#{ behavioural issues

[webshelter]

Violet

When Violet first came in she was only a handful of months old. She was still so tiny and bouncy. All I knew- and still know- about her history is that it was difficult and that she if I remember correctly was living on the street. I had no doubt she'd be a success story; she's a puppy, she's a goldie, and she's so stinking cute. On my first walk with her, she carried the squeaky plush around with her the whole time. She was also trying to eat literally everything which included a poop that I had to pry from her mouth.

When she was adopted, I was relieved. Firstly because I'm always relieved to see a dog go home but secondly because I was not looking forward to more poo prying adventures.

A few weeks later a golden retriever puppy showed up in the shelter. She was larger, her fur was slightly darker. When I read Violet on the sheet on the kennel clipboard I thought surely it could not be the same Violet. She recognized me. It was her. Her adoption situation didn't work out so she ended up back in the shelter. In this time away she had developed some unruly behaviours. She got mouthy and pulled so strong on the leash that she was pretty impossible to control. I don't know if something happened to her during her time away or if she was just frustrated to be back in the shelter.

Still, she was adorable. Many people saw her on the website and came in to see her but the meets never went well. She barked when people passed by the kennel door. Eventually she started to show aggression. Aggression for a shelter dog is a death sentence. Any signs of aggression are signs of public risk and lead to a euthanization. This is the very reason that when we have a puppy that chews on your hands, pulls your pant legs, and teeths on your shoes we are warned to not describe it as biting on our volunteer reports but rather as mouthing. It seemed for Violet, though, it went past mouthing. This was so soon after we had lost Maverick and another dog that I had not met. A dark cloud loomed in the shelter's atmosphere and we all grieved for this sweet dog who was otherwise exactly what adopters would normally be looking for but was dealt a bad hand in life.

[mdrambles]

The worst consult tho

Okay, but I just received a consult request that essentially said:

Kid had previous diagnosis of ADHD, but that’s not really an issue anymore. Doing great in school, everything’s fine. No longer on meds. No immediate concerns because things going well and they are doing fine.

Please see to make sure that they’re actually doing okay without medication.

...?

[gearsmoke]

hellion.

There’s a kid in my building, who I utterly swear is a psychopath, and I’m certain he’s going to grow up to be abusive and possibly a danger to others.  He -screams- constantly, not like a tantrum shriek, but a violent, rage-filled yelling - demands and complaints, telling his parents what to do, telling other kids what to do, belittling and insulting them when they don’t do what he wants. This kid needs therapy and discipline before he gets himself in jail, and the way the spineless milquetoast adults that spawned him ignore his behaviour is, in my opinion, neglect.  I want to talk to them, but I know what will happen.  They will cower and make excuses and shrivel into their shell of ‘I don’t speak English good’ (They speak it more than well enough for this conversation) and it’ll either become passively hostile or they will nod and smile and do nothing at all.  Either way, it won’t help. And I think we have a rather messed up society where this ‘isn’t my business’ and I ‘shouldn’t get involved’ because children are seen as something in between property and a craft project belonging to their parents - who are so aggressively hyped on the idea that they can raise these children however they want that they don’t even see how detrimental it is.