Shadow

The Story Continues

As December continued, more clues to Shadow's past began to appear. He would pace and circle when in a small place (like a crate) and would mess in there as well. He was very quick to use his teeth if he was unsure of the situation. I suspect (but cannot prove) that he was 'trained' (and I use the term very loosely) to be a guard dog. I suspect he was put in a cage and threatened with a stick etc to make him aggressive. I had purchased and was using a butcher's glove. This is a chain mail glove that Shadow was reluctant to bite and meant that I could get hold of his collar to get him in and out of the van without getting bitten. Yes, he had reverted to his old tricks of biting when his collar was touched BUT only when he was being taken out of the van or taken out of the compound and being put back into the van (possibly he was guarding it due to all the wonderful goodies he got whilst he was in there). I did at this point put Shadow on Serene-Um in the hope that it would help him to calm down. It did appear to have an effect and gave me a couple of weeks in late December when he had been much calmer and relaxed. Just as well as his Christmas present was a trip to the vets to be castrated!

The vets must have thought I was an over anxious owner as I warned them that Shadow was wary of people, and asked to have him given his sedative injection in the car park rather than in the surgery. I was also going to leave him muzzled and asked that they put his muzzle back on before he awoke after his op. The surgery staff were absolutely fantastic, the two nurses that came out to inject him did everything right, they didn't approach him directly, they walked past calmly and then approached at an angle talking gently to Shadow all the time. He greeted them like long lost friends! If had been less anxious myself, I would have realised just how far the lad had progressed. Shadow happily went off with the nurses and was apparently no bother. I had arranged for him to be operated on first, and for him to have Rapinovet anaesthetic so that I could collect him as soon as he was awake. Thanks to Marion for keeping me company for an hour or so whilst I wanted to collect him.

Shadow bounded out of the vets as happy as Larry, even saying hello to some other customers as he came out. His recovery was uneventful, and dramatic. I've never known castration have such an effect, but it really did help with some of his problems. I didn't need to use the glove as much and he generally seemed much calmer. The change in his behaviour was so dramatic, I did wonder whether I had fetched the right dog back from the vets! He was no longer on the Serene-Um tablets. I'm not sure that he appreciated wearing his Christmas attire though....

There would have been no way I could have put that tinsel around his neck when he arrived just 5 months earlier. He has progressed a long way, despite the set backs that we had had.

The story isn't over yet.........

To find out what the future held for us both click here or go back to the start of the story