I am faced with two animal dilemmas. I have way too many dogs already and can’t afford to care for another. But there is this dog that’s been tied in a vacant field all year. Someone comes and gives it food and water from time to time and it has a house of sorts, the house has lost the north wall, not good in winter. It is a large mixed breed adult dog.
I don’t know why someone thinks this is a good situation for the dog. I suppose they live somewhere where they can’t have one. I have never seen anyone there but a neighbor that lives closer has seen people feeding it. No one knows how to contact these people. If I call animal control they will come and take the dog probably. But then he will go to the animal shelter and be held in a cage, scared to death until he’s put to death. So he lives a sort of half life tied to a tree with no one around or he dies. Poor choices. At least outside he can hear and see things and probably isn’t scared. He’s thin but not starving.
I guess I can try and make his home a bit better if he will let me. I just can’t bring him here as I am stretched to the limit with dogs, and my dogs love to fight strange dogs.
My second problem is the lamb Taco. I never dreamed a lamb could be this much trouble.
I tried taking him out to visit his relatives but he was scared to death and kept trying to get through the fence to his dog friends. That’s the only time I have seen him scared. Inside nothing fazes him. He climbs, jumps, chews and is generally destructive. If you swat him with a newspaper he takes it as a challenge and comes at you harder.
He especially won’t leave me alone. I can’t read a paper, he pulls it out of my hand or he jumps on me. When he takes a flying leap and lands on you it hurts. This seems cute but after a while you can tell he is just doing it to get your attention so you will chase or otherwise interact with him. That’s ok, I’ll play for a while but it wears on the nerves. He leaps and runs through the house with his dog friends chasing him. He is tall enough to reach the tabletop and counters and pulls everything off. He chews electric cords and walls, won’t leave a book or paper in reach until it’s shredded.
Last night in order to watch Comanche Moon without having to get up every 2 minutes to save something I locked him behind a gate in the kitchen. This is not a baby gate but a stout tall piece of metal grate we installed to keep some of our dogs confined. He got a running start and hit it with all his force, buckling it out at the bottom, then crawled through to continue his havoc.
If he can’t pester me or Steve he starts on a dog. He likes to pick on ones he can intimidate, he’s much bigger than them now. He chases them around, biting and pawing at them. He tries to mount our cocker all the time for some reason. He jumps down on them off the top of furniture. He has been bitten a few times, once quite good on the face, but it doesn’t bother him.
I know he knows the word no. He stops what he’s doing for a moment. But he is like an obstinate defiant toddler and goes right back to what he was doing. If you put something out of his reach he keeps trying to find a way to get to it. He knocks my glass over if I set it down and he knows enough not to do it while I’m watching. But if I forget for a moment over it goes. While I was up getting paper towels to clean up my spilled pop last night, he jumped in my recliner and peed on it. I have about had it. I know why sheep are not kept as house pets now.
I tried taking him outside on a leash but he won’t learn to lead, he just about kills himself.
When he is loose he won’t let you catch him. So outside isn’t fun or practical. He doesn’t like it outside. He truly believes he is a house dog.
We do have a large dog carrier that we lock him up in at night but he is fast out growing it. All of our rooms either have things he could destroy or are occupied by other animals.
There is plenty of room in our big barn but he would be alone except for cats. We would also have to go out there to feed him. He hates being alone and would be miserable, but its about to come to that.
My husband suggests lamb chops are quite tasty. I would never eat him but seriously I am thinking about selling him to the next person who comes along and they might. It’s kind of like the dog problem. He can live outside and alone or be eaten.
I don’t know why someone thinks this is a good situation for the dog. I suppose they live somewhere where they can’t have one. I have never seen anyone there but a neighbor that lives closer has seen people feeding it. No one knows how to contact these people. If I call animal control they will come and take the dog probably. But then he will go to the animal shelter and be held in a cage, scared to death until he’s put to death. So he lives a sort of half life tied to a tree with no one around or he dies. Poor choices. At least outside he can hear and see things and probably isn’t scared. He’s thin but not starving.
I guess I can try and make his home a bit better if he will let me. I just can’t bring him here as I am stretched to the limit with dogs, and my dogs love to fight strange dogs.
My second problem is the lamb Taco. I never dreamed a lamb could be this much trouble.
I tried taking him out to visit his relatives but he was scared to death and kept trying to get through the fence to his dog friends. That’s the only time I have seen him scared. Inside nothing fazes him. He climbs, jumps, chews and is generally destructive. If you swat him with a newspaper he takes it as a challenge and comes at you harder.
He especially won’t leave me alone. I can’t read a paper, he pulls it out of my hand or he jumps on me. When he takes a flying leap and lands on you it hurts. This seems cute but after a while you can tell he is just doing it to get your attention so you will chase or otherwise interact with him. That’s ok, I’ll play for a while but it wears on the nerves. He leaps and runs through the house with his dog friends chasing him. He is tall enough to reach the tabletop and counters and pulls everything off. He chews electric cords and walls, won’t leave a book or paper in reach until it’s shredded.
Last night in order to watch Comanche Moon without having to get up every 2 minutes to save something I locked him behind a gate in the kitchen. This is not a baby gate but a stout tall piece of metal grate we installed to keep some of our dogs confined. He got a running start and hit it with all his force, buckling it out at the bottom, then crawled through to continue his havoc.
If he can’t pester me or Steve he starts on a dog. He likes to pick on ones he can intimidate, he’s much bigger than them now. He chases them around, biting and pawing at them. He tries to mount our cocker all the time for some reason. He jumps down on them off the top of furniture. He has been bitten a few times, once quite good on the face, but it doesn’t bother him.
I know he knows the word no. He stops what he’s doing for a moment. But he is like an obstinate defiant toddler and goes right back to what he was doing. If you put something out of his reach he keeps trying to find a way to get to it. He knocks my glass over if I set it down and he knows enough not to do it while I’m watching. But if I forget for a moment over it goes. While I was up getting paper towels to clean up my spilled pop last night, he jumped in my recliner and peed on it. I have about had it. I know why sheep are not kept as house pets now.
I tried taking him outside on a leash but he won’t learn to lead, he just about kills himself.
When he is loose he won’t let you catch him. So outside isn’t fun or practical. He doesn’t like it outside. He truly believes he is a house dog.
We do have a large dog carrier that we lock him up in at night but he is fast out growing it. All of our rooms either have things he could destroy or are occupied by other animals.
There is plenty of room in our big barn but he would be alone except for cats. We would also have to go out there to feed him. He hates being alone and would be miserable, but its about to come to that.
My husband suggests lamb chops are quite tasty. I would never eat him but seriously I am thinking about selling him to the next person who comes along and they might. It’s kind of like the dog problem. He can live outside and alone or be eaten.
