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mattiematt · 11-23-2008, 03:31 PM

I agree with everyone here. Many of us may have gone through what you have gonethrough and more, simply because many of us are older. HOWEVER, each of us have our personal threshold. You sound like you have reached that threshold. It doesn't sound like you can hear what people are saying without it hitting you personally. Really, I do understand. I'm sure many of us do. I am trained for over 35 years on working with emotionally disturbed children. Dogs are truly not too far off in basal behaviors.
10 years ago, I had a very large dog I rescued from a dog pound. ( I know, it's an old term, but that's what it was called) "Bonnie" was a large, purebred hunting dog. I was not a hunter. She looked so sad and was visibly sick. I took her, telling myself she would probably be stunted (lol) in growth because of her being in that pound. I took her, fed her the best food I could buy, trained her in obedience and she seemed great! She grew to be a beautiful, big for a female, German wirehaired pointer. I got praise for how well behaved she was and how beautiful. However, they didn't see what happened when I tried to bring her into the house. She literally ran on the walls. She could not sit anywhere for longer than 3 minutes. She would not eat unless I stood over her. She was fine in our yard, but the neighborhood child, a 22 year old mentally challenged young man, who had the mentality of a 5 year old, would throw things at her constantly and did not get any supervision from his family. This went on for quite some time until I found out. Confronting didn't help. Calls to the local SPCA only helped if they were right there and, I could not leave her in the house because she would freak out. After four years, I did the hardest thing I have ever done. I started calling around to different associations of her breed. After about 3 months I finally was convinced by a counselor to work with the SPCA and they would help me. They would not put her down. I wrote a letter to whomever would be giving her a forever home. I offered to pay for at least 6 months of food for her. I noted that she would come with her own igloo dog house, various leather halters, etc. When it came time to take her to the SPCA, it took me a couple of hours to actually physically take her in. I sat and cried in an office another half hour or so with the counselor. Yes some people just callously drop off pets like they were nothing. But Bonnie was family and she was really hurting too. She wasn't safe in her own back yard and she could not, for whatever the reason was, come into the house. Before the day ended I received a call from the SPCA telling me about a family who came in while I was going through this with Bonnie. They adoped her on the spot. They had another dog who was just lonely and had stopped playing. When Bonnie entered their family, both dogs found themselves in a new and wonderful world. I still think of Bonnie to this day. But I know I did the best thing I could have for her. She is now 14 years old. I used to see her at the dog park with her adopted family. It was the right thing to do and the hardest thing I have ever done.
I now have Sophie, a yorkie I got a year ago. She is the right dog for me. She goes with me everywhere. She is very well trained and means everything to my family, just as Bonnie always will.
Stop beating yourself up. Teddy needs you now more than ever. I believe dogs know us better than we can imagine. There is a wonderful site called Yorkshire Terrier National Rescue, yorkierescue.com. where I believe you can get help. Of course none of us want to separate from our dogs, but sometimes it's the most responsible thing one can do and the most wonderful thing we can give to our dog. You MUST take on the task of being responsible, because Teddy deserves to be happy. You owe yourself and your dog a good life. You can't just dump him off somewhere and I think you are well aware of that or you wouldn't be writing here. Taking care of yourself can help you take care of Teddy. He can be happy, and so can you. STOP beating yourself up. I believe, if we think about it honestly, that anyone of us could be where you are. Take care of yourself. Stay focused on helping your dog and you will end up helping yourself.

11-23-2008, 03:31 PM	#152
mattiematt Yorkie Talker Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Altadena, Ca. Posts: 22	Just another thought. . . . I agree with everyone here. Many of us may have gone through what you have gonethrough and more, simply because many of us are older. HOWEVER, each of us have our personal threshold. You sound like you have reached that threshold. It doesn't sound like you can hear what people are saying without it hitting you personally. Really, I do understand. I'm sure many of us do. I am trained for over 35 years on working with emotionally disturbed children. Dogs are truly not too far off in basal behaviors. 10 years ago, I had a very large dog I rescued from a dog pound. ( I know, it's an old term, but that's what it was called) "Bonnie" was a large, purebred hunting dog. I was not a hunter. She looked so sad and was visibly sick. I took her, telling myself she would probably be stunted (lol) in growth because of her being in that pound. I took her, fed her the best food I could buy, trained her in obedience and she seemed great! She grew to be a beautiful, big for a female, German wirehaired pointer. I got praise for how well behaved she was and how beautiful. However, they didn't see what happened when I tried to bring her into the house. She literally ran on the walls. She could not sit anywhere for longer than 3 minutes. She would not eat unless I stood over her. She was fine in our yard, but the neighborhood child, a 22 year old mentally challenged young man, who had the mentality of a 5 year old, would throw things at her constantly and did not get any supervision from his family. This went on for quite some time until I found out. Confronting didn't help. Calls to the local SPCA only helped if they were right there and, I could not leave her in the house because she would freak out. After four years, I did the hardest thing I have ever done. I started calling around to different associations of her breed. After about 3 months I finally was convinced by a counselor to work with the SPCA and they would help me. They would not put her down. I wrote a letter to whomever would be giving her a forever home. I offered to pay for at least 6 months of food for her. I noted that she would come with her own igloo dog house, various leather halters, etc. When it came time to take her to the SPCA, it took me a couple of hours to actually physically take her in. I sat and cried in an office another half hour or so with the counselor. Yes some people just callously drop off pets like they were nothing. But Bonnie was family and she was really hurting too. She wasn't safe in her own back yard and she could not, for whatever the reason was, come into the house. Before the day ended I received a call from the SPCA telling me about a family who came in while I was going through this with Bonnie. They adoped her on the spot. They had another dog who was just lonely and had stopped playing. When Bonnie entered their family, both dogs found themselves in a new and wonderful world. I still think of Bonnie to this day. But I know I did the best thing I could have for her. She is now 14 years old. I used to see her at the dog park with her adopted family. It was the right thing to do and the hardest thing I have ever done. I now have Sophie, a yorkie I got a year ago. She is the right dog for me. She goes with me everywhere. She is very well trained and means everything to my family, just as Bonnie always will. Stop beating yourself up. Teddy needs you now more than ever. I believe dogs know us better than we can imagine. There is a wonderful site called Yorkshire Terrier National Rescue, yorkierescue.com. where I believe you can get help. Of course none of us want to separate from our dogs, but sometimes it's the most responsible thing one can do and the most wonderful thing we can give to our dog. You MUST take on the task of being responsible, because Teddy deserves to be happy. You owe yourself and your dog a good life. You can't just dump him off somewhere and I think you are well aware of that or you wouldn't be writing here. Taking care of yourself can help you take care of Teddy. He can be happy, and so can you. STOP beating yourself up. I believe, if we think about it honestly, that anyone of us could be where you are. Take care of yourself. Stay focused on helping your dog and you will end up helping yourself.