Quote Originally Posted by h2s View Post
Was able to send it off my phone. Here is a picture of the devil:

1QjD0.jpg

Here is the story (long, only read if interested):

After I had lost my dog, (some of you PP guys should remember, I was fairly upset about it for some time), I had decided that I couldn't have another dog, as I didn't want to see one as a replacement for the other. As time passed, however, there was a bit of an emptyness in the home, and after a long discussion with the gf, we decided we were going to adopt.

We were set on adopting from a rescue shelter. After some searching, my girlfriend found him online and wanted to see him immediately (along with another who was conveniently housed with him). We fell in love rather quickly. He was playful, very excited, and seemed like a good companion. There was one issue, however. He was shedding like mad. We had gone to visit him after work, so I was in a suit, and my entire suit was covered in his hair nearly instantly. My concern was that he was unhealthy, as a coat/shedding, can be indicative of a dog's health. That night we spoke to my vet. She said she couldn't guarantee anything without seeing him, but it could just be a nervous reaction to the shelter.

The next day I went to pick him up. Nervous as hell the whole way home, I practically had to drag him away from the shelter and nearly the entire car ride home, he shyed as far away from me as possible. Quite different than our first encounter. Either way, we were happy to have him.

Now I will say one thing about adoption. Know what you are getting yourself into. I would never discourage it, but it takes alot of strength to bring an animal back on track. You may notice in that picture (I may have made it too small, I can probably at another time upload a better picture), that he has a scar. The scar runs from his snout (below his eye) all the way to the top of his skull, where a hard white mass is present above his skin (it appears to be exposed skull, it is rather small). Due to this, we suspect abuse from prior owners. Unfortunately, we have zero history on him. The shelter we took him from adopted him from a kill-shelter. The initial shelter had no records, literally a folder that said "beagle." Due to what was most likely a traumatic past, he has numerous behavioral issues. He can very easily be made nervous (shedding). He is territorial (insane protection of my gf, which has even led to him charging the door everything someone comes off the elevator at night (I live in a condo)). But the most dominant issue, is severe seperation anxiety.

When we first adopted him, anytime we would leave, he would cry very loudly next to the door continuously. It was very hard to leave him because of this, especially with neighbors questioning what is occuring. He also, even to this day, immediately goes to the bathroom when we leave, even if he just returned from outside. This has been very difficult to deal with, as anytime we leave the house, we know we are going to return to an issue. It is hard to stay mad at him though, especially given circumstance. We are slowly improving this behavior, but it has really put me and my gf to the test of dog ownership. An extension of this seperation anxiety also includes destruction. He will rip up anything he can find when left alone. Luckily, this has slowed dramatically, but he still uses destruction as a means of getting our attention when we are home.

All of this said, I have zero regrets. I will keep putting in the work necessary to help him keep improving.
Admirable, H2S. All of our girls are rescues and we continue to foster here and there. Just a matter of time before the wife falls in love with 1 and we end up keeping it. or 2. lol I'm sure I don't have to tell you to give it time and it will be more than worth it.

Rodja, love the 1st pic dude!!