Disclosure: Post contains graphic photos, not intended for those with weak stomachs.
I am beyond sick to my stomach right now. As I have posted before we were having problems with Yoda our boxer/mastiff. When he hit about a year old something in him changed and he started to show aggression problems. He would no longer allow us to give him a bath, clip his nails or do other things with him. We couldn’t even put a leash on him any longer to take him for walks.
In November, as I attempted to put fleas medicine on him he ended up getting very aggressive and bit me in the face.
I refused to go to the hospital because I blamed myself for him attacking me and I was worried they would make me put him down. Yoda gave me a warning growl that he was getting mad and I messed up and didn’t back off. I couldn’t bring myself to end his life, because I love that dog.
I tried my hardest to “fix” him, I started working on training him, I would make him work for everything. He wanted outside he would have to sit, I finally got him feeling comfortable shaking before he went outside which was huge. Yoda, started trusting my husband the most, he would allow my husband to pet him for long periods of time, when we would wake up he would be so happy to see us. He was getting better…
He loved playing and would often show off with throwing his bones and going and getting them. He would make us all laugh and when he would get in a bad state he knew he needed to go outside and cool off.
Things were going well, then this morning came and he was in a good mood, we were playing with a stick, then I failed my dog.
He would go get the stick and bring it to me I would throw it and he would catch. We did this for a little bit then he laid down with the stick and I bent over pretending to get the stick, we was just playing I didn’t think nothing of it, the second time I went to get it and he just went nuts. He jumped up started jumping for my face, he was growling and in full-out attack mode.
I pushed him back he then got my thumb in his mouth, I was kneeing him trying to get him to back off, he kept coming, then he got my arm in his mouth, I tried to pull it out at this time he was holding on and started to shake, my pit bull Bones lunged at Yoda, that is when Yoda let go. I think if Bones, didn’t lunge at Yoda my arm would be a lot worse.
I had a long sleeve shirt on I could feel the bleeding and the pain, I could see the damage of my thumb, but wasn’t sure about the rest. I knew I had no choice but to go to the ER, so off we went. When we got to the ER and they cut the sleeve of my shirt to see the damage I was shocked…
The other side of my arm isn’t as bad but pretty beat up, my thumb is also cut pretty bad in the crease, but where it’s located it couldn’t be stitched.
I knew once Yoda attacked me I couldn’t save him, I knew animal control would be involved because of the bite. As we sat in the ER animal control got in touch with my husband, told him they would have to quarantine him for 10 days. We already knew this was going to happen since we did go to the ER. The last time he bit me we said if he did it again, we had to have him put down. We didn’t want to because we love that dog but we couldn’t risk him attacking our daughter and drawing blood.
This wasn’t the second time he attacked, he has attempted to attack our daughter and I in the past, but we always got him under control before we ended up with puncture wounds. Yoda was very unpredictable, one minute he was happy, playing and being the perfect dog, the next minute he was growling and giving that evil eye.
After we got home from the ER, my husband and his brother took Yoda to animal control and we surrendered him. This was one of the hardest things we could have done, we failed Yoda and it kills me. I don’t know Yoda’s fate, they know he has attacked and I know he will not do good in the shelter. It hurts bad knowing he is there, knowing I will not wake up to his happy self wagging his tail wanting attention. I know he will probably be put down and it kills me.
I really think Yoda would be a great dog if he was the only dog and had a huge fenced in yard that he could run and play in all day to wear him out.
I wish I could have saved him and it is going to hurt for a long time knowing I failed my dog. However, I couldn’t have kept him knowing what he is capable of and had him harm my daughter worse then me because of her being smaller. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if he would have hurt my daughter like he did me.
We’re all pretty upset right now. I just wished I could have saved him. :(
About Jammie Morey
((((((((((((JAMMIE)))))))))))) I am SO sorry! A horrible experience for the whole family, I know. But YOU did not fail Yoda. Like every person, every dog has it’s own personality. No matter how much you try to train/mold/teach an animal, or even your child, there is only so much you can do. They cannot be programmed.
My roomates and I trained and fostered a total of 16 dogs (not all at once!), that had been abandoned in the desert outside of Las Vegas. Eventually, all but one, Sophie, were adopted into good homes. Sophie just could not be trained. Even Cesar Milan, (The Dog Whisperer) had no luck with her. It got to the point where a muzzle, a squirt bottle, a crate, a “bad girl” collar, and a gentle leader were being used. We even ran her on the treadmill wearing a “backpack” filled with water bottles to tire her out & excercise her – all to no avail. She had to be put down. It was not a failure – we did everything humanly possible, but she was a biter, and nothing was going to change that.
Sweet Jammie, take the guilt off your heart, please. YOU DID NOT FAIL YODA. Please believe me.
It’s hard not to believe I failed him. He was doing so good, I mean really good. He was very territorial, I just wished when he started showing signs of aggression I would have did more for him like get him into the vet so they could have checked him over. He had fleas really bad but we couldn’t do nothing about it because he wouldn’t let us treat them. I do believe he’s bi-polar because most the time he is a sweet loving dog. We new we couldn’t bring him back home because of this being the second time, and even though I love him so much, I know I have to think about the safety of my daughter. I don’t know if they will put him down, we didn’t surrender him and demand he be put down. I hope someone at the shelter has experience working with dogs with aggression and can save him. I know from experience he will go kennel crazy in the shelter. We had a kennel and when he was in it, he went into attack mode if we walked by it, so we had to remove it. I am just going to miss him so much and wish I could have done more. :(
(((hugs)) I’m so sorry! But please don’t blame yourself! You done everything that you could imo. Personally I feel you have dealt with it more than anybody else would have. When a dog does this its owner something is seriously wrong. The sad fact is if he did this to you what stops him from doing it to someone else. I know you don’t want to hear this now but as always I believe everything happens for a reason and with you trying for a baby this might have been the best.
I know things happen for a reason and I knew it would come to this, but Yoda wasn’t a bad dog for the most part and that is what makes this so hard. It’s not like he was aggressive 24/7, hell when Bones would be hyper and jumping on us Yoda would be the one to keep him from doing so. The problem is Yoda was territorial and food aggressive. When I was pretending to take the stick after we were already playing with it, it was if he attacked because I was trying to take his property. He had in the past attacked our daughter, never bite her but would be growling while attempting to hold her down. I also worried about him and a new baby, we were planning to make him an outside dog once we got the new place because he loved being outside. I just wish I was able to do more, once he started to cock his leg to piss is when the aggression started to come out. It just hurts because he was like my baby.
I’m so sorry to hear about your dog. While it looks like you may have been able to do different things to help him out slightly, overall, he definitely needed to be surrendered to animal control. Just think, he could have hurt you even more. Giving up was the best thing to do for both you, your husband, and the dog. I’m sure he’ll be fine where he is. http://www.wildthingzllc.com/about-us
I wish I could agree with you on this one, if I didn’t have a child I wouldn’t have surrendered him. I miss him so much he was like my baby. I know he is a dog, but when you have a pet for a while they become family.
In response to comment to me, I’m super sorry to hear that you miss your dog. I know what you mean about pets becoming family. Maybe you could get a new one that would be safer around your kid! Good luck!
Pets are not replace-able, my pets are not anyways.