Doggie Resolution?

When I last posted, Scott and I were both pretty much at our wit's end of dealing w/ Bowie. Scott had even set a date to take him back to the pound..."tomorrow." But, I think doing the deed was a little too hard for both of us...so we decided to switch things up a bit. Although Bowie can be a terror when he is not put in the cage during the day, the reason why we were both so annoyed was because of the peeing--his refusal to go INTO the cage in the first place. So, we decided just to make sure that all the pantry doors were closed and the trash was secured, and we left him out of the cage.
Although a couple times, I've come home to a chewed up empty plastic bag or milk carton out of the recycle, or bathroom tissue trash pulled out about the bathroom floor, the trash is a little easier to clean up, and not nearly as smelly as pee. So for now, Bowie's got his chance #4.

Doggie Dilemma

It's been nearly a year since we adopted Dog #2, Bowie, from the pound. I remember our visit-- I had decided to get Scott a dog for x-mas, against my better judgement. Not my better judgement, I guess, but just because of the fact that I really love little Henry, and I didn't think there was any way possible that another dog existed out there that would be anywhere nearly as good and as loveable as him. But, Scott had been wanting a dog of his own that he could excercise w/ since Henry's a little too old, and once I started looking at all the adoption adds and cute pics, I couldn't help but want a new little cuddly family member, either. So, we went to the humane society together, cruised around amidst all the pit bull mixes, and decided that Bowie--then Mikey, was cute enough to come home w/ us although he was nearly four years old. We were both excited, and visited the pet store right away, gave him a bath that night, and got started on our new life together.

I had adopted Hendrix from the pound, and he has been w/o a doubt, the best little friend anyone could have, so I didn't even think that another pound dog would be any sort of problem at all. Bowie was okay at first, perhaps a little neurotic, but we figured that he'd get used to us and grow out of his issues. But, over the last 11 months, he seems to have gone from okay to bad to worse. The first couple months, he was okay to leave at home by himself, but after a while, he developed these really bad habits of stealing food out the pantry--he's eaten entire loaves of bread, boxes of dog cookies and other dog treats, or knocking over the trash can and dragging everything out so he can find anything edible. I've come home to horrendous scenes of trash strewn about in three different rooms wtih avocado smashed into the carpet. The worst part about it is, if you try and get him in trouble for the things that he's done wrong, he freaks out and leaks pee on the carpet. In an effort to keep the carpet clean, I just ignore him.

So, we had to start kenneling him when were both gone for the day. He never liked that idea one bit, all though for an extremely short period of time-maybe a week or so, I could get him to go into the cage on his own w/ nothing but the promise of a cookie. But, that has also changed for the worse, and he now has to be put on a leash and lead into the cage AND rewarded w/ a cookie. Most mornings, however, he fights it, and of course, he gets scared and pees on the carpet.

And he's neurotic besides that as well: he gets up in the morning, and is of course, excited to go outside and relieve himself. But, the second I open the back door to let him out, he runs and hides behind the couch. He rarely goes outside on his own without one of us having to go outside w/ him. Even if Hendrix is out there!

It's gotten to the point that I just plain don't like him. He's cute most of the time, but I just don't love him like I love Hendrix. I love to cuddle w/ Hendrix on the couch, but I can't stand to hug Bowie or have him breath in my face. I hate having a dog that I have to cage every day so that he doesn't get himself into trouble. But now, he gets into trouble getting INTO the cage in the first place. He seems sulky all the time and bummed out and weird.

So, we've been considering taking him back to the pound. It's an absolutely awful idea, and I hate the fact that we've even considered it, but I don't know what to do w/ him. I've always wondered how people could abandon their dogs, and now, I could become one of those people. I've waffled back and forth so many times about taking him back, and now is probably one of the worst possible times to take a dog to the pound: w/so many people in foreclosure, animals are getting abandoned left and right. So it seems as if his chances of re-adoption would be slim. And, it totally breaks my heart to think of him back in that little tiny kennel at the pound, behind bars w/ no people around. I don't know what to do.