Adoption History

So you’ve decided to adopt a pet. You’ve already bought all the food, dishes, and other accessories. The pet you’ve picked seems so cute and cuddly, but all of the sudden the pet flips out!! It’s like some Jeckl/Hyde change that you never expected. That’s what happens when you don’t get the entire history of the pet you’re planning on adopting. If you don’t believe this can happen, consider the story of Lucy.

Lucy was a Doberman pinscher/ Labrador retriever cross who was days away from being euthanized. Her original owners had to surrender her after she started showing signs of aggression towards their baby. However, in the 11th hour, an acquaintance of the owners rescued her and took her home. Lucy was scared to be in a new home, so she showed her nervousness by growling at people and the other dogs. Understand that this behavior sometimes happens when you change a dog’s surroundings and routine. In this case however, growling was the first red flag Lucy exhibited. During her two week stay with her rescuer, she became very attached to him. It got to the point that other people couldn’t approach him without Lucy growling and bearing her teeth. Now, it should be noted that the rescuer made many efforts to correct Lucy’s escalating behavior; some corrections were more effective than others. It takes time to learn aggressive behaviors, so it makes sense that it takes as much, or even more time to change undesired behaviors.

After two weeks, Lucy’s rescuer came to the conclusion that he couldn’t keep Lucy due to other demands on his time. He felt he had the experience to work with a difficult case such as Lucy’s, but he didn’t have the time she deserved to retrain her. He contacted a few animal rescues to find her a new “forever home”. News of Lucy’s case soon made it to Green Oak Veterinary Clinic. Doc was looking for a Doberman or Doberman cross to adopt for her daughter since her previous dobie had to be put to sleep last summer. Lucy was an interesting case, and the veterinarian and her family felt they had the experience to deal with any behaviors Lucy presented. They would soon learn how wrong they were.

Lucy arrived at the clinic with the vet’s daughter for a physical and temperament test. She passed both quite well, and she was driven to the vet’s home. First, Lucy was introduced to the resident dogs and given a tour of the house. She seemed to do well here too. Lucy was very smart and learned the schedule quickly. However, she exhibited her guarding and dominance behaviors again. She attached herself to Doc’s daughter and growled whenever someone approached. They also discovered that, where food was involved, Lucy was extremely aggressive to anyone near her kibble. Growling, bared teeth, and a tensed body warned everyone to say away. This event put serious doubt in the family’s ability to work with Lucy without getting hurt.

On her second day at the new house, Lucy figured out how to get into the garbage can in the kitchen. Normally, the owner would only have to raise his or her voice at a dog who was doing that to let the dog know garbage picking was not appropriate behavior. Lucy was a totally different story. She was smart enough to open the can, and there was no way she was going to give it up. The vet’s daughter tried to correct Lucy’s behavior and keep her from eating something that might be harmful. Unfortunately, she couldn’t get near enough to the garbage to push it away without endangering herself. She tried to use a cane to push the can away from the dog, but Lucy lunged at the piece of wood. That act cemented the family’s and vet’s decision that Lucy was much more dangerous than they thought. She was too hazardous to keep in the house.

Once Lucy was transported to the clinic for emergency boarding, Doc decided to get to the bottom of this story. The information she received before bringing her home and Lucy’s actual behavior just didn’t add up. The next step was to call the vet who was listed on the medical files that came with Lucy. That phone call cleared up a lot of the blank spaces in Lucy’s story. The vet stated that Lucy had had behavioral problems for years. The original owners had tried Bark Busters training and behavior therapy to no avail. To protect their baby, they kept Lucy in the master bedroom. This only enforced her protective aggression. The vet also told Doc that he had recommended that Lucy be euthanized more than a year ago after she had attacked a greyhound without provocation. Armed with this information, Doc contacted both the rescue that worked on Lucy’s case and the man who rescued Lucy in the first place. The rescue group decided they could not take Lucy back into the rescue because they didn’t want to be liable if Lucy injured someone who adopted her. The man who rescued her from euthanasia before was angry that he hadn’t been given the whole story. It was explained to him that euthanasia was the vet’s recommendation. He strongly objected, but he decided that he couldn’t take Lucy back. Later that day, Lucy was put to sleep.

Lucy’s story had a terrible ending, but it teaches a valuable lesson. When considering pet adoption, make sure you get a complete history of the pet. Collect as much information as you can so that you won’t be surprised by unknown behaviors or medical problems. Also, make sure that you can dedicate enough time to take care of the animal you adopt. Different animals need different amounts of grooming, attention, and training; make sure you understand these needs before adoption. Ignoring your pet’s needs only allows your pet to make their own rules, and the resulting behavior can be dangerous.