Boomerang Dog

I suppose we should not call her Boomerang Dog, her real name is Daisy.   By whatever name, Daisy came back.   Daisy had the most wonderful forever home, her new family walked her twice a day in a beautiful park, they bought her special dog treats, they bought her new collars and leashes, someone stayed home with her most of the time, they spoiled her rotten.  They said she was such a lover, she attached herself to them and would not go more than a few feet away.  She was a great snuggler and she was a lover in the first degree.  Still she did not find her new home exciting enough.  

She opened the cabinet doors and scattered the garbage all over the house when she was left alone for only a short time.  Then coming back from her evening walk, she broke away and it took the help of several neighbors to catch her and put her leash back on her.  She snapped at her new owners when she was lying down and they tried to put a leash on her.   She showed aggressive behavior from time to time.   They provided her a perfect home, they did all they could for her.  Daisy was a perfect home companion, except for those times when she was unpredictable and lashed out at them. 

She had exhibited none of this behavior at our home when she was here, but with 5-8 dogs, she had so much company that she was seldom alone and she seldom had time to interact alone.  .  She did chew a leash in 1/2 when she was left tied up in the car, but she only climbed in the front seat.  Apparently no one had heard her call "shotgun".   She did appear to have some small confused spells, her eyes would be open wide and her tongue would roll out as she lay down, these may have been small seizures, the books say that dogs may snap when they come out of these spells because they are scared and confused.   We had always stroked her gently or just left her alone until she snuggled up again.  In a few minutes she would be up and around again, looking for attention.  She could also run away if she was confused and scared, she had the dog door and she would frequently come and go on her own, we would take little notice except to look outside to see who had gone out.   

We did have a talk with the Doctor about her med's to see if we need to adjust them.   We may try a slightly different approach with her medications, perhaps her seizures are not fully under control and we did not recognize the problem because she was passive with us.

We swear that she had a smirk on her face when she came in the door, she enjoyed the excitement of a busy house with 7 friends.    She came home because of her own actions.   We wonder if she plotted and schemed until she found a way to get back to the more exciting place?   It was only minutes from her arrival back till she had set up shop under the foot rest of the recliner.  Now we have to find a way to make her want to stay at her next forever home.   Since she likes the excitement of dog companions, we may have to look for a home with another dog.  We always leave the radio on when we leave home, it tends to keep all the dogs out of trouble and since we normally have 3 to 8 dogs in our home, there is a lot of trouble to be kept out of.    After dinner all 7 dogs went out and had a huge romp in the back yard, Daisy has not lost her ability to play with the pack.  If anyone else has some suggestions, let us know.    Bella and I are the only "Forever Dogs" in this "Forever Home", our job is to help our fosters find their forever home, and stay in them!

We want to thank the nice family that took Daisy in.  They gave us good insight into Daisy's behaviour.  We should have worked with her med's more before she left here, they did not sign on to take in a problem dog that needed much work and understanding.  We hope they will try again with one of the other fine Goldens that are in the system.  They tried hard to give a good home to Daisy,  they will make some Golden a fine home.  Those of us that work in rescue expect medical and behavior problems.  They just wanted a companion and we made the wrong match.  

Mogley G. Retriever