08/05/2025
Sorry for the long post.
Let me share an experience
no one could have prepared me for when I went into this business of dog boarding. One of my long time clients (like 2019 when I began long time) asked me a couple weeks ago if I had any friends that would want her dog. It really took me by surprise I never would have imagined her getting rid of the dog. She said she and her girlfriend were wanting to start a family and the dog just wasn't good w children.
However me and my co-worker both had children around him at different times maybe not infant children but from 4 to the age of 10. Never not once were we ever given any reason to believe that he would harm a child. However due to his lack of socialization by her and lack of discipline he would kill a cat, a small dog, or any kind of small animal. The only thing we ever really knew him to get along with was another dog similar in size to him that was with him during her last relationship with a different girlfriend. He was a blue pitbull his self, and could pose quite the threat to a small dog or cat. He was very strong if someone wasn't on their toes he could very easily get away from somebody and hurt something. So he was definitely going to be a hard dog to find a home for. Nevertheless, I actually had one person in mind that had no other animals, lived in the country, and kind of was more partial to having an older dog that wouldn't tear everything up. So I contacted that friend and they were willing to try this dog out in their home. Due to unforeseen circumstances about 2 weeks in he decided that this dog was not for him he was too protective and he was worried he was going to cause harm to somebody.. and he just did not want that responsibility.. cannot blame him a bit for that. So by all means I contact the previous owner to see when they could get their dog back because by all means I never in a million years would have ever thought that this person would not have stood behind their dog. But that's exactly what happened. They refused to do anything more with this dog, would not take him back, and would not even consider trying to find him a place to go. After 6 years of her owning this dog from the time he was a puppy she just washed her hands of him even though I had no place for him to go I have a small animals myself plus many boarding dogs that were small there would be no way that he would ever fit in at my establishment. No matter what kind of dog he was or how difficult he was I still loved him and only wanted what was best for him. She asked me about finding him a home and then told me that she could just Make him an outside dog in a kennel if nothing else. Which I did not want this for him so I proceeded to ask my friend if he wanted him which he was willing to take him so that's what we did. Her excuse for not taking him back was she no longer lived in the area and no longer lived in the house she did where she was allowed to have pets she had moved in the two-week time frame and was in a place that no longer allowed pets and had no family to help her. So therefore she stated the responsibility fell on My friend who took him for a trial period and whatever needed to be done for Capone was on us, well basically him in her words, but I wasn't going to let him take it alone I was going to take responsibility as well. But the bad news was I had nowhere to put him and no more possible homes that I could come up with due to the fact he was a hard dog to place.. so after begging pretty much the previous owner to take him back. she would not do it. So yesterday morning I had to go to animal control to sign over relinquishment of the dog and sign euthanasia papers because they said they would not be able to do anything with him that they would have to euthanize him. I was so devastated and I absolutely feel like I failed him. I am so angry with her for not taking her dog back like a responsible pet owner does but I guess I can't expect everybody to be responsible. All I was trying to do
Was help her and the dog out by trying to find him a home in the end its just a traumatizing experience. Because please believe I loved that dog I never wanted to see harm done to him by no means I only wanted good for him he had been with me literally 6 years and I was always partial to bullies. Yet my hands were tied in the end and I had nowhere to turn to and no one that could help me especially knowing that there was many other dogs in shelters that were much more adoptable candidates. So I'm going to say my hands were tied because that was her famous line in all of this because she had moved to a new location in Marion and was unable to have pets there. So it dawned on me I should drive by her old place if I can figure out her old address and see if she really did move after thinking about it all day and dwelling on what had happened to Capone cuz he had done been euthanized, with nobody by his side because I couldn't do it I felt like I failed him so bad and I just could not take him in there for euthanasia. So anyways back to the fact that I got to thinking maybe I should drive by her old address.. well lo and behold there her car sat in her old driveway right in West City when I told her earlier that morning that her dog was going to be euthanized and I hope that she could live with herself for that. And the whole time she was right there in Benton not in Marion not in the house that didn't allow pets but right there in Benton in the same house she'd kept him in before and all she had the nerve to do was block me. I wish I would have took the initiative to drive by her old place before taking Capone that morning but honestly who would really think somebody would lie about that I mean it was bad enough that she couldn't have her dog back but I really thought it was because she was in a place she couldn't take him even though it was a little hard to grasp that she had moved in 15 days. I just never thought to drive by her old place until later. Had I known that she was still living there I would have took the dog and tied him up on her porch I would have done anything I would have threw him through a window I would have left him in her car at night. I would have done anything to give her her dog back whether she wanted him or not so I did not have that responsibility. So in the future please I ask do not ask me to help find your dog at home. This was a very traumatic thing for me and I hope to never experience it again. My heart is broken for poor Capone and I hope that his previous owner lives with some unbearable guilt for the rest of her life but I doubt she will but I'm sure that I will still be thinking about it years down the road from now. So please know that I am not being rude when I won't help you find your dog home I will never do this again I will never do this for anybody ever again. My suggestion is your dog is family you keep your dog no matter what there is no rehoming once it's your dog especially for 6 years it's your dog forever. Nobody prepared me for anything like this in dog boarding I just want to keep people's dogs while theyre gone on vacation and baby them and give them a safe place to stay. That's all I'm trying to do and somehow these unforseen forsaken circumstances keep happening and I hate it.
