So long, Spark

It was a sad day, but we had to get rid of our dog. I hate to say it, but things are much less stressful since.

It happened about two weeks ago…but, probably should have been done sooner than that. Sparky had bitten quite a few people. I can think of at least 10… two of them were serious. Even the ones that weren’t serious were painful, though. It seems I always kind of defended him each time. He was being protective… or thought he was anyway. Now I know better… that protecting us from our friends, or even strangers, when we aren’t in danger is not a good reason to bite anyone. His other reason was sometimes what I think they call “food aggression”. That’s not good either because if you’re taking away his dog food, that’s one thing, but if he’s into something he shouldn’t have, that’s another.

Dog bites aside, he had many other behavioral problems. He would dart out of the house any chance he got (sometimes went after the neighbors in their own yard); he was housetrained, but not enough to let us know when he needed to go out sometimes (we’d take him out and stay out with him for five minutes or more, come in, and then minutes later find fresh dog poop behind the living room chair… his favorite spot); and he barked all the time. We’d take him for long walks and those times he’d do better, but not always. If we put him out back, he’d bark and dig. He knew both were wrong, because I trained him. But as soon as I was out of his sight (he knew when I was too far to discipline him) he’d start digging or barking. He had his own pen where he was allowed to dig, but the barking drove everyone nuts. I tried collars for the barking, but after a while, he either ignored it or got used to it. It was frustrating because he knew when he was misbehaving, but also knew when he could get away with it… when he was out of our reach. And he was difficult to discipline because he was so damn fast! I took him to group dog obedience classes and hired a private trainer once. He was great when she was here, but didn’t respect us in the same way.

All that said, I loved playing with him and cuddling with him. He would sleep in our bed at night, under the covers, in the bend of my knees. He loved to play and do tricks and go for walks. I miss him and I don’t miss him. It’s much, much, MUCH more peaceful around here without him. But, I’m going to want another dog someday.