Today I came home from the gym.  No wife, no dog.  Wondered what was up.  Drank a protein shake.

Then the wife was dropped off by a strange truck.  Came in and said she had killed my dog.  WTF!

She has never been able to control any of our dogs on or off leash.  Never completed a basic obedience class as the handler.  Told at least 100 times not to take the dog out into the front patio (gated) area.  And still she decided to take Rusty out for a "walk".

Lost grip on the leash and a red pickup killed my Red Cattle dog right in front of our house.  DOA at the vet.

Yesterday her consistent and long term display of a lack of competency with our animals safety was discussed with her VA social worker.  Including my opinion that if she killed my dog she would need to leave.

Her last personal attempt at "opting out" was in August 2013.  Took a shitload of pills, and was unresponsive.  Pried open her eyes, no activity.  Carried her into the shower, revived with cold water, and dumped her back in bed.  Her VA shrink thought it was funny about the locking our bedroom door, but was not informed by me about the OD attempt.

The most beautiful and well loved Australian Cattle Dog ever is awaiting cremation.  14 months old.  Trained in basic obedience, started on Agility, and now dead.

So how's your good Friday going?

Paladin

Don't even know what to say .

My condolences op   . I had a 100 lb ex that always thought it was funny to take my 135lb rottie gsd mix for a walk... drunk (her not the dog)  She thought it was funny to let him play in the street     Crazy bitch, I got rid of her and kept the dog. I can't imagine what I would have done if anything like that were to happen to my dog because of her.

My condolences on your loss.  You probably know already, but it doesn't sound like your wife is getting the help she needs from the VA shrink.  I hate to suggest it, but maybe withholding the information about the pills, hindsight being 20/20 wasn't the best idea.  That kind of information might make the shrink take the situation a little more seriously.

Your wife has issues, stay on top of it. Mental illness gets really fucked up, especially if she gets committed and you go visit. Just prepare yourself.

My wife brought home a min pin 2 weeks ago and I let him out in the yard yesterday when I got home. He wandered into our neighbors yard and I yelled at him to get his ass back home and started walking over. Then one of my other neighbors starts yelling and another large dog appears on the street making a beeline for the min pin.

Min pin wasn't a complete idiot and he started running towards me and heads for the house. Big dog is now running at me. I bladed, empty hands and hollered "no!" And he backed down and turned back towards home. This same sob growled at my wife a couple of weeks ago in the driveway, I don't think he's gonna last long if he keeps it up around here, he'll end up perforated.

Very sorry to see that you are going through so much

Eject man.

Yep. Get out before she hurts or kills you.

Sorry for your loss.  But you should have left a long time ago.

Yep, it's time to head for greener pastures and leave her far behind.

Sorry about your dog. Sorry about the spouse.

You need to decide if you love your wife or not. If you don't, then eject. If you do, do it  unconditionally and with your all.

Sorry for your loss.

Had a 14 year old Brittany Spaniel pass away a few weeks back. I know I've threatened to beat the hell out of plenty of people for kicking him, kicking him off the couch, yelling at him for stupid stuff...My dogs have kept me and my family safe for years. Intelligent dogs are worth more than stupid people.

Sorry to hear about your dog.

But if you are more concerned about the well being of a dog then the mental health and general wellbeing of your wife you have you priorities bass akwards. Your wife deserves better then to be second fiddle to an animal.

Oh, you done it now......Dogs are more HUMAN THAN HUMANS on Arfcom. That might tell you something about hanging out here too much....

Has clearly never owned a dog.

As the owner of two great dogs and the husband of a spectacular woman, I know which comes first.

I bred and raised hunting dogs growing up. This was in the late 70's and early 80's, our dogs were bringing $1,200-2,000. That was real money at the time. We raised and sold dozens of them. I loved some of them quite a bit- they were wonderful creatures- but not a damn one of them was worth the life of most humans- some exceptions recognized of course.

People who put animals above people need to get the fuck out of their house and off their goddamn computers and phones and interact like fucking human beings. It's disgusting the little comfort bubbles that people have built around themselves these days where they have more meaningful relationships with animals than their family and spouses. It's not even debatable.

As a veterinarian that makes his living off of people loving their pets, I know which comes first also. My wife is first and always will be, my pets are second.



 

You've been here long enough... you know the rules.  You can't make that claim without backing it up.  

Gents, please understand that we are jesting when we place out dogs above our women.

While that may be true outside of GD there are plenty of dumbasses on this site that constantly threaten to kill people over any harm to their "babies".

Until cases are documented it is just more keyboard commando talk.

I interact with family, friends, customers,  "the public", etc, all the time. I find most dogs to be more "human" than most people today. Of course that doesn't apply to all, but the loyalty from a beloved dog is hard to beat.

I appreciate the supportive comments.  37 years into a "till death do us part" marriage I have always valued my wife and her well being more than the dogs.  In a strange twist of fate, the breeder we got our previous dog from had a recent litter with a Red female reserved to another buyer yesterday.  Today she was available.

Our two local trainers for obedience and agility were both very supportive about us getting another Australian Cattle dog sooner rather than later.  We have an encouraging environment to accept that shitty things happen regardless of what we desire or intend.  So although the road ahead might be rocky and not always clear, the wife and I will go forward into the future with optimism and anticipation of better days.  And we give thanks to several family members and friends who have raised prayers for us.

Hitting the eject button is a short term solution when considered against a lifetime...

Future sessions with her VA doctors will be joint sessions where I will provide better input about how her day to day activities have been going.

Paladin

I'm glad to hear that you are going to fully support your wife's recovery.  That's the most important thing, that you will be there for her and fight to get her the help that she needs.  The VA will try to cheap out as much as possible so you will need to be vigilant.  And you may need to seek out additional help as well.  I'm not a religious person, but the clergy of many faiths do often provide counseling services for free or at low cost which may be beneficial to you.  There are other support organizations out there which may also be of benefit, many of which are non-profit.  And even if you have to go out of pocket to get mental health services it may be worth every cent if you can find something that brings your wife what she needs.