Tuesday, July 22, 2008

The current state of affairs

This past week has been a pretty rough one for The Dogs of Jackman Avenue. Last Tuesday morning, Sherman & Lola got into a huge fight and really haven’t stopped since.

We had 4 extremely terrifying fights within 72 hours...Friday night's resulting in Scott breaking a finger, me potentially breaking a finger, both of us receiving multiple bite wounds on both of our arms and part of Sherman's ear being torn off. It’s gotten particularly bad because Penny is jumping in to defend Lola. 2 of the fights occurred when we weren’t even in the same room with them. It has become a very dangerous situation for all of us. Fortunately Scott and I have both been there when anything has happened. I don’t know what I would do if I were all alone and the 3 of them got into it. I fear the worst.

We’re at the point where Lola can’t even be in the same room with Sherman without aggressing towards him. When Lola isn’t crated, she has to be on a leash or gated off on another floor. He is petrified of her and runs and hides if he even thinks she might be coming. After Friday's blowout, we’ve had 2 situations where if she wouldn’t have been leashed, she would have attacked him. We have no idea what has changed between them, it’s almost as if a switch has been flipped. Penny & Lola continue to be best buddies and we’ve had zero issues between them.

I fear there is no possibility of the two of them living harmoniously together. I simply do not trust her and he does not deserve to live the last years of his life being beat up. For the time being, Sherman is going to stay with Scott’s parents, who he just happens to LOVE. He will be spoiled and pampered beyone his wildest dreams. Ideally he would stay with them permanently and we wouldn’t have to rehome Lola. But that is a lot to ask of them and simply may not be an option. The reality of it is, Lola quite possibly will be going to live with another family in the near future.

We are just heartbroken over this situation. These dogs are such a huge part of our lives and thinking of being without one of them is horrifying. The next couple of weeks will be very telling. All we want is what’s best for the dogs and ultimately, for us. We’ll keep you all posted on the situation and would appreciate all of the good thoughts, prayers and cyber hugs you guys could send!

We may not be able to stop by and visit everyone for a little while but we’ll be back as soon as we can. Thanks a million for all of the support. It means the world to us...

~ Jen & Scott