oh well

 We will soon be dogless. again

    Let me be clear.  We all love Ranger.  He did not warm up to Jackie as much as we would like, but we all love him.

    He loves to snuggle.  He is house broken.  He knows some basic commands.  He is a very smart dog.  He loves to play.

    But somewhere along the line, the train came off the tracks.

    We have had him for a little over two weeks, and I can tell you he has stolen my heart.

    We had people over the day we took him as a foster.  He loved them, they loved him.

    We had people over last Monday.  They loved him, he loved them.

    But Thursday of last week was a different story.  The architect came to work with Julia on house plans and Ranger was not happy the man was here.  A friend from VCCT stopped and Ranger was not happy she was here.

    We put him in the bedroom with Jackie while the architect was here and Ranger barked loudly for almost 2 hours.

    But yesterday, well......  A friend stopped by and Ranger barked and grabbed her pants.  Then he grabbed her fingers.  All the time his hackles were up and he was barking and howling.  Friend sat down, Julia sat next to her  on the couch and kept Ranger on her side, but Ranger jumped over Julia and bit Friend's sweatshirt.

    Julia went downstairs to work and took Ranger.  For the next 45 minutes, Ranger ran up and down the stairs. howling and barking.

    After the friend left, Ranger roamed the house sniffing the ground, looking for our friend.   He was very agitated.  We called Emily and she came over with Johanna, who was visiting.  

    Ranger again barked and barked.  Treats did not appease him or quiet him.

    After they left he again ran around the house sniffing and huffing, looking for them.

    Emily said he needs some socialization skills and behavior training, probably intensive behavior training.

    But I can't do that.  Yes, I have the time but not the energy or the follow through the dog will need to be a perfect pet.

    So we made the hard decision to ask for a new foster home.  He needs training, and we just don't have the knowledge or skill to do that.  

    We dreaded having him here Thanksgiving.  There will be 10 of us, and his behavior is suspect.  We can't risk it.

    His last day with us will probably be this weekend.  I understand he is going to a home where the person is a trainer.  Hopefully Ranger will learn the ways of becoming a perfect pet.

    So.... that's it.

Peace and Love