Let My Inexperience Be A Warning To Others.

[morton 5,368]

I write this with some trepidation because I'm sure there will be some who completely disagree with what I am about to say and will consider me to be irresponsible and some may even consider me to be crule but I write this with two aims. To highlight what I feel is an important point and to hopefully dissuade others making the same mistake.

 

In the space of a week Merlin (the resuce dog) chewed everything in sight and dug holes everywhere in the garden. He was impossible to leave alone and unattended even for a second as he would chew something else even as soon as you took it off him he would go for something else. It got to the point that Freya our other rescue dog was constantly on edge and cowering because she thought we were telling her off. I had previously asked advice about muzzling but the idea of doing that long term didn't sit easy with me and even though people had suggested crates I didn't think it fair to crate one dog when the other was free. Last night we were even looking at doggy day care and then when he had dug yet another hole in the garden and then my wifes plant pots seconds later we decided enough was enough.

 

Merlin was found on the streets presumed dumped by gypsies although this is not a criticism I like as I have friends who are Romany gypsy and they treat their animals better than some children. In short Merlin has had to go back to the rescue center as he simply wouldn't have been able to have been left for the two days a week there was nobody at home.

 

This has not been undertaken lightly and I might be a grown man but I was almost in tears this morning because Merlin represented so much more than just a dog. He was a way to get back into field sports and a way of reconnecting with he memories of my father who passed away last year.

 

This does highlight one thing and that is for anyone considering a lurcher that there are plenty of good reliable breeders out there and sometimes it is better to get from a pup to train it the way you want from the very start, A dog of his age with the uncertain backstory is bound to have problems and whilst we were keen to egt another dog and I wanted to get a working dog it isn't always a good idea to get a dog of which you know nothing of its past.

 

I do not post this lightly and I am feeling awful about returning him but I do know for certain that he will not be out to sleep and this week with us has at least allowed us to gove a clearere assessment of what he is truly like. I jsut hope now he finds a place where he will be with someone who will give him the full time attention he needs and he won't need to be left alone even for short periods.

I applaud your honesty mucker.The best of intentions are often lost on some dogs,many a mutt is better off culled,for the dogs sake and a prospective owner.Ill warrant you could have chosen 20 dogs from a rescue and made a useful enough mutt out of 19 of them.Try again,dogs need honest homes.