New home needed for 'Millie' :(

Re: New home needed for 'Millie' :(

loopylou711 — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 11:14:50 GMT

aw lillypads me and my cat sparky were the same, my mum got me him when i was 3 from a rescue, he was 5 and his previous owners were horrilbe to him so he was evil to begin with and was scared of everything. But he made friends with me and basically as a kid i was inseperable from him. He died when i was 15, just in his sleep at the bottom of my bed. I cried for weeks and only recently 4 years on managed to take on another cat of my own!

What happened with Milly then? Keeping her or definently giving her away?

Re: New home needed for 'Millie' :(

Avril Louise Jackson RVN — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 23:39:03 GMT

I used to babysit for my neighbour who has 5 cats and when her son was born the cats were all good. But as he got older he started to torment them. I was looking after him one day and I watched him yank REALLY hard on cats tail and cat whacked him! He came to me for sympathy and I'm afraid to say I didn't give it to him. I washed his arm and told him off!!

I think that cats and children will learn to live and hopefully love each other through trial and error. Too much mollycoddling can create a worse situation. I had a cat called Tina sleeping with me from weeks after I was born and she died in my arms when I was 15 years old and she was 18 years old.

I think with a dog it is more of a risk as they obviously have bigger mouths and teeth but I still think that, unless a dog is inherently aggressive, children and animals can live together and it might take work but as long as there is supervision and willingness then there is hope. A child pulling an animal's tail or tormenting an animal, no matter how old, is wrong to do that and similarly an animal snapping is wrong. But if the snapping is defensive it suggests that the animal is scared. Working on that fear and building trust could be so rewarding. Agree with Loopy... if you've had a dog for so long how can she be an enemy, she's just scared.

Re: New home needed for 'Millie' :(

loopylou711 — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 11:26:10 GMT

what a tough decision to make!! My sister had a similar problem with her cat when her son was born. The cat was 13 and not in the mood to paly with a 2 year old little boy. He would try and clap her but would just make her angry and she would hiss and scratch. She was going to rehome her cat but in the end she tried to teach her son about care and being nice to the cat. So now he helps feed her and give her treats but no clapping because she to old and he understands this. The cat lives in the bedroom through the day but at night she sleeps at the bototm of her sons bed. They have called it a truce at least and hopefully as her son gets older, him and the cat will get on better. Well thats whats she hoping shes had the cat since we were kids so giving her away would be heartbreaking.

I agree with everything lillypads said, its about showing your dog that your daughter isnt the enemy!! Hope it all works out for the best for everyone!!

Re: New home needed for 'Millie' :(

Avril Louise Jackson RVN — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 23:59:54 GMT

And maybe something else you could try as a last resort is when Millie is in kitchen sleeping give her a blanket or item of clothing that smells of your daughter to sleep with. Letting her smell things at her own pace will appeal to her pack instincts. Does Millie have treats? Let your little girl hold her hand out flat and offer her a treat and Millie might think "Oh she's giving me food, she clearly is part of my pack" I'm trying to get into Millie's frame of mind and I know thios will be of know help if you've definitely made your mind up but I'm always willing to try last resorts and it doesn't sound like Millie was being viscious, more that she feels threatened herself. Although I do appreciate that you wouldn't want to put your girl at risk and recognise the difficulty you must have gone through to come to this decision :(

My Dad took away my Teal, a grey hound, when I was 3 years old because he kept knocking me over by jumping up at me and I banged my head on table and hurt myself quite badly. I don't remember knocking my head but I remember coming home and Teal not being there and I've still not forgiven my dad and I'm 30 now! I know this is different as Millie is showing aggression by snapping but I'm trying to think of ways you could resolve it. I think you've made your mind up by the sounds of it for the protection of your daughter and I totally understand your decision. Please keep us posted on this xxx

Re: New home needed for 'Millie' :(

Avril Louise Jackson RVN — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 23:40:27 GMT

I'm so sorry to hear about this situation. It must be heart-rending. As Millie is collie cross she is probably very intelligent. Have you considered getting in contact with a behaviourist who could maybe work out a program for helping both Millie and your daughter to adjust to each other. Your daughter is at the age when she will be curious of things and learning right from wrong. Have you tried some supervised play between them. Does Millie like to retrieve a ball? If so maybe teach your daughter to throw the ball and give Millie lots of praise if she brings it back to your daughter. I'm clutching at straws here and you've probably tried all this :/

I really feel for you xxx

Re: New home needed for 'Millie' :(

Louise B — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 22:15:52 GMT

Hi Sarah, gosh what a tough decision for you but you have to put your daughter first. I would be very tempted by her but I have two plus a foster at the moment anyway. This organisation might be useful to you www.oldies.org.uk and I would try and get her listed on there either as a private rehoming by yourself or, if it becomes impossible to keep her at home, they might be able to arrange temporary fostering while waiting for her to find a home.

This is a great charity and, if anybody can help them out in anyway (fostering, home-checks, fundraising) I know they would be really grateful!

Re: New home needed for 'Millie' :(

Mrs Dot Dot — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 21:28:58 GMT

Hi Sarah! Really sorry about you having to make such a hard decision..... cannot help out at all but totally understand your reasons and I would be doing exactly the same.... 11 isn't that old for alot of collies and I'm not in a 25mile radius but if anything comes up I will get in touch. Take care

Re: New home needed for 'Millie' :(

Saskia Quinn — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 21:11:16 GMT

I totally understand your reasons for wanting to rehome Millie. But the fact that she is so old makes me really sad. She will find it very hard to adapt to living in a new home at her age, and people may not be so keen to take on a new dog only to have her for a few years at the most. That is sure to be heartbreak all round. She may not even cope well with a new home at her age.

Isn't there anything else that you can do for her? Keep her away from your child until your child realises that she cannot behave like this towards Millie?

Would keeping her outside and bringing her in when your child is asleep be an option?