldn’t be forced to look after an animal, and if that animal is any sort of risk to someone else then you’re being forced into a dangerous situation.

AShadow721-I was hoping Evening would give you her input here--she has studied a great deal in the Veterninary Sciences--she helped me out with some stuff I was truly up a wall about with my dog---she has some really good suggestions-JMO---
Soo sorry about the maltreatment your father gives animals--it makes me so angry
animals can't fight back, or speak up--it's horrible--you do what feels right to you
I send you hugs-theo

[Evening]

Did you find out anything more with your dog Theo?

yup! She's got Irritable Bowel Syndrome, along with the Hip Dysplasia, and Arthritis,
and the Hernia--I also made both of us sick by not checking a carton of eggs for expiration date yesterday-I scrambled them and added it into her food and ate some myself for dinner- we're both sick doggies today!!!!! Lucky her! She just vommited it all up--me, I have to let it go through--ugh-with a little help from some ginger ale--man, it hurts People!! Check your eggs Expiration Dates!!! She's old -about 14- but she still wants to go out, and eat, and go to the dog park--so she still has some quality of life-I won't put her down till she lets me know those things are not interesting or too painful for her-----all about the quality- not the quantitiy---
hey Evening? Thanks for asking!!! You were a great help, you even diagnosed it---
I just asked the vet for the meds for IBS!!! (((HUGS)))--you be a vet!!-theo

[AShadow721]

Theo, how expired were your eggs? I've had some expired eggs recently, but they didn't make me sick. But other things I've eaten recently have. I saw a test you can do to see if the eggs are bad or not. You put them in a bowl of water. If they are bad, they will float or at least stand up right. It they are good they will sink and lay on their sides.

[AShadow721]

I looked up how much a dog his size was supposed to eat and 4 cups was in the range. It's just that when he ate, he gulfed down his food like he was starving. My father did always get a cheap brand. Usually from the dollar store, so maybe that is why.

I believe he attemped to remove the tumor at least twice that I know of. He discribed to me what it was filled with. I didn't watch it, so I don't know for sure how many times he did this. I makes me sick thinking about it.

It's amazing that my husband is ex meth addict and I really couldn't tell you what it smells like. My aunt was the one that told me that about the couch. At the time all the cats were in the house, I researched about this. It said you couldn't punish a cat for urinating, because it is something they do naturally and they wouldn't understand that it's wrong in any way. I would punish a cat by spraying it with water, that's what i learned to do. I don't believe in corporal punishment toward any living being. Well, of course they wouldn't stop, how would they know what is the right behavior they were never what is wanted of them?

No, he looked more like a min pin than a chihuahua. We know he wasn't full blood, because they would have given us papers for him at the store if he was. Maybe you could tell from a picture.



He was older in this picture, you can tell by his gray hair. He was sick too. My sister had to put him on an I.V. everyday. The vet prescribed it to him though. My sister actually took good care of him. I think my father encouraged him to be aggressive. He encouraged him to play fight and to play fight with the other dog. It was mostly about dominance with him. I believe I tried to take a bone that he had close to him when he bit me. He was chewing on one already and he stole the other dog's bone.

This is still his trailer, it's still in his name, although the mortgage is not completely paid off and has almost been taken away, since he never paid the bills with the money I paid him for rent. I was only meaning to stay here temporarily until I could get another place. I've been actively trying to get another place for over a year. I couldn't change to locks. I wish I could. I'll see what I can do about this dog. I wish he was placed with a better family to begin with. They should required references and information about previous pets you've had to adopt pets. I know they do that with Lab Rescue at least.

[Evening]

Originally Posted by theodora

yup! She's got Irritable Bowel Syndrome, along with the Hip Dysplasia, and Arthritis,
and the Hernia--I also made both of us sick by not checking a carton of eggs for expiration date yesterday-I scrambled them and added it into her food and ate some myself for dinner- we're both sick doggies today!!!!! Lucky her! She just vommited it all up--me, I have to let it go through--ugh-with a little help from some ginger ale--man, it hurts People!! Check your eggs Expiration Dates!!! She's old -about 14- but she still wants to go out, and eat, and go to the dog park--so she still has some quality of life-I won't put her down till she lets me know those things are not interesting or too painful for her-----all about the quality- not the quantitiy---
hey Evening? Thanks for asking!!! You were a great help, you even diagnosed it---
I just asked the vet for the meds for IBS!!! (((HUGS)))--you be a vet!!-theo

Did I? I can't even remember what I told you!

I've had food poisoning myself, it was only 24 hour food poisoning but oh my God... I woke up in the middle of the night, no matter how many times I was sick I didn't feel any better, I just kept being sick. I was actually a little scared, I had no idea what was happening.
So when you eat food out of a can, take the food out of the can so you it doesn't get contaminated. It's SOOO not worth it.

[Evening]

Originally Posted by AShadow721

I looked up how much a dog his size was supposed to eat and 4 cups was in the range. It's just that when he ate, he gulfed down his food like he was starving. My father did always get a cheap brand. Usually from the dollar store, so maybe that is why.

The cheaper brand may have something to do with it, although 4 cups is within the range if he was being fed a lower quality food it still may not have been enough. But also being a Labrador x Retriever probably have something to do with it as well. Labradors especially are known for being ravenous eaters, and because of both this and genetic predisposition they are prone also to obesity. A lot of larger breeds tend to eat like that and in the process swallow a lot of air, which can the lead to bloat (and can actually be deadly). So it's not surprising that this dog may have eaten that way.

Originally Posted by AShadow721

It's amazing that my husband is ex meth addict and I really couldn't tell you what it smells like. My aunt was the one that told me that about the couch. At the time all the cats were in the house, I researched about this. It said you couldn't punish a cat for urinating, because it is something they do naturally and they wouldn't understand that it's wrong in any way. I would punish a cat by spraying it with water, that's what i learned to do. I don't believe in corporal punishment toward any living being. Well, of course they wouldn't stop, how would they know what is the right behavior they were never what is wanted of them?

I just remembered when you had said your aunt said it smelled like cat pee that it was something my mother had told me in the past (she was in a drug ring at on point, but I don't think she did meth).
You can't punish an animal for these behaviours no, some people think doing things like rubbing the animals nose in it, hitting them, telling them off, etc. is going to teach the animal it's done the wrong thing, but it doesn't work.
Spraying a cat with water is a way to stop them doing things like climbing on counters (they even had little automatic sprays available for it), but they need to be caught in the act for it so they directly relate it with what they are doing.

Originally Posted by AShadow721

No, he looked more like a min pin than a chihuahua. We know he wasn't full blood, because they would have given us papers for him at the store if he was. Maybe you could tell from a picture.

Hmm yeah I can see it's hard to tell, sometimes it's quite obvious, other times you can only get a vague idea. He definitely isn't a pure bred, but other than that, I couldn't tell. He may have more than just 2 breeds in him though.

Originally Posted by AShadow721

This is still his trailer, it's still in his name, although the mortgage is not completely paid off and has almost been taken away, since he never paid the bills with the money I paid him for rent. I was only meaning to stay here temporarily until I could get another place. I've been actively trying to get another place for over a year. I couldn't change to locks. I wish I could. I'll see what I can do about this dog. I wish he was placed with a better family to begin with. They should required references and information about previous pets you've had to adopt pets. I know they do that with Lab Rescue at least.

I do agree that there should be stricter rules when buying or adopting an animal. It's not uncommon for the same animal to end up in a shelter more than once. If I were you I'd think of any way you can to get this dog to a better place before he gets it back. If he does come back for it perhaps you could anonymously report him. I'm trying to think of a way you could do it so he doesn't know it was you, but it is hard.

[AtreyuFreak]

Aww this looks like my Reesie :'( . He also looked like a mini doberman, but was much bigger than a chihuahua (probably 30-40 lbs). He was a mix between a blue heeler, spitz, and an unknown breed. You could see the spitz because his tail was curled like a pig's.

I miss that d*mn dog...:'(

[AShadow721]

Idk if he was either of those, bc was only about 10 lbs and those are bigger dogs. Maybe it was the unknown breed that they had in common. I miss that dog too. He was very sweet even though he was too aggressive and possesive. I forgave him for biting me. Now I can say I don't have to get a tattoo for him. I'll always have these scars to remember him by.