A Good Opportunity?

The story doesn't end with a successful prizewinning dog.  When you have a dog who is so good and so obedient as King, you want to breed him.  So when Judy from Kavanaugh Shepherds contacted me and told me that she had a female GSD looking for a good home I was elated.  As I said before, Judy is a good breeder, the kind who takes responsibility for her dogs from birth to death.  This particular female has issues.  In my desire to breed King, I forgot about my vow to never take on a problem dog again.  Judy brought Dena to our house.

Dena really loved Judy.  For the first 3 days we had to keep a rope on her, even in the house because she was trying desperately to get back to her previous home.  Our boy, Jim would sit in the yard with the rope tied around his leg while Dena threw herself at the end of the rope trying to get away.  After a period of time, she began to accept our home as hers.  She decided that I was her primary person and Jim was her secondary person.  She despised my husband.  She growled at him, she snarled at him, and  she lunged at him.  She was particularly upset whenever he got near me.  This went on for months.  He developed an attitude problem toward her also of course.  We became concerned when, one day, she nipped at him.  I notified Judy and she prepared to come and remove Dena from our home.  As a last resort, Jim called Kathy.  Once again, she understood the problem, gave us the necessary advice and we were able to defuse that situation.

However, Dena continued to be a naughty dog.  She didn't come when she was called.  She counter surfed and garbage picked.  In 4H Jim trained her in Showmanship not Obedience because the demands on the dog are minimal. She didn't win.   Nevertheless I permitted her to breed with King.