6 years ago, my wife's co-worker was being evicted from her grandmother's home so the estate could sell the house. She asked us to foster her dogs. She promised to bring food visit them until she found a place where she could have them. Of course that never happened. When the dogs were delivered, her husband said Sebastion was 11 years old and the smaller one, Oreo was 9 yrs old. Sebastian was a medium size dog but looked like a German Shepard, except his ears flopped down. He had no personality whatever. He did obey commands very well. But he did not like to be touched and would growl if I tried to brush him. He stank and would not let us give him a bath. When we persisted, he snarled and snapped at us so we just let it go. In addition, he was not house broken. Crate trained but not house broken. The smaller dog was a great dog. listened very well, loved attention, liked just being with people. We did have to house train Oreo and it was frustratingly slow. Oreo is a regular member of the family now and has been for years. Because he was not house trained, Sebastian was never permitted to roam the house, and always was confined in his crate in the basement whenever he was indoors. He was fed and watered away from the others. When he was outside, he could look through the glass and watch them at their bowls of kibble. I always felt so bad for him. I could see it in his eyes that he yearned to be treated the same, but that was not going to happen. Well years went on and he grew deaf. He would wander off and not come back. I would find him curled up in the barn or in the foundation of the burned out house. Especially one bitter cold night when I found him shivering in the barn. From then on, we kept him confined to the fenced back yard. A year ago, I realized that he could barely see. I would have to tap him on the shoulder to get his attention. But he still jumped high in the air for treats when he smelled them. He would still run around the back yard. When days were hot, I would let him into the basement where there was AC. When days were cold, he spent every night in his crate in the basement and if bitter cold, he spent most of his time in, going out periodically for some exercise. A few months ago, I realized that he lost some teeth, so I gave him soft canned food. He perked up a little and gained a little weight. For the first time back around May, he let me brush him. I brushed him a little every couple days. Then two days ago, he had trouble standing up. I called the vet for an appointment. They couldn't fit him in until Friday. Last night he refused to come into his crate to sleep, which wasn't a big deal since it was a nice night. This morning he could not get up. He was laying in his favorite place with his two toys. The only two toys he ever paid any attention to. I offered him some soft food and he would not eat. I measured his respirations and pulse. It was pretty bad. I called the vet. They could fit him in late in the afternoon. When I went back out to make sure he was not going to be in the sun, he had passed away. I buried him up on the hill with the other dogs we had. Wrapped in his blanket. I took off his collar before I buried him. I drove into town where his owner worked, explained that he just passed away and offered her the collar. She acted like I was bothering her and didn't give a crap about her dog. I never loved that dog but I felt so horrible about his predicament. I put up with his snapping and growling because I desperately wanted better for him. I cared for him for a little over six years. My wife and daughter would have nothing to do with him because he was was "mean.". Hopefully he is now in a place where he is loved.

screamer Posts: 1188Joined: Mon Sep 14, 2009 8:24 am