Small Vent

[BeachGirlFLA]

I noticed when I first moved in that Hurley would cringe or cower sometimes like he thought I might hit him and once I picked up a shoe to put it on and he looked at me like he thought I was going to hit him with it. I mentioned it to my roommate last night and he said Hurley was already doing that when he got him and that his tail had already been broken (the bone at the tip is crooked.) Hurley was only three months old when he got him. How could anyone abuse a puppy that little? I just can't get into their heads (and probably don't want to) but I keep thinking about it while I watch Hurley roll over and grin his goofy grin (a tooth hanging out on either side of his mouth) for me to give him his belly rubs that he loves so much. Honestly, the person should be glad that I have no idea who he/she is because while I know violence isn't the right answer to violence and I would do my best not to lose my temper to that point with them, I'd definitely give them an earful about hurting such a sweet and loving dog. At least he found a good home once they took him to the pound. Sorry - vent over.

 

[MushyMushy]

I don't necessarily believe it's a sign he's been abused. I think it's just instinct and maybe he's a tad bit fearful.

Nobody has ever raised a hand to my kids and they would flinch once in a while. Same with one of my dogs. I've had her since she was 6 weeks old, so she wouldn't remember abuse anyway.

 

[smiley]

Unfortunately some people are just plain jerks and will be mean to puppies (remember Michael Vick?).

We have two adopted dogs and we recognized that one of them had been abused right off. She was afraid of our shoes, newspapers and magazines being rolled up and people raising their voices and arms. It took awhile, but we've had her for almost 10 years now and she's the best behaved and loving dog I've ever owned. After we got her comfortable just sitting with us we then began to touch her with our feet. Initially she was scared out of her skin, but now she understands that we can actually give her doggie massages with our feet and begs us to do it almost every day! :

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

My roommate said he was even worse when he first came here....that it took a while for him to be comfortable with people petting him. Hurley also pushes (or tries to push) his brother around and my roommate said that when he got him from the shelter, the other dogs were acting that way towards Hurley.
MushyMushy, I wish I could think that it wasn't a sign that he'd been abused but with the way he cringes, the fact that his tail had been broken, and the fact that he was brought to the pound I really do think someone treated him badly.

 

[safetymom]

We adopted a cat that had been badly abused. It took Stitch a couple of years to learn that he could trust humans. Now he loves to have his belly rubbed and will roll over to let you do it.

I think it is terrible that people would do that to animals!!!

 

[Ember]

My darling kitty (now passed) was an abused baby. She had been rescued and was in bad shape when they brought her in. I got her at 6 months old and we were together for 17 years. When she was little she wouldn't abide anyone touching her tail and wasn't that fond of her lower half being touched at all. Over the years it was okay for me to touch her anywhere but she still didn't like being touched by most people. Knowing how sweet my baby was I second the notion that I could give a solid kicking to the person that hurt her.

 

[englishteacha]

My kitty was a rescue and she was afraid of feet for the first 2 years we had her. I'm sorry Hurley had a bad start, but I'm very glad he's got a good home now!

 

[empiretink33]

it makes me so mad when animals get abused!!!!! they never did anything to people and the owners take everything out on them....

anyways its great that hurley has a good home and he will be happy.
soon he will come around and begin to trust you after all it took me about one year for resees (family dog) to let me pet him
its good your making such good progress XD

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

He trusts me now (otherwise, he wouldn't roll over and let me pet his belly....that's a sign of trust because they're exposing their most vulnerable area to you.) He's seven years old now. It just makes me angry that someone hurt him at some point and especially at a time when he was so young and so little and couldn't do anything to defend himself. Now, he'd be able to do something about it (he weighs 85 pounds) but then, he couldn't.

 

[lillygator]

some people are horrible....

my whole family have always been animal people....my uncle once passed by a home where a rottie was chained to a pole, he was being teased by two children - young enough that they should not have been unsupervised, the kids were being terrible to the dog. My uncle stopped and said a few words to them and they basically looked up and kept messing with the dog, the mom came out of the place yelling at my uncle...he finally said, I am taking your dog, she said I am calling the cops, he said fine...whether she did or not - who knows...he brought the dog back to my grandma's (his mom's) and the coat was just horrible...he coated it with motor oil, got him back to being healthy and this was a huge dog....anyway, this dog ended up having his teeth brushed daily and being well taken care of. None of us could believe the transformation ---even just the physical -....a little over a year ago, he was out by the pool and couldn't move...my gma has a mobile vet....he had a tumor on his spine.... he had to be put down. I am thankful my uncle grabbed him, even though he probably should have called the proper autorities...

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

Lilygator, I'm glad your uncle did what he did too.

 

[lillygator]

you read all the news stories....and it seems children and animals (as well as many others) are the ones hurt so often...and they are the ones who are so wanting love and approval they are willing to forgive and forget....that is the worst part!

 

[WDWBarb]

Abusing the innocent ... something I cannot comprehend.

We have a little mare that was rescued from the slaugterhouse. She is SO docile and sweet! She doesn't have any job with our family other than eating, sleeping the occassional cuddle. She brings sunshine to our lives.

Nothing phases her and you can just see that she knows how lucky she is to be here. Kids can crawl under her, dogs can bark at her... she never flinches.

However, if you lift a broom around her (as I did one day when I was cleaning cobwebs from the light fixtures), she absolutely falls apart. It was horrible. Her eyes rolled back in her head, she jumped so far she ran into the stall wall and she shook so hard... within minutes she was covered in sweat.

Poor baby... I had no idea. Brooms are no longer allowed in the barn unless she is out in the pasture and not looking.

Humans.

 

[tonilea]

Animal abuse is terrible, but even dogs that have never been abused can show the behavior you described.

We had a Chihuahua who was born in our home. She was never abused, yet she would cower at anything. Anyone who didn't know her history would easily assume she was abused - heck, I not sure I wouldn't have - before having a dog like her.

As for the broken tail tip - it would certainly be easy to explain that in a non-abuse situation. Tail accidently shut in the door?

I am not saying your dog was NOT abused, but a lot of times - we (people in general) like to feel needed and rescuing an "abused" dog makes us feel needed and that is a good feeling.

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

Tonilea, I honestly hope you're right.
Since I wasn't the one who rescued him (and he was rescued the day before he was supposed to be put to sleep so either way, he got very lucky), I wouldn't feel like a heroine anyway. I know he loves me and that's what matters most to me.