What an awful day...

[Sama]

Well, it is done, no turning back now. A day I have been dreading for 5 years now. We put down my American Eskimo today, I just got the call that it was done.

Clem was born July 31, 2004 and I met him for the first time about a month after that. (I was in Oklahoma assisting my grandma during her last few months of fighting cancer.) He was the quietest calmest puppy you have ever seen, my cousins breed Eskimos and over the next 3 months I spent quiet a bit of time at their house holding him as he would just sit on my lap and enjoy being pet. Grandma lost her fight with cancer late November/early December. Two weeks before Christmas Nancy called me and told me they where giving me Clem because after my most recent visit he consistently would start to howl at 2 am and cry until someone got up to hold him. I took him home later that day.

The problems started but didn't seem to bad at first, he started becoming aggressive with strangers, despite my efforts to socialize him. Shortly after that he began to develop aggression toward other dogs also. He also became very protective of my truck, which didn't seem as bad because it was a game we played with my other dog (he would try to eat you through the window and when you opened the door he licked you to death) but Clem meant it in earnest as I found out when I didn't grab him fast enough as a friend was going on a ride with me. I am not a very social person to begin and as work started to take over my time I would rarely have friends over and on the occasions I did I either had to lock him up to prevent him from biting or we went throw the drill (don't try to touch him, keep your back to the wall, no sudden movements). About that time we learned he was food aggressive on top of it all when my 8? month old niece dropped some food and got bite when she when to pick it up.

So ya, I have been making excuses for him for most of his 7 years now and surprisingly none of the people he has bite has ever reported him or the decision would have been taken out of my hands. He bit my brother-in-law a few months ago and bloodied his ankle through his boot because he was holding a chihuahua that Clem hated. I have been waiting for something to happen so I wouldn't have to make this choice for to long, I do not see him as the scary dog my friends and family see, he has never bit me once and I still see the puppy I brought home a little under 7 years ago, sleeping on my lap during a hard time in my life. Well I made the hard choice today and now it is too late to unmake it. I couldn't even be there for him, I am still haunted by Playdough's death in 2008 although he died an old dog with multiple health related issues. I know my parents made sure he didn't suffer, if it when according to plan he died doing what he loved best, eating table scraps.

I know this was for the best, I just wish it didn't hurt so much.
Rest in Peace Clem
July 31, 2004 - July 31, 2010