Mycroft1325
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WARNING, while this involves some delightful Cainine Sweethearts, it also involves some painful events & does not end well. You have been warned.
So, as I said earlier, the two Dogs in my profile picture, are my Husky, Maya & her adopted baby, the Terrier Ivy.
Both of them were rescues, as my Ex-Wife & I always tried to get. Maya was an expensive showdog that a Guy bought to help his relationship with his SO. This is like having a child to help your marriage & it usually does not end well. So, he was stuck caring for a little Husky Puppy he didn't really want & wasn't interested in. His treatment of her was borderline (sometimes over that) animal abuse. He'd lock her up in his bathroom for 10hrs/day when he was at work & get mad at her because she freaked out & destroyed it. He would sometimes give her booze because he thought it was funny to watch her stumble around, and so on.
His neighbors in the apartment down the hall were told much of this by him, as he either thought it was funny, or just wanted to vent about what a PITA she was. This couple was horrified at this & begged him to give her to them, which, thankfully, he did. They took much better care of her, but, living in downtown LA, the only 'big' space they had for her to run around in was the roof of their apartment & they knew that just wasn't enough for a growing husky. So, they put up a notice where they worked to see if anyone wanted to adopt a Husky.
At the time, we were looking for a 3rd dog, and being experienced dog-owners, didn't think her behavior would be a problem.
Well, we were very wrong about THAT, but we kept our 'Maya Monster' & after a couple years, she settled down into a low-key frenzy. There are dozens of amusing (in retrospect) stories I could tell, and we ended up making a 'Kill Sheet' for her, which included numerous small animals, computer mice, dress shoes, books, priceless heirloom christmas ornaments & more. That was from 2009-2012.
Then, in 2012, our oldest dog, Betty passed away, so we looked into getting another '3rd Dog', enter Ivy. She was found during a police raid on a dogfighting ring & was found in a normal-sized dog crate with her 5 Brothers & Sisters, all near death from starvation & dehydration. This didn't matter to the owner, because these were all of his 'Bait Dogs', which are dogs that are bred exclusively for the purpose of being killed by the fighting dog, so that it knows what to kill. When she was found, not only was her general condition terrible, but she had cried so hard she had given herself a hernia.
The day we were at the Dog Park to look at a new dog for Jo (Now our oldest dog) & Maya, it turned out that Ivy wasn't even supposed to be there. She had made her way into the shelter vehicle by accident, so they just decided to bring her along. Thus, it was, as I'm sitting on the grass watching Maya play with the dog we were there for, this little black furball pulls a ninja & is suddenly laying in my lap & immediately falls asleep. Clearly she had made her choice, who were we to argue?
The instant we got Ivy home, Maya said- "MINE" and that instant, went from our 'Maya Monster', to the perfect, super well-behaved Mommydog. Ivy's reaction was just as strong & they became inseperable from that day forward. Their relationship as Mother & Daughter was as close as, if not more so, than if Ivy had actually been Maya's offspring. It was amazing to see.
Again, there are tons of adorable stories I could tell and none of them bad. Not only had Maya done a 180 in terms of her behavior, but Ivy was such a demure, sweet, well-behaved dog we never had to discipline her, not once. We did have to deal with the fact that for the first 6 months, Ivy would sit by me as I made suppers for everyone and cry, because she was terrified she wasn't getting anything, but that was about as bad as it got.
Maya taught Ivy everything a young Ladydog should know, like how to properly dig holes in the yard, how to wait patiently over gopher holes with your mouth open for ten minutes at a pop, so the rodent would basically exit right into your mouth, how to properly treat Maya's BFF, our next-door neighbor's big, sweet, but not very bright labrador named Sharpie & much more. Having them around was always a treat.
Then, in October of 2018, Ivy became sick. Very sick. The Vet did a bunch of tests that were inconclusive, but in a few days her health declined fast. One night I had to walk with her outside so she could do her business & she barely made it back in the house. I'm holding her in my lap, when she suddenly spasmed, went rigid & then the entire right side of her body became like rubber. She'd just had a stroke in my arms.
We raced her to the Vet & long story short- She had Brain Cancer. She was so weak that she couldn't even wake up from the anesthetic they used to put her under to examine her. The Vet said they could have woken her up, but she likely wouldn't be around for long & would be completely disabled if she was. We let her pass away on her own. She was only 6 years old.
For weeks after, at some point during the day, every day, Maya would go out into the yard & just Howl. Sometimes for an hour. It didn't stop until we got a new dog, Bucky, for her to look after, which she did & she clearly loved him as well, but she was never the same.
Then, Six Months later, Maya became very sick as well. When we had her examined, the Vet was shocked, not at what was wrong with her (Severe Liver Infection), but at how it had happened. Out here in California, we have weeds called 'Foxtails', that are shaped like little Arrowheads. Usually they end up in Dog's ears & are just a nusiance, but somehow, one had gotten all the way through Maya's skin into her Liver. They'd never seen anything like it.
The infection was bad enough it would be lethal, so we agreed to spend a (not-so) small fortune to have her operated on. It was a success, but she was never 100% & almost exactly a year later, her liver re-infected (not from another foxtail) & medical options were just beyond our means, so we had to bid farewell to our beautiful Husky. She was just over 10 years old.
TL;DR- My Profile Pic is of two very special dogs who meant the world to me & I will never forget them.
So, as I said earlier, the two Dogs in my profile picture, are my Husky, Maya & her adopted baby, the Terrier Ivy.
Both of them were rescues, as my Ex-Wife & I always tried to get. Maya was an expensive showdog that a Guy bought to help his relationship with his SO. This is like having a child to help your marriage & it usually does not end well. So, he was stuck caring for a little Husky Puppy he didn't really want & wasn't interested in. His treatment of her was borderline (sometimes over that) animal abuse. He'd lock her up in his bathroom for 10hrs/day when he was at work & get mad at her because she freaked out & destroyed it. He would sometimes give her booze because he thought it was funny to watch her stumble around, and so on.
His neighbors in the apartment down the hall were told much of this by him, as he either thought it was funny, or just wanted to vent about what a PITA she was. This couple was horrified at this & begged him to give her to them, which, thankfully, he did. They took much better care of her, but, living in downtown LA, the only 'big' space they had for her to run around in was the roof of their apartment & they knew that just wasn't enough for a growing husky. So, they put up a notice where they worked to see if anyone wanted to adopt a Husky.
At the time, we were looking for a 3rd dog, and being experienced dog-owners, didn't think her behavior would be a problem.
Well, we were very wrong about THAT, but we kept our 'Maya Monster' & after a couple years, she settled down into a low-key frenzy. There are dozens of amusing (in retrospect) stories I could tell, and we ended up making a 'Kill Sheet' for her, which included numerous small animals, computer mice, dress shoes, books, priceless heirloom christmas ornaments & more. That was from 2009-2012.
Then, in 2012, our oldest dog, Betty passed away, so we looked into getting another '3rd Dog', enter Ivy. She was found during a police raid on a dogfighting ring & was found in a normal-sized dog crate with her 5 Brothers & Sisters, all near death from starvation & dehydration. This didn't matter to the owner, because these were all of his 'Bait Dogs', which are dogs that are bred exclusively for the purpose of being killed by the fighting dog, so that it knows what to kill. When she was found, not only was her general condition terrible, but she had cried so hard she had given herself a hernia.
The day we were at the Dog Park to look at a new dog for Jo (Now our oldest dog) & Maya, it turned out that Ivy wasn't even supposed to be there. She had made her way into the shelter vehicle by accident, so they just decided to bring her along. Thus, it was, as I'm sitting on the grass watching Maya play with the dog we were there for, this little black furball pulls a ninja & is suddenly laying in my lap & immediately falls asleep. Clearly she had made her choice, who were we to argue?
The instant we got Ivy home, Maya said- "MINE" and that instant, went from our 'Maya Monster', to the perfect, super well-behaved Mommydog. Ivy's reaction was just as strong & they became inseperable from that day forward. Their relationship as Mother & Daughter was as close as, if not more so, than if Ivy had actually been Maya's offspring. It was amazing to see.
Again, there are tons of adorable stories I could tell and none of them bad. Not only had Maya done a 180 in terms of her behavior, but Ivy was such a demure, sweet, well-behaved dog we never had to discipline her, not once. We did have to deal with the fact that for the first 6 months, Ivy would sit by me as I made suppers for everyone and cry, because she was terrified she wasn't getting anything, but that was about as bad as it got.
Maya taught Ivy everything a young Ladydog should know, like how to properly dig holes in the yard, how to wait patiently over gopher holes with your mouth open for ten minutes at a pop, so the rodent would basically exit right into your mouth, how to properly treat Maya's BFF, our next-door neighbor's big, sweet, but not very bright labrador named Sharpie & much more. Having them around was always a treat.
Then, in October of 2018, Ivy became sick. Very sick. The Vet did a bunch of tests that were inconclusive, but in a few days her health declined fast. One night I had to walk with her outside so she could do her business & she barely made it back in the house. I'm holding her in my lap, when she suddenly spasmed, went rigid & then the entire right side of her body became like rubber. She'd just had a stroke in my arms.
We raced her to the Vet & long story short- She had Brain Cancer. She was so weak that she couldn't even wake up from the anesthetic they used to put her under to examine her. The Vet said they could have woken her up, but she likely wouldn't be around for long & would be completely disabled if she was. We let her pass away on her own. She was only 6 years old.
For weeks after, at some point during the day, every day, Maya would go out into the yard & just Howl. Sometimes for an hour. It didn't stop until we got a new dog, Bucky, for her to look after, which she did & she clearly loved him as well, but she was never the same.
Then, Six Months later, Maya became very sick as well. When we had her examined, the Vet was shocked, not at what was wrong with her (Severe Liver Infection), but at how it had happened. Out here in California, we have weeds called 'Foxtails', that are shaped like little Arrowheads. Usually they end up in Dog's ears & are just a nusiance, but somehow, one had gotten all the way through Maya's skin into her Liver. They'd never seen anything like it.
The infection was bad enough it would be lethal, so we agreed to spend a (not-so) small fortune to have her operated on. It was a success, but she was never 100% & almost exactly a year later, her liver re-infected (not from another foxtail) & medical options were just beyond our means, so we had to bid farewell to our beautiful Husky. She was just over 10 years old.
TL;DR- My Profile Pic is of two very special dogs who meant the world to me & I will never forget them.
