When you’re dealing with the things I’ve been dealing with, the affairs of your house tend to go south. This is just a fact of life, and is the reason why families should band together when things happen.
Well, it’s just me and the other half. On top of that, the other half… is… eh… let’s just say I carry the brunt of the weight by myself. Which BTW is NOT because he’s male. We don’t do that sexist shit here.
Sadly one of the effects of all that has happened is that my dogs have turned into cat killers.
I can track when the attitude entered the home – we got a little Aussie puppy, Shybear, who just never liked anyone except our husky mix Hoshi. With dogs attitudes are infectious. Bad habits are faster picked up than good ones. And with dogs, once you err it can be forever unless you’re a better handler than I who also, BTW, has more time than I.
I can track even further back to other bad elements in the house, like the neighbor’s fucking yapyap dogs. Me and those dogs are friendly – after years of working on it – but they both troddle down to the fence we went into debt to build for our dogs’ sakes and fence fight. It’s teasing to the max.
I’d spoken to the neighbor about it a few times. Her backyard fence had holes in it, she told me. I offered to fix the fence myself. And have noticed when the dog catcher is in the area, her dogs are in the backyard and do NOT escape that fence.
Then there are all the guests and people who came into my home but did not want to honor my wishes in regard to the dog. From teaching Hoshi to jump up, giving him inappropriate things to chew, and lastly not wanting to make an effort with a chicken coop. You can’t train a dog well when your efforts are being undermined.
When the first batch of chickens were killed, I said this was a problem. But cats probably did that one. However, I was not listened to and no serious effort to make that coop sturdy was made. The second killing of chickens was by dogs. All my dogs.
And I said, you watch. The blood lust is awake now. There will be nothing we can do. In my lifelong experience, once you get a dog that has bloodlust you’ve lost that dog. Lost lost lost.
On a more traditional farm, the farmer would have blown all of the dogs’ brains out. Fortunately for them I am not a farmer. I am kinder and have been trying to do the right thing by them: re-home them. Starting with Hoshi, who is the worst offender.
By worst offender I mean I had him tied out one bright summer day for a few hours to exercise while I worked. I went to retrieve him, and as soon as he felt the line drop he made a dash for a cat. Fortunately I know dogs enough to have had the leash on him already. That really jerked my arm.
The biggest problem around here is that even though other people know this tip, this thing, about leashes and dogs they never wanted to make the effort. Had it been anyone else, Hoshi would have gotten away.
He did find a home briefly, but it didn’t even last 24 hours. I wasn’t surprised, though. The young couple expected us to drop everything to get the dog to them. They didn’t want to meet him, to see if he’d work out. Wouldn’t tell us about where they lived… I had my doubts but off he went. Only to come back the next morning. Re-homing your animal is difficult for everyone, including the animal. People like that suck.
Tonight in a Facebook group about helping animals in need, I asked for advice on the matter. And just as expected – because there’s always some holier-than-thou fuckhead in places like that – the hate started.
It’s like, “Were you there when I almost died? No you were not. Were you there when the neighbor’s dogs kept teasing mine and no amount of peaceful approaches fixed the issue? No you were not. Were you there when my wishes were ignored and guests taught him bad things? No you were not. Were you there when I saw him turn into a killer and still no one took me seriously? No you were not.
“Were you there when he killed the last cat, and it might not have been the first? No. You were not.
“So shut the fuck up, because you have no idea. Although I will chortle when karma teaches this lesson to you, as it does.”
Poor Hoshi really needs a home without cats. Not a kill shelter. Not some tiny pen in an adoption shelter, as he’s not a puppy and his chances are too tiny for someone to want him. He doesn’t need a hateful fuck passing judgment on things out of our control. He just needs to be loved in a place without cats.
It’s as simple as that.