Staying

I am sure no one who knows me is at all surprised to hear that I have decided to keep Jessi.

She is a very sweet and odd little dog with some huge issues....she came from a dog hoarder/breeder, had little human contact from anyone other than the lady who owned her, hates men and is a biter with a major attitude. Since I have had her, 4 months now, she is learning that people are ok, is learning how to play, has gone from being litter trained to fully housetrained and is figuring out that people mainly men are ok, thanks to my very patient boyfriend and brother. She actually sleeps on the couch by Tim now, still a bit scared if he startles her but this a huge step from her wanting to bite his face off and bolting from the room whenever he came into it.

She still needs some work on her possessiveness of her "person", (me when I am here and my sister when I am not) when other dogs are around but we have been working hard on this and she is starting to understand....did I mention she is a bit bull headed. I still have to watch her around new people to make sure she does not bite, but I have had a biter before and know how to deal with it. She has been quite a challenge but the more and more work we put in together the more wonderful I think she is.

I still remember the first day I met her when i went to pick her up....she was a matted mess, scared and even tried to bite me. The lady who was surrendering them to us (her owner passed away in a car accident) was going to have her put down since no one could get near her and she had lots of sores on her, so i covered her with a towel and scooped her up. I realize sometimes a dog has to be put down due to behaviour issues, but seeing the conditions she was living in, she at least deserved a chance even if it had ended that way.

So my house is now full, no more room on the bed and everyone is getting along fine. So needless to say I am done fostering for a very long time....but I do enough other stuff to make up for it so I do not feel bad. The difference in my own dogs without something new to deal with every few weeks is noticeable, something I just did not realize before.