(03-10-2019, 11:42 AM)rollerjag Wrote:

(03-09-2019, 08:35 PM)Sammy Wrote: I feel really bad for you RJ ... But, they sound like a killer couple to me. How many other animals did they kill that you didn't know about? It didn't sound like they ate them, but played with their dead carcass for fun. Were they a menace to your neighbors and the delivery people? I was mauled when I was 12 yo delivering papers. It may seem safe, or even cute and innocent until you're the one on the wrong end of teeth tearing at your flesh. Did the kitten belong to a neighbor, or just a stray looking for death by two huge dogs with nothing else better to kill?

I sincerely sympathize with your loss, and I am very sorry both of them are gone, but it would seem other people, pets, and animals in your general neighborhood may benefit.  I say all that just to say ... is it possible someone was giving a heap full of what they may believe is payback? Poison, or maybe some other form of retribution? May be someone that believes they were being terrorized, and did something to stop it.

Yeah, I didn't give all the details of those incidents, and I may have portrayed Lady improperly. The kitten had hidden under the hood of my caregiver's car one morning, and had been hiding in my van and garage for a few days. Both dogs had been sniffing around the area, knew it was there. One night it was out, hunkered down as Tramp sniffed it, Lady darted in and killed it. Yes, it was brutal and horrible, but in my dog's view, it was an intruder. For what it's worth, the kitten's owner was sad, but understood and still loved Lady. The other animals were wild rabbits, gophers, rats, field mice, skunks, snakes, turtles, coyotes and a groundhog. Varmints. Much of what they brought back was killed by hay mowers or hunters, such as beaver tail and spine, as well as several deer bones. They did indeed eat much of their kill, especially if it was fresh. We have neighbors with dogs and children with which they peacefully interacted. They didn't wander off my property, I kept a good eye on them, and I never left them out when I was gone. 

All the aggression was Lady, Tramp was much more docile. They were not especially big dogs, especially Lady considering her breed. When I say they terrorized the mailman and UPS driver, both made friends with the dogs, getting out of their vehicles and petting them several times, even bringing treats. But every time they came, they were chased up and down the driveways as if mortal enemies.

I knew she had a mean  streak because of the Chihuahua incident, I apologize for appearing to make light of it. I've talked to most of my neighbors before and after their deaths, they all expressed sympathy and affection for them. I will say this, I'm  a disabled man living alone on a farm in a rural area of the poorest county in Tennessee, I was not averse to people thinking I had a mean dog. I don't know what folks are like in your area, but if Lady was causing trouble off my property I'd hear about i t or, more likely, she'd never come home.


As for why both dogs were afflicted with cancer around the same time, my guess is the 4 applications of glyphosate in 14 years on the hayfields Lady and Tramp loved to roam so much.

I completely understand that point. I live alone on a 15 acre plot, which includes dense woods. It's in a small rural town in Ohio where everyone knows everyone else's business. Most people I know have dogs and many let them run around their farms. We all know who has mean dogs and who doesn't. Although crime is low where I live, there are break ins, by people coming from the city, many by meth-heads looking for money or stuff that can easily be pawned and industrial ingredients for them to cook their drugs with. You need protection out here and big dogs and or guns are basically a requirement. Luckily, I have both. My dogs have a fenced in yard, basically for my own piece of mind, as I know that some people out here wouldn't hesitate to shoot stray dogs on their property. My dogs bark at everything and often times sound like they wanna rip people's heads off, but that's just them alerting me that a stranger is here. In reality, they are sweet and love everyone. A lot of dogs are that way. As far as other animals, my dogs really only see other dogs at the vet and they normally sniff them and wanna play, but if a wild animal comes into their yard, they are a goner. They've killed many, many moles, rabbits, a possum and they had a sick raccoon cornered, but I got them to come inside before they touched it. It was the middle of the afternoon and it obviously had distemper. It was stumbling around like it was drunk. I called the game warden and he told me to dispatch of it and bury the body where no other animals could get to it. I dodged a bullet on that one. Country dogs are different than dogs raised in the city or suburbs. In many cases they retain a little bit of wildness, but it doesn't mean they are aggressive with people or can't be great pets, because they definitely can. My dogs are big babies. I totally understand where you are coming from.

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