My LuLu is going into a foster home

[Carol Hanr]

My goldendoodle LuLu is going to a foster home with IDOG.  She has  been acting very strange...growling at the grandkids and me, attacking the little dogs and stalking the cat.  She will probably be leaving on Wednesday.  I am so very sad, she has been with me since she was about 11 weeks, and she will be 3 in January. I'm crushed, has this ever happened to anyone else??

 

[Carol Hanr]

Thank you for the laugh. I stopped crying for a bit!!

 

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I am so glad I waited to post until you explained what was happening with Lulu. This makes me so sad for all of you. What a hard decision to have to make and I pray you find peace and Lulu finds the home that will work best for her.

[Donna K & Quincy]

Carol, I am so sorry you have to do this, my heart feels for you. Having the courage to do what is best for everyone including Lulu is nothing to be ashamed of. I hope there is a family out there who is just what she needs and that you can feel good about your decision.

[Melody & Bruin]

Carol, I have experienced exactly what you are going through.  It was the hardest thing my husband and I have ever gone through.  I do know your pain and I know how very sad you and your family are at this moment.  We still miss our girl every single day.  Even though I know that I did everything possible, it still does not ease my pain.  I am so so sorry.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

What choices are these?  One: give up a dog you love,  two:  to put her down, three: have the dog bite someone

I certainly can't decide. Too bad we can't talk to these dogs sometimes and ask them. 

May no one pass judgement and blame you here. 

Anyone at anytime may be faced with this same situation. To anyone reading this, I hope it is never you.  Certainly not an easy one to deal with.  It is a loose loose.  No matter what you choose,  know that you did your best.
I hope you and LuLu  find some peace with whatever you decide.

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

I pray for you and your family to have the strength to manage this. Things happen. I'm sure LuLu will find a no animal/kid household and that has to calm her a bit. It's sad to think what she will feel when she leaves and I'm not going to say I know how you feel-if it came to the terms that you have we would all do the safest thing for everybody. I thank you for not taking her to a shelter. Hang in there. Thanks for posting this so we can all be grateful that our issues are smaller than this and can be fixed with training.

[Ali & Sonny D.]

Carol, I am so sorry for you and your family. I pray that Lulu finds a loving home that she will do well in.

[Ginny Nightingale]

I have posted this before, but it is worth repeating--to make a long story short, I had a wheaten terrier for 11 years that was not trustworthy with anyone but my immediate family. Even with our own kids we had to be careful not to do certain things around him. He could be very loveable, bvut in the wrong situation, he would suddenly get afraid and go after someone in self-defense. This behavior started at the age of 2. I didn't know much about training then, but i am not sure i could have done much to help.

As he got older, he got more paranoid and even went after me one day when he was eating and I put something extra in his bowl. A cast on my arm prevented him from biting me. We kept him in a crate whenever anyone was here visiting, but sadly, a relative who was visiting did something one day when he was out of the crate that caused him to bite her--badly. We had to put him down since they were filing an insurance claim against us (which we had no objection to) and the insurance company wanted an affidavit that the dog was not here any longer. I didn't think I would ever be able to rehome him given his mental state. And at his age, I don't think it would have been fair to him either. 

It was the toughest situation i have ever been in and I feel your pain. You need to do what is right for your family--I should have done it, too--maybe when my guy was younger, someone could have helped him. After he was gone, I realized how nervous it made me to be responsible for my family's safety all those years as I tried to control the dog and prevent any incidents. I got labradoodles after that and made sure they were super friendly--i could never go through that again.

 

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

This is a sad situation, but one I can totally agree with. If one of my dogs gave me this much cause for concern for my gk's safety there would be no choice but to eliminate the threat.  They are also your responsibility it sounds like, so they must come first. I feel you will begin to feel a great weight and stress off of you once you have LuLu placed in a new home, knowing she is happy and less stressed by all the others that seem to be causing her so much angst to be acting out so. Training sounds like a great idea, but training takes time, lots of time and it's never 100%. Around my gk's, I want 100% and it's my responsibility to do all that is in my power to be as near 100% as humanly possible when it comes to thier well-being, It seems you have made a hard but very necessary choice.

I am sad for you and your family, as this is a very hard decision.

[Heather & Brinkley]

This hits close to home.  Not because I've gone through this but my poor mother just went through this.  My mother is an absolute dog lover.  She's rescued large breeds all her life.  Growing up we always had dogs and my mom once made it a mission to take in the neighbor's s dog that was left outside all day in Virginia heat.  

Last year, my mom got her second Great Pyrenees. Her first one had to be put down (he was really old) and one day he just couldn't get up.  Large breeds tend to have major issues with their hips earlier than other dogs and this turned out to be the case. No surgery could be done and she had to put him down.  She missed him so much... so last year she got her second Great Pyrenees.  He was always great with humans, adults and children alike but he did not like Brinkley.  I couldn't bring Brinkley over there.... which was sad b/c Brinkley had been going to my parents since he was a puppy.  If you don't know, Great Pyrenees dogs are bread to hunt bears.  The first one was 210lbs and this one was 185lbs and still growing.  

Well, on Friday, the dog (Klondike was his name) just snapped.  Nothing different happened-- he just snapped.  My dad walked by Klondike as he was preparing his food and Klondike cornered my dad, barking and growling.  My dad had to grab a nearby chair to keep between them as he grabbed his phone and flew into the bedroom.  He called my mom and I at work.  For two days my dad spent all his time in the room, only coming out to test the waters, hoping that Klondike had gotten better... instead things got worse.  The dog lunged towards my dad.  These dogs go for the neck and my dad is on blood thinners. If he would have gotten ahold of my dad, let's just say, things wouldn't have ended well for my dad.  Well, my mom took him to the vet on Friday and Saturday.  The vet ran bunches of tests and nothing with thyroid was found.  The vet came to the conclusion that either the dog just went crazy b/c he had a REALLY bad upbringing prior to arriving at my parents cushy home (locked in the back of a truck bed for weeks on end; hit; the vet even found three old bullets lodged in Klondike.); or he said he could have a brain tumor.  My parents couldn't give Klondike to another family-especially with kids- with this knew behavior, and the local Pyrenees rescue wouldn't take him b/c of the dangerous nature of this breed if they aren't acting right. 

After many many many tests the vet made a recommendation that he doesn't take lightly... to put him down.  My mom is crushed... but my dad couldn't live in his room forever.  I couldn't imagine having to make that choice of getting rid of dog and certainly see how hard my parents are taking it... but as much as we love our dogs the safety of our human family members must come first.  I'm so sorry :(  

[Stacy, Bruno, Molly and Gracie]

What  a burden you bear having to make this decision. I am so sorry for you in this situation. I am sure you have looked at all the options and are choosing the one that is best for you and for LuLu.

Prayers for you.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

Carol, i think you are making the right decision. As hard as it is giving LuLu up, just think of the pain you would go through if she did bite someone. Maybe a nice quiet house like you suggested will be there best thing for her.