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Originally Posted by MidnightUnicorn  Agreed.
Personally, I had a similar situation when I got Tatiana. She was three years old when I got her. She grew up with her breeder (and her parents, plus several other yorkies) her whole life. I was worried Tatiana would miss her original owner and her past life. Dogs could be so loyal.
I worked hard to give Tatiana a new, positive life. She was family, and treated that way. She was included in ALL aspects of our life, even vacations and social events. Also, I spared no effort (nor expense) for her wants, comforts, and needs.
I love Tatiana, and she loves me back. I am so grateful for this.
It's saddening that no one made that effort with Hatchi.  |
Oh, I'm so glad you foun Tatiana and she found you! Wonderful story, wonderful outcome.
Yes, Hachi the movie sends a bad message about what to do with shut down dogs. The movie character Hachi seemed pretty shut down already throughout the movie, without much of a life for a working dog and seeming to prefer to be outside alone in the yard than in with his humans. You could see he was a dog who didn't really trust people that much so he mostly avoided much interaction with them. His owner and the family never did really try to correct that much or give him a job as I recall until he made one for himself, escorting daddy to and from the train station. That gave him responsiblity, something to do and he couldn't let it go even when it was all over. He kept waiting for the job to resume as he did seem to love his "work", his purpose in life, got depressed, aged fast. And when he proved resistant to change, he was just given up on after a while rather than patiently & persistently being given new work to do, insisting on having him nearby to talk to throughout the day and interact with as chores were done, actively involved in daily activities of the new family life.
If brought along right, that dog could have learned to like being around and interacting with people, learned to trust and love again. He could have had another life. So it's a sad movie in that the message sent to the viewer is misguided on how to deal with an apparently depressed, shut down dog that's given up on life.