We've had an interesting last 12 hours. Last night, Brandon wouldn't go to sleep. So, Mike and I were in our room watching DVR'd American Idol and Brandon was in his room playing. About 10pm, the dog left our room and soon we heard a terrible growl that made Mike and I jump to run into Brandon's room. As soon as we were on our feet, the screams from Brandon started! I guess Mater had scratched him, but it was bad enough for stitches. Mater has always picked on Brandon, nipping him, drawing a little blood sometimes, but this was bad....and the last straw. As soon as we saw the wound, Mike said, 'This dog may have to go.' Ditto from the Mommy.
We knew this would devastate Amanda and upset Sydney. But, because Brandon required medical attention, the triage nurse told me that they had to contact Animal Control. Then, if Mater becomes a repeat offender (something we feel might happen to Brandon), they would put him down.
Now, if you ever want to sell something or in this case give something away free, put it on KSL Classifieds! We had a call within an hour from a gal in W. Jordan wanting to come up right now to see him.(This happens everytime we sell something there). This started the hysteria from our kids and so I called Mike home for back-up. The little family is darling. Three kids who couldn't get a dog unless it was free according to their Dad's rules. Everytime they would call on the free dogs, they would already be gone. We kind of felt that they were just needing to wait for Mater. We showed the gal Brandon's neck and warned her that he's not all potty-trained. Then, Mike asked them to wait in their car while we said good-bye. Although it was a tear-fest, I feel like it was the right thing to do. We have to protect our kids. Amanda also said she knows it's the right thing, but she's sad. Sydney wanted to go get a new dog 2 minutes after Mater was gone.
A picture of the funeral!
We feel so bad that we had to give him away, but what can you do? We've had a quiet, sad day, but tomorrow will be better (I purposely didn't say the sun will come out tomorrow!)
4 comments:
Oh...poor Mater!! You made the right decision, but that is so hard on the kids. When we gave Kosa away, Ethan yelled and screamed as the new family loaded him in the car -- it was so traumatic that it made me cry because he was so upset. I have a hard time wanting to get another pet because of the attachment issues...oh, and cleaning up the dog poop. Hope all your kids are doing ok - Give them hugs from Eva and Ethan.
Oh, wow! Sorry all this had to happen. That sore on Brandon's neck looks painful. What a sad thing to have happen-just having lost Wally and reading this makes me want to cry all over again. I hope the kids adjust quickly, but I'm sure they'll feel that void for a little while. Good luck! (PS, is there a reason he picked on Brandon so much?)
I think Mater picked on Brandon because he was the littlest and closest to his size and he could jump high enough to get in his face. We had to explain to the girls that Brandon didn't do anything to Mater that the other kids didn't do, too. We also had to tell the girls that in the 12 years we had Tucker & Bax they never once bit or scratched them, even when they stuck their fingers in their eyes/noses, pulled tails, etc. I think Mater wanted to be alpha dog to Brandon. My theory.
I am sorry to hear about Mater having to go, but it is nice to know that another loving family will get to enjoy him too. I hope Bubba is ok, it does look pretty bad.
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