Rob H.
11-21-2005, 11:05 PM
Hi,
My name is Rob. I'm from the suburbs of Philadelphia. I currently have one mixed breed dog, Charlie, who is approximately 10.5 years old. I also maintain a small collection of about 17 tarantulas(give or take a few).
Charlie was adopted from the Montgomery County SPCA approximately 8 years ago. He was 7 hours away from being euthanized. According to the SPCA Charlie's original owner was an elderly woman who was placed into a nursing home by her family and no one wanted to care for her dog. He had been adopted 2 or 3 times and always returned within several weeks due to being "unpredictable". Once I got him home I quickly discovered that he showed signs of being abused and had some issues with aggression/dominance. After almost 9 months of work I gained enough trust to finally be allowed to inspect his mouth and teeth thoroughly and discovered the primary reason for his "unpredictable" nature. He had an exposed nerve in one of his rear molars. After a tooth extraction, alot of work and patience Charlie became a wonderful pet and watch dog. The tooth extraction decreased the intensity of the problems but didn't eliminate them altogether. In that first year Charlie seperated my right shoulder, broke one of my fingers in his mouth, bit me hard several times drawing blood and scratched open my face, neck and arms during his tazmanian devil fits and chewed one $450 set of false teeth. After another 7 years, He still has some issues but all are minor and easily controlled or deterred via verbal corrections or 15- 30 minute time-out wearing the mickey muzzle. He has been socialized with several of the younger family members in the 2 to 6 year old range although can be over-protective of them but is completely trust worthy with them. Charlie is still agressive towards other dogs, especially those smaller than him unless he is wearing his muzzle but has a couple canine friends he has gotten used to seeing. He also has the most intense hatred I've ever seen towards goats....he sees a goat and he goes absolutely ballistic. We don't see goats often enough for me to have devoted any time to trying to alleviate that particular personality quirk.
My name is Rob. I'm from the suburbs of Philadelphia. I currently have one mixed breed dog, Charlie, who is approximately 10.5 years old. I also maintain a small collection of about 17 tarantulas(give or take a few).
Charlie was adopted from the Montgomery County SPCA approximately 8 years ago. He was 7 hours away from being euthanized. According to the SPCA Charlie's original owner was an elderly woman who was placed into a nursing home by her family and no one wanted to care for her dog. He had been adopted 2 or 3 times and always returned within several weeks due to being "unpredictable". Once I got him home I quickly discovered that he showed signs of being abused and had some issues with aggression/dominance. After almost 9 months of work I gained enough trust to finally be allowed to inspect his mouth and teeth thoroughly and discovered the primary reason for his "unpredictable" nature. He had an exposed nerve in one of his rear molars. After a tooth extraction, alot of work and patience Charlie became a wonderful pet and watch dog. The tooth extraction decreased the intensity of the problems but didn't eliminate them altogether. In that first year Charlie seperated my right shoulder, broke one of my fingers in his mouth, bit me hard several times drawing blood and scratched open my face, neck and arms during his tazmanian devil fits and chewed one $450 set of false teeth. After another 7 years, He still has some issues but all are minor and easily controlled or deterred via verbal corrections or 15- 30 minute time-out wearing the mickey muzzle. He has been socialized with several of the younger family members in the 2 to 6 year old range although can be over-protective of them but is completely trust worthy with them. Charlie is still agressive towards other dogs, especially those smaller than him unless he is wearing his muzzle but has a couple canine friends he has gotten used to seeing. He also has the most intense hatred I've ever seen towards goats....he sees a goat and he goes absolutely ballistic. We don't see goats often enough for me to have devoted any time to trying to alleviate that particular personality quirk.