Paisley joins the dogs of March

This is a post I never wanted to write, but I've always shared the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of dog rescue and this is one of the bad. I had Paisley euthanized on Friday afternoon, after a heavy dose of sedation the night before and again three hours before our appointment, and yet again one hour before it was done. All of that was only enough to bring her to a nearly normal state, which should give a good idea of the amount of stress and anxiety this dog was experiencing day to day.

I took Paisley in as a foster in May, 2022, to evaluate whether or not she was adoptable. I started out optimistic but that soon turned to being realistic and knowing that she was not adoptable. Still, we kept her and tried to manage her as best we could, much like we had done with Max. Paisley had absolutely no social skills with other dogs and her only interaction with others was to run by them and bite them on the butt. When she did this with Maya and Della, both those girls tried to teach her a lesson but she never really learned. Elvis was her most frequent victim. She put bite wounds on several of our dogs and sustained quite a few herself as retaliatory gestures. Lately her behavior towards humans was becoming problematic as well, mostly because you could never tell what was going to trigger her. 

It was a very long time before I could touch her and was never able to touch her collar. We're leaving, it wouldn't have been responsible to place her with anyone else, so there was really no choice. I should have done it three years ago, but we gave her almost three more years. I hope she'll draw a better lot the next time around, a long life with a loving family right from the start. But this time around, Paisley has joined the Dogs of March.