Some People Should Own Dogs…Others, Not So Much

Just like parents, some dog owners really have this obedience thing down pat whereas others try hard but miss the mark. I’m still trying hard, but continue to miss the mark in terms of my dog being a spoiled rotten brat.  When we got her she was only eight weeks old. A neighbor of a friend actually came across her through one of his employees at CVS drug store.  They were giving her away for free, I had two glasses of wine, looked into those big brown puppy Lab eyes and fell in love.  Of course once the hangover set in and I realized that she growled and bit anyone that came near her, I realized something was wrong.

Cute and adorable–yes. Aggressive and dominant-absolutely.   To this day I have no idea what made an eight week old puppy so fierce but I spent a good portion of her first year alleviating those aggressive tendencies and today I have an extremely loving, docile two year old Lab/mix of something dog.

She is, however spoiled. No longer will she growl or bite, but she’ll stand by the unused bidet and bark and bark until someone comes into the bathroom to turn on the cold water for her. Hey, we don’t use it, so at least we have a doggy drinking fountain.  She also sits outside until dark and won’t come in when called.  So, I’ll take her for a car ride around the neighborhood or I’ll promise to make her a spinach salad and then she’ll come running.  Yes, I know….I created this.

A week ago, I received a call from a service dog organization that we signed up for two years ago.  I learned that the organization had a service dog release program where certain dogs that don’t make the cut can be adopted.  The attraction to this program is that the dog would could to you fully trained and with manners.  We completed the application so long ago I forgot we even had one active.

When I received the call I couldn’t believe they actually had a dog ready for adoption.  My first instinct was to decline-we already had a badly behaved 70 pound Lab who still chews remote controls and guts squirrels in the front yard.  However, I’m a sucker for a dog.  The trainer must have sensed that because she started to tell me about …Mabel.  What a name!!!  So adorable. Plus she was a Lab/Golden Retriever mix, 22 months old and black…just like my dog.

I found out she was released because she barked at new faces; not a good trait for a service dog, but easy enough for a family pet.  Otherwise, she was incredibly sweet and obedient.  I curiously asked why Mabel wasn’t already adopted by her puppy raiser.  The puppy raiser has first dibs on released dogs.  Alas, Mabel’s puppy raiser couldn’t adopt Mabel because her raiser was incarcerated.  Mabel was raised in a prison for the first year and a half of her life.

Once the trainer emailed the picture that was it, I was done.  Of course my first Italian instinct was to feed the dog…she looks so sad in the photo.  So, as much as the neighbors must be rolling their eyes, off I go to pick up dog number two in Orlando. Oh yeah, and Alley has to accompany me on this three hour (one way) car trip. If the girls don’t like each other, at least we’ll find out up there.

More to come next week….