Caveat Emptor!

Things always sound more ominous in Latin ... Caveat Emptor means Buyer Beware ... and as the saying goes, "If it seems too good to be true, it usually isn't." Our son Keaton recently went through an ordeal that left our whole family shaking our heads in exasperation.

Firstly, you'll need a little background knowledge to fully appreciate the feelings involved in this. Keaton used to be in a relationship with a lovely young lady who owned an adorable Australian Shepherd puppy named Finnigan and KP fell head over heels for it. When they finally realized that they should move on from their relationship, KP realized that there were two holes in his heart ... one for her and one for Finn ... and although he lived with room mates that owned a puppy, he decided that he really wished a puppy of his very own.

That brings us to the crazy situation.

Keaton looked for quite a while on the various sites that that offered access to dogs. He finally settled one that he thought was just right and he reached out to the family that was offering him up. A long story short, after a bunch of visits to play, negotiate about the process, testing the house pup and new pup together, and loads of thinking about whether this was the right choice, he made the decision to move forward ... a decision that would turn out to be a major problem. The family had recently taken the pup to their local vet and, as a part of the transfer, wished KP to pay for that vet bill. They said that they were moving out of the country and couldn't take the dog. Sounds logical, no? They also said that the pup came with a training service, but neglected to include the fact that the transfer fee for the service was $300.

The first night was full of one on one cuddles, belly rubs, and puppy kisses, but the following morning the pup was out of sorts, turned aggressive and nipped KP on the hand. The situation was dealt with and, although perplexing, seemed to be an abberation. That day was KP's day off work and he arranged to meet with the training service the family had alluded to. It turned out that the trainer was aware that there was a history of aggressive behaviour. HMMMMM.

The following day at work, KP received a call from his room mate that his dog had him cornered and KP rushed home to deal with the problem, resorting to physically wrestling the dog to the ground and locking him in his room. What transpired over the next 24 hours gravely concerned the entire house and led to KP contacting the previous owners about returning the pup. Incredibly, they refused, basically telling KP, "It's your problem now." WHAAAAT?

Caveat Emptor.

The group decision was that the dog could not continue to live there because the attacks were random and some had drawn blood. The crazy part of it was that one on one, the pup was as good as gold. It was becoming clear that there had been some abuse in its past, triggering aggressions when faced with unfamiliar males.

Keaton spent the new day phoning around to every shelter, vet clinic and dog service he could find about options regarding an aggressive dog. He was met with continual road blocks and shrugged shoulders, creating significant frustration. With great angst, KP decided that his only option was to euthanize and, out of respect, he contacted the previous owners about the decision. Again, they asserted that it was no longer their problem, even though only 48 hours had transpired, adding proof to the suspicion that they were well aware of the aggressive behaviours and there had likely been abuse.

The culmination of this entire situation is unbelievable.

Keaton's heart was breaking but he had explored every other option and had no choice but to proceed with the euthanization. All of the vets he contacted indicated that they would not do the procedure without first doing an examination, so he contacted the vet the previous owners had used in Waterloo (KP lives in Guelph). It was agreed that KP would bring the dog in after work the next day. This meant getting it back in the crate once the crate was in the car, a feat that was easier said than done. Incredibly, following the vet's examination, he told KP that he was refusing the procedure because the pup was behaving and he couldn't proceed in good conscience. PARDON? He did try to help find KP some help but it was a Friday night and no one was answering their phones. If you know Keaton at all, you will understand that he was very angry and upset by all of this, being stuck between the proverbial "Rock and a hard place." No one would take the dog, he couldn't get it euthanized, it couldn't live with them ... What now? All through this, we had numerous phone calls with him as sympathetic ears and, together, we decided he had to surrender the dog to the Humane Society or call the Police to report an aggressive animal. Thankfully, the Guelph Humane Society accepted the dog, costing KP $150, which he paid willingly through teary eyes. Our collective hearts were broken, both for Keaton and for this poor puppy that human beings had broken through neglect.

The entire scenario played out over 72 hours, cost KP over $300, and was a tough "School of Hard Knocks" lesson for him to learn. As a testament to his character, he was adamant that he was still going to get himself a four-legged companion, but that he would be take manny more precautions. Joyce and I wanted so badly to solve this for him, but it is all a part of the maturation process ... "Tough Love" doesn't even begin to describe our emotions ... and we are beaming with pride from the way our son handled to entire thing.

Caveat Emptor, people, Caveat Emptor.