01 09 08
Today I had to complete one of the most difficult tasks I have ever had to carry out. I may have mentioned before that we inherited Marley, the surly dog who looked after my in laws until my mother in law was permanently hospitalized with violent dementia, and my father in law moved out of state to live with one of my husbands' sisters. He could no longer take care of himself. Thus, we inherited Marley. Marley had lived with various parts of my husbands' family for the past 13 years. He lived on a ranch in Mariposa, he lived in San Francisco where he loved to play frisbee and jump into the beach, and he lived in Sacramento for the majority of his old age with my in laws until about six months ago, when he moved in with us in Modesto.
My father in law asked us to take care of Marley and we obliged. He came to us in very bad shape. He was morbidly obese and had been fed dog food that was on the recall list. He looked to be on his last leg when he came into our care. HOWEVER, we took him to the vet immediately and asked about what we should feed him. We started off with the Evolutionary diet, which contained no melamine (as did those other pet foods from China), then we switched to the raw diet and later ended up feeding him organic brown rice and natural beef. He loved this the best. We exercised him and took him to the dog park. Then after we got Lena, our pit bull, they wrestled every day and became companions. Ultimately Lena became the dominant one and her wish was his command. Hehehehe
Anyway, as much as I don't believe in euthanasia, we had to put Marley down yesterday. He suffered from Canine Dementia and had began to crap inside the house and all over the back yard. I called just about every shelter and rescue that I could but none of them would take him in. First, many of them were overcrowded (sadly the holiday season brought many dogs from foreclosures) and secondly, they felt as though an old dog was unadoptable. The rescues that don't do placement and take senior dogs were all full. The SPCA did not feel as though he was adoptable and so our only option was to take him to the pound. They told us that he would likely fail their evaluation process and that they would euthanize him within four days. So they suggested that we do it immediately to save him some pain. They figured that he would be terrified his last four days of life, living in a cage at the pound.
So my husband and the folks at the pound convinced me that this was the best way to go. I still am not sure if we made the right choice. I asked to tell him goodbye before they terminated his life and I found myself grabbing him and hugging him and I couldn't let go. My husband had to pry me off of him. Marley knew it was his time. He was perceptive, although somewhat senile.
I have vowed that I cannot do that again. By the time our little Lena gets old, we will have to figure out a way to accommodate her needs. I don't think it is right to terminate a life because the being has cognitive difficulties. However, we couldn't figure out what else to do. One of the folks at a rescue told me that if we adopted Marley out, and he bit someone, then we would get sued.
My husband felt that if we were truly responsible for his life, then we did the right thing. It doesn't take away the pain though.
I learned a few lessons. As I mentioned before, Marley was always a surly SOB when he was a pup. He was dominant and failed out of obedience school. Of course, this had to do with the people who were charged with his care, who never bothered to properly train him in the first place. Marley bit two people when he was about four or five and they were luckily understanding and didn't press charges against the owners at that time.
I guess what I am rambling about is that the family failed him. Nobody ever took the time necessary to train him properly and this created an issue with his adoptability because the rescues ask if he had ever bitten anyone etc. So by the time we took Marley in, it was really his last chance.
Training dogs is essential. It isn't cute when a dog bites someone. It isn't cute when he barks at everyone he comes across. If folk don't train their dogs to act properly, they are doing the dogs a disservice in the long run because these dominant dogs will not be adoptable in their old age.
I also learned about canine dementia. Marley was 13 years old! And that is 91 human years! He lived a full, rich life but suffered from noticeable cognitive decline in his old age. Owners should be aware of this phenomenon because as dogs are able to live longer, these issues creep up.
OK that is all I have to say for now. :(
