Thoughts about Maxi.

It’s not an easy decision to adopt a dog. We took a long time – two weeks – to decide to take Maxi on. Neither is it an easy decision to give up a dog, especially when it’s to the SPCA because no one else will take him.

What made it easy for us was knowing that Maxi is just not the right dog for our family at this point in time. I feel bad for Maxi, because I sincerely believe that it is not his fault that he is the way he is. It’s a combination of nurture and nature, although I’m inclined to believe that it’s more the former. There are certain aspects of Maxi’s behaviour that lead K and I to believe that if Maxi had received proper obedience training, discipline and socialisation from an early age, he would have been a very different dog.

But I don’t feel guilty about surrendering him to the SPCA. I tried to find him a home after he bit Emily but no one would take him. I sent out tweets, I put up an ad on this blog and even on my old Livejournal account, I posted to the Petschannel adoption page and even to the various local pet forums. I received a grand total of two queries, but nothing came of it. After a while, we were hopeful that the episode would not repeat itself, so we kept him and I took down the ads.

And then he bit again, and again. The last incident made me realise that all it would take for the girls to be endangered was for us to turn our backs for a second when he was roaming the house freely, and for them to forget what we have always been drilling into them about contact with the dogs, for a disaster to happen.

So, despite the fact that we all like Maxi, flaws and all, it was time to put a foot down and draw a line. We will miss Maxi, but it’s comforting to know that local corgi aficionados have rescued him from the SPCA and taken him under their wing.

K and I believe that Maxi will do best in a home without children, where he is the only dog. He will also benefit from daily obedience training - in less than two months with us, he has already caught up with his obedience training, even though he needs frequent reminders. I hope that his perfect family will come along for him soon.

In the meantime, dear readers, many of you have been asking me whether we will be getting another dog. Yes, we will, and it is most likely to be a corgi. Pembroke, not Cardigan.

But we will take our time before we welcome another dog into our family. I also don’t think we will be adopting again, unless we have the chance to really spend time with the dog beforehand and thoroughly understand its temperament before we decide. Maxi has scarred us in more ways than one.

October 7, 2009

Posted in Pets and tagged pet adoption.