ArkRescue
Adopt me please !
In another month, Boxy will have been a part of our rescue lives for 2 years. Sadly Boxy has had health issues with his ears. He gets very bad yeast infections, and because he won't let anyone put daily drops in his ears, he has to be sedated in order to have special packs placed in his ears, then rechecked in 2 weeks, and packs go in again (as was done today). Unfortunately Boxy has to be sedated to do any vet work to him. If you try to touch him in an invasive manner (ears, mouth, etc.) he will bite you. He bit the neighbor guy several times (the guy who somewhat adopted him - we have been sharing the care of Boxy).
Boxy has been in/out of the vet's office many times already this year. Each time he gets sedated, the packs are placed in his ears, he is given a reversal to the sedative, and he wakes up none the wiser. It's not about the money, as I'm sure we could find people willing to help pay Boxy's vet bill (close to $200 each time he goes in), the issue is with Boxy's quality of life. He is a wonderful dog that is bursting with love for everyone he meets, but he is also in pain most of the time due to his yeast ear infection issues. We are at a point that we are being asked by people close to Boxy whether or not he has the quality of life to go forward, or should we put him down.
Most of you who have read this thread have followed along from the first day I got the call about Boxy being a stray at Price Oil on Old Marlboro Pike in Upper Marlboro. Had Boxy gone to the shelter, they would have probably done a temperament test and he would have failed and been put down most likely. Those tests are done to protect people from dangerous behavior like we found with Boxy and his biting if his body was touched in certain places. We did not do any temperament testing as we don't have anyone skilled in that area. As Boxy's fear biting personality emerged, we realized that his adoption couldn't be an ordinary adoption. We would have to find someone who was very experienced with dogs to be able to handle this boy w/o anyone getting hurt.
Now we are faced with a hard decision. Either we find someone willing to work MORE with Boxy to see if he can get over his fear biting so he can be medicated on a daily basis (even that isn't a guarantee that he will be any better off), or we put Boxy down. I have known that putting Boxy down was a fact that I may have to face one day. I had hoped he would get better (health-wise and emotionally), and we wouldn't need to face that decision.
We love Boxy, and we think that his fear biting is probably from a bad experience he had with someone in his past. Two years later and he hasn't improved at all, and still tries to bite, and he is in pain frequently due to the ear infections. What do we do?
Boxy has been in/out of the vet's office many times already this year. Each time he gets sedated, the packs are placed in his ears, he is given a reversal to the sedative, and he wakes up none the wiser. It's not about the money, as I'm sure we could find people willing to help pay Boxy's vet bill (close to $200 each time he goes in), the issue is with Boxy's quality of life. He is a wonderful dog that is bursting with love for everyone he meets, but he is also in pain most of the time due to his yeast ear infection issues. We are at a point that we are being asked by people close to Boxy whether or not he has the quality of life to go forward, or should we put him down.
Most of you who have read this thread have followed along from the first day I got the call about Boxy being a stray at Price Oil on Old Marlboro Pike in Upper Marlboro. Had Boxy gone to the shelter, they would have probably done a temperament test and he would have failed and been put down most likely. Those tests are done to protect people from dangerous behavior like we found with Boxy and his biting if his body was touched in certain places. We did not do any temperament testing as we don't have anyone skilled in that area. As Boxy's fear biting personality emerged, we realized that his adoption couldn't be an ordinary adoption. We would have to find someone who was very experienced with dogs to be able to handle this boy w/o anyone getting hurt.
Now we are faced with a hard decision. Either we find someone willing to work MORE with Boxy to see if he can get over his fear biting so he can be medicated on a daily basis (even that isn't a guarantee that he will be any better off), or we put Boxy down. I have known that putting Boxy down was a fact that I may have to face one day. I had hoped he would get better (health-wise and emotionally), and we wouldn't need to face that decision.
We love Boxy, and we think that his fear biting is probably from a bad experience he had with someone in his past. Two years later and he hasn't improved at all, and still tries to bite, and he is in pain frequently due to the ear infections. What do we do?
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myself! 
