Tito!

If we could have adopted gorgeous Tito, we would have. He was our kind of dog - loving, cuddly, curious, handsome, and an "underdog" breed that is often misunderstood. We SOS'd him for a short time from the SPCA as he was one VERY stressed out boy. He was an adorable cuddle monster who always had a tail-wag for anyone who looked his way. Unfortunately, he had so many tail wags that he damaged the end of his tail. The tip was ruptured and kept bleeding whenever it hit any surface, and with all the wagging, that happened way too often. It was a little disturbing when he wagged it too hard and got this sides of his own body full of blood. Being a white dog it showed up very well. It simply did not have an opportunity to heal over, so the SPCA eventually made the decision to have most of it removed! Fortunately the surgery went well and healed perfectly.

Tito had very bad separation anxiety so we could not leave him home alone. With both of us working, ours was obviously not the house for him. As he was not neutered when we started SOSing him, we could not leave him alone in the house with our male dog (although they got along fine for the most part). We tried separating the two by putting Tito in our large bathroom, but he PANICKED as soon as the door was closed, crying and scratching at the door and wall, and chewing on the doorknob. He wasn't in there for more than a few minutes - we knew we couldn't leave him that way. Poor boy!

Separation anxiety is a behavioural issue that can be worked through with almost any dog - it can be "cured" with patience and the right methods. We were not equipped to do this at the time though, because working full time is not compatible with un-training separation anxiety. So many otherwise wonderful dogs are raised irresponsibly from puppyhood, and issues such as this one are un-knowingly trained into them. Then, when the owner feels it is too inconvenient to deal with any more, the dog is given away, problems and all, to be either euthanised or given to a family who must then work extra-hard to correct the ingrained problem. The world would be a much nicer place if people took the time to educate themselves about training methods and animal behaviour as soon as a problem is perceived, instead of just saying "I don't like this" and getting rid of an animal that they themselves have "wrecked". Take your dog to obedience! Call a dog trainer for advice! Even just look it up on the internet! AAAAHHH!!

Despite his issues, we could see that Tito was a darling boy with so much love to share. He had been dumped into the rescue world and was obviously upset at the upheaval in his life, and likely also mourning the loss of the family who had surrendered him to the shelter.

While he was recovering from his tail docking (and neutering), the SPCA staff kept him with them at the front counter at the shelter. Before too long, someone fell victim to his shining puppy-dog eyes and endearing "smile" and he was adopted. I'm sure his new family put in a valiant effort to ease his separation anxiety, because we never saw him back at the shelter again.

Yay Tito!