2/13/08

Agh. I am such a bitch.

Sammy's owner just called me and wanted to know if I still wanted him even though there was a chance that he still had one testicle up in there. I don't understand why they are wanting to get rid of him. They're buying a house so they can take him with them. He's been in their family for 7 years. I told him that to be honest, I'm not looking for another dog (especially a possibly unaltered male) but if he's going to stick the dog in a shelter that I'd take him and love him. He said that they would work something out.

I feel like shit because I insisted on the surgery (which came out to around 550.00 due to the complications.) and now I'm having to tell them I don't really want him. There is a reason though that all of my dogs are female and it's because I don't want the headache of dealing with a male dog that wants to mark his territory all over the place and if he's not fully neutered then that will still be a problem.

I don't think the dog's owner knows that I spoke with his mother about this earlier today. She told me that the company we work for is putting his family up in a hotel for 2 weeks until they can move into their house and that they are even paying a pet deposit to the hotel so they can bring him. So I'm wondering why are they so keen on getting rid of him?

I'm going to go nurse a guilt induced stomach ache.

14 comments:

The Phosgene Kid said...

That's a tough one. Mrs. Phos won;t let me near and animal shelter because she knows I'll want to take all the dogs home. I can't abide the thought of a wonderful dog languishing in a damp kennel unloved and unwanted. Unfortunately we have to learn to draw a line. There are some people that appear in the news from time to time that are having over 100 animals removed from their homes. The people meant well, but it is easy for things to get out of hand.

Redroach said...

They sound like they are tired of their puppy. They must not be dog people. Why haven't they had him fixed before now anyway?

It is the only sane and humane thing to do to your dogs.

TV

Cissy Strutt said...

My dear chickie, you must give yourself a gentle but firm talking to. You have nothing to be guilty about.

They asked you to take on their dog, and you agreed, with the simple proviso that he be fixed. You told them the deal up front. Everything else is beyond your control - the vet, the owner's apparent ambivalence towards their dog, the is-there-a-testicle-isn't-there. You offered to open your home to a dog in need, and to help out some folks. Breathe in, and breathe out the guilt. You don't need it.

(Hey, maybe that's what your morning snot-wad is - undigested, unneeded, unneccessary guilt!)

OldLady Of The Hills said...

These people seem kind of strange to me where Sammy is concerned....They seem to go back and forth and back again and then forth again..BUT I don't get how they really feel about this dear little dog....Do you? Maybe you are hearimg what they feel....! But the thing is Chickie, he is STILL not really fixed, which was part of the agreement or condition upon you taking him....! I feel badly for Sammy, because I'm not "getting" what THEY are feeling here.....! Not that I have to---it's really you that needs to be satisfied with there position which seems like somewhat Fence Sitting about him....! Do they LOVE this dog?

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Chickie....Go over to my blog and click on DEANA'S Name in my Blog Roll....You will see some adorable Animals---including one dear Bassett Hound....I think you will enjoy this Valentines Day Contest Post.....(Sweetie was a finalist....)

Anonymous said...

Don't feel guilty. You were just trying to do a good deed. But not at the expense of upsetting every other person and animal in your house. Testosterone is testosterone and if he's not been completely fixed, he's still going to act like a male dog. That's not something that you can do anything about. Your first allegiance is to YOUR canines, the boys and Sweety.

Mike said...

I totally agree with Cissy on this one. Your intentions were the very best and things didn't quite work out the way you had hoped. Not your fault at all.

Elise said...

You neuted a dog with telling the owners?!

I guess the owners don't want him so its not a bad thing. You were trying to do a good deed.

Don't feel bad about it. Its not your fault!

xx

Monogram Queen said...

No you are NOT a bitch, Sammy needed to be neutered anyway. I don't understand why they want to get rid of him, nothing could induce me to give up my darling Reilly I can tell you that.

Anonymous said...

This is really weird... I thought they were all heart broken over having to get rid of him? And now he's neutered (mostly) and they're buying a house and they don't want them? Sounds like something's up (is she pregnant?) and they want to use the moving as a great excuse to get rid of their dog, leaving them guilt-free, "Oh we couldn't keep the dog because we were moving." Makes me wonder if all the tears and drama was for a show for you? Hmm. Very odd.

Anonymous said...

And also, there is a very good possibility that he IS actually neutered and that he DID only have one ball. I wouldn't be concerned about marking or humping. Your female dogs are all fixed so none of them will go into heat (which would cause an outbreak of humping/marking if he was, in fact not neutered) and so I'd say that his maybe-one-ball-somewhere should not be at the top of your "concerns" list here.

Male dogs are WAY more loving than female dogs, too.

The Phosgene Kid said...

Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like there is something that they weren't telling you. Like maybe he already has a habit of marking his territory. My vet told me that even if you fix a male dog sometimes it doesn't break them. Which is why our dog became an outside dog as soon as we moved into our new house. He is fixed has been for years. He came in one time and within minutes he tried to mark his territory. That was it for him. But, we didn't get rid of him, he's still pretty spoiled, he's just outside spoiled.

Chickie said...

You are all right. I'm not going to feel bad about this.

I think the reason that they may have wanted to get rid of him is that they have 4 kids under the age of 10. The mother homeschools them and I think maybe they were wanting to use the move to get rid of their dog.

And the owner did tell me that the dog marked "occasionally"...