Good-bye Bandit

The only hiccup in the journey was our dog.  Bandit was a 18-month-old German Shepherd/Husky mix we got from a local farm when he was 5-weeks-old.  He loved to run (away) and got bored easily. I tried puppy training classes at Petsmart, read lots of books and information on the web and tried several different training methods, but it boiled down to him needing a firm hand and consistent training.  None of which I had to give. 

At home and with our family, Bandit was a faithful, loving dog. He enjoyed being with the family and would plop down in the middle of all the activity with a sigh and fall asleep.  He played ball and chase with the kids and barked at strange activities.  He made us laugh at his playful antics and shake our heads when he did silly things.  In the end, it wasn’t enough.

He proved to be uncomfortable with change and unpredictable.  Strangers coming in and out of the house to take things, changes in our home and back yard and the trip were too much for him.  He had already nipped all of the children –never breaking the skin, but leaving a big bruise- and the next door neighbor’s little boy (in his backyard retrieving their dogs). 

During the camp out, another camper (drunk), came over and started roughing him up. This agitated his already stressed out self. That night, while I was taking a walk and out of sight, my youngest daughter touched him to calm him down.  He whipped around and nipped her upper arm. The bruise lingered for three weeks.  

This seemed to be the last straw, but after much prayer and thought, we decided to give him one more chance.  That next week, while we were loading the trailer, he escaped again.  The neighbor and I managed to catch him.  While I walked him back to the house, I kept him on a short leash –sensing his anxiety.  He lunged at the 4-year-old neighbor boy and nipped him in the back, tearing away a piece of shirt. 

That did it.  We decided he would be a liability on the trip and untrustworthy.  That Saturday, I took him to the pound to surrender him.  But they said he couldn’t be adopted out and euthanized him. 

          As difficult and heart-breaking of a decision it was, it was the right one.  We just weren’t meant to be dog owners.  

So good-bye, Bandit.  I know you are in heaven, running and playing to your heart’s content. We love you and will always think of you fondly.

And having already put down our 17-year-old cat with failing kidneys, we decided to stick with one cat for the foreseeable future. 

We said goodbye to our most favorite cat, Brio. She was one of those amazing mother-hen cats who played peacemaker between squabbling fur siblings. At 18-years-old, her health was deteriorating and she moved very slow. The journey would have been very stressful and unfair to her. ioo