Big beautiful Ben

By the time you read  this Ben will be in a new home.

He is a wonderful dog  -  you will agree. 

His separation anxiety is great.  So, despite my best efforts,  (using tips from dog trainers) he continues to be destructive when I leave my home.

Crating him makes him more anxious -  for instance, he bent some crate bars inwards in an attempt to escape, so much so that there was blood on the floor from his jaws. He managed to chew his way out of a muzzle.

Last Wednesday I was out for two hours and I returned home to a trail of destruction. I got very angry with him and yelled at him. Yelling does not make sense to dogs, so this was not good for him or for me.  He acted acted out from his anxiety many times before, but this was my last straw.

I cannot live this way.  I have to be free to leave my home without wondering what chaos will greet me when I return.

I made arrangements with the Racing Dog Rescue Project to return him  on April 29th.

They explained that most Greyhounds are social animals because all of their young lives they are with other Greyhounds.     Some do not adjust well to being alone.

A woman named Shelby arrived on 29th with her husband.  Ben knew them recognised them right away  (they have fostered 37 Greyhounds).  We loaded their minivan with his bed, food etc,  Ben then jumped up into the back compartment of the van and immediately rested himself on the bed -  with not so much as a backwards look at me!

It is very likely that he will be re-adopted by a couple who have a Greyhound which also has this separation anxiety.

I am so sad.    You will agree that he is a fabulous dog.  But  like "the little girl, who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead...." when he was good, he was very very good, and when he was bad he was horrid.

Thank you for being so nice to or about  Ben.  Some of you will miss him almost as much as I already do

 "It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all".

Gratefully,

jmp