General Discussion - November 15, 2016

Sorry that was confusing! My dog I had to rehome around four years ago (our current dog came with my boyfriend, who I started dating almost three years ago) There's a lot of background there but essentially I got him as a puppy when I was in an abusive relationship. I left the relationship when he was about a year old but he became extremely protective over me. I did numerous training classes including sessions with a behavioral trainer. The root of the issue was he felt like he had to protect me - in the five years I had him he bit several friends and a roommate because they got too close to me. When I wasn't around him and he didn't feel like he was "on duty" he was a completely normal dog. But he was so high strung with me - the turning point where I realized it wasn't healthy for him was when I was sitting on my bed and he was between me and the window growling at construction workers at my neighbor's house ~20ft away. I couldnt redirect his attention and it killed me to see how stressed he was. I spoke with the behavioral trainer and she recommended reaching out to a breed-specific rescue. She said that since at such a young age he watched me get attacked on a regular basis that it became second nature for him to feel the need to protect me (like he was the pack leader and I was the weak pup). So I took her advice and they placed him in a fantastic home for him - he has a huge farm and a stay at home mom to hang out with all day.

I don't like saying I "got rid of him" - that sounds like I threw him out because he pissed on the rug or something. It was a very thought out decision in his best interest after consulting several different professionals who all had the same viewpoint.

/r/femalefashionadvice Thread Parent