Life is an adventure: June 2014

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Saying Goodbye to Koda Bear

Dakota came into our family in March. We bought him for Abigail for her 6th birthday.

We LOVE him. But we LOVE our daughter more.

We spent A LOT of money on him. Not only the purchase price but our vet bills racked up quickly to around 1,800. He had parvo when we purchased him, worms, stomach issues, all his shots, neutered, and had to have his dew claws removed because they were floating. Unfortunately as the days came and went we started noticing him becoming aggressive. He bit Abigail once in the knee and of course we just said it must have been "her" doing something wrong... Then the 2nd bit came. Over a 3 week period it had gotten worse. He was growling at us and showing us his teeth. He was constantly testing us. And sometimes he won. There would be no way around it. We hit the training really hard and looked onto having a professional come in and work with us. We took him to puppy classes on Saturday and Sunday. Teaching him the right way to socialize. Things seemed to be getting a bit better. He nipped here and there but there always seemed to be a reason for it. An excuse... He had at this time been challenging us, showing food aggression, nipping, and proving to us just how dominant his personality is. We talked with the vet. They felt it could be a number of issues. His breed needs to stay with their moms longer and we got him at 6 weeks. She was young, barley a year and if she didn't know what she was doing then that plays a rile, the parvoirus, or it could be that he is just a very dominant pup that will need a life long training and consistent owners. We know he should not be in a home with small children. Abigail and I took him and Ruger for a walk and while I was going to put him back on his lead he grabbed me by the arm and shook me. By the time I realized what was going on he had finally let go and took off. He went in 2 days later and was neutered. Over that week I just kept having a bad feeling. After much discussions and many tears Don and I decided it would be better for us and better for Koda to find him a home where he could get the right training to become a well mannered pup.
We found Koda a new home and said good bye to him on the 17th. It was so hard, heartbreaking, and a relief to know I could finally relax and stop worrying that he would maul Abigail. He was around 45 lbs and by October he would have been close to 100lbs. I would have not physically been able to handle an aggressive dog at that weight.

If you know Don and I, you know our pets are not pets. They are part of our family. I mean come on we literally poured around two grand into him. We didn't give up on him. I had a few comments from a few people who didn't agree with our decision. I'm OK with that. My daughter will come first no matter what. Google dog bits in children... No way in HELL was I taking that chance. And yes I do feel bad, guilty... I could go on. We have never had to re home a furry family member. This was not just the regular puppy stuff. This was scary. He was 16 weeks old and he scared me at times. I had gotten him for Abby. You cuddle with puppies, play with them, get puppy kisses. We never got to experience that with Koda. I was insanely jealous of the people on the Alaskan Malamute board who posted all these pictures of their puppy cuddling, playing with their kids, licking them. He looks so damn cute and so cuddly. We never had that because Koda was different.

Koda's new owners have had some issues. They have seen the aggression. BUT they feel positive that they can train him. If not they know we will take him back and find him another place that will work. I wish him the best. And he will always have a place in our hearts. We hope and pray that his new family can help mold him into a great pup. They are wonderful people whom have kept in touch and said they will continue.

It was not easy. It was heartbreaking. We wanted him badly. We love him.