Since this isn’t in the Pit, I’m not going to say how I really feel about this thread.
FoieGrasIsEvil (well, no, he isn’t evil, he has my respect in a tough situation) said in his OP the reason he didn’t take Riley to the vet right away was because his wife was at work and had the van while he was home with his two boys with a smaller car. He couldn’t move the dog by himself because of his size and because it would have been logistically difficult getting himself, his two boys, and an 80 lb. boxer all packed up into a tiny Scion. He did seem frantic with worry. He did call the vet and speak to her on the phone. It’s not like he did absolutely nothing.
Not only that, he had to hold it all together for his two young boys who were witnessing their pet’s distress.
I accept FGIE’s description of events at face value. I don’t believe he cared any less for the dog because it was his wife’s. I believe he’s been handling a difficult situation as well as anybody could reasonably expected to. If he wanted to take the “easy way” out, he would have euthanized Riley days ago. I don’t think he delibertely “lost” the dog or regarded his care as an unreasonable inconvenience. On the contrary, his posts express such love and compassion for Riley it brings a tear to my eye.
I think this thread is nothing more than a way of shitting on FGIE for no discernible reason. I’ve been following Riley’s progress and hopes he makes it home. I don’t see any reason for FGIE to mislead us as to his feelings for his dog and for how his family is coping through this.
I vote A. Animal lover.
And until this thread is put in the Pit, I vote for the OP as akin to someone throwing beer onto the court from the cheap seats.
Thank god this was moved. Clovernook, you’re an asshole. It’s pretty obvious FoieGras is upset about the poor dog. Who the fuck are you to question his motives? He isn’t claiming to be a hero or demanding attention; he’s just telling a (clearly very personal and emotional) story. If you have doubts about what might have been going on the back of his head, have the balls to just ask him about it instead of passively aggressively starting a supposed poll just to make him look bad. I mean, Jesus Christ, even if he were just looking for an easy way out (and I don’t for a minute believe it) he wouldn’t deserve to have it pointed out in such a dick way. Like I said, he hasn’t claimed any undeserved heroism on his part or gone out of his way to solicit sympathy or attention (other than simply by starting a thread). On the contrary, he’s been pretty open about his conflicted feelings about the dog and failures in handling the situation. Do you just like kicking people when they’re down? What a wonderful contribution to this community.
Well, he thought the dog was okay when he let it out. The dog was jumping around, excited, sniffing, etc. It’s not like he was hoping it would die. Why are you implying that he’s a horrible dog owner for letting his dog out to a creek bed that the dog had been around before? I mean, we are talking about a boxer who’s used to the outdoors, not an elderly bedridden Yorkie. Granted, the dog in question was ill, but he seemed to have recovered his spirits.
I think this should be highlighted. And as has been said, the guy isn’t trying to make himself out to be some animal rights champion. People in the thread have said nice things because he is doing everything in his power to keep the dog alive. I remember another Doper saying something about his old dog who wasn’t exactly on death’s door but was getting up there to the effect of, “My wife and kids are complaining about having a smelly old dog around, and we think it would be more fun to have a cute puppy around–should we go ahead and pull the plug?” I just remember thinking how heartless it sounds–FoieGras may not have made the right choice but he’s clearly committed to the dog. If he secretly wanted the dog to die as this OP is implying, why would he post about it online?
All I can say is I hope he doesn’t get another dog since it doesn’t appear that he can effectively deal with any sort of emergency that might come up. I really question someone (actually two someones) that allowed a dog to seize for hours, and then allowed this dog out loose again after doing it the first time resulted in a fall in a creek bed. The dog shouldn’t be in an unfenced yard when he is healthy, much less recovering from hours of seizures.
The whole original thread sounded like a series of excuses as well.
As curcoat said (and lord knows I never thought I’d be agreeing with him on anything), excuses. I don’t believe for a second that he didn’t have any friends or neighbors who would have helped him move the dog, or that he couldn’t slide the dog onto a sheet or blanket and drag him. Is it easy or fun moving an 80 pound dog alone? No. But if any of the 5’5" 120 pound women I work with can do it, a grown man with two kids to help him surely can.
And all that is really irrelevant anyway. The dog had been having seizure off and on all weekend–something was clearly not right with the poor thing and he should have been at the vet Monday morning whether he had any more seizures or not.
Well, I don’t have any problems with people second-guessing FGIE’s actions or what he should or shouldn’t have done, per se. My issue is with Clovernook being too much of a chickenshit pussy and not calling him out here in the Pit. Instead he had to run a “hypothetical” situation past everybody in a passive-aggressive manner that seemed designed to troll.
If you have an issue with someone’s actions or what he or she has posted about them, grow some balls and address the situation head on. Start a Pit thread if you must so you don’t shit in the person’s thread. But don’t be a dick and treat the situation in such a roundabout way as if the other person isn’t a Doper instead of some anonymous person who is unlikely to read about it.
As for what I think of FGIE and his posts, I’m going to amend my opinion and agree with cwthree:
Clovernook’s assesment of the situation is indeed 100% accurate. So (one presumes) is FGIE’s. Just goes to show how much difference spin can make. Most peoples Pit OPs could probably be rewritten by the pittee without sacrificing any accuracy and get opposite responses.
Good Christ, people do love to sit in judgment and kick a man when he’s down, don’t they?
Sure, we don’t always make the best choices when we’re in panic mode. Perhaps there was some ingenious way that FoieGras could have gotten the dog to the vet. But maybe he didn’t have anyone nearby that he could ask. Maybe they were all at work, like his wife. Maybe, in his panic and despair, he wasn’t thinking clearly and didn’t come up with the perfect solution, like some of you can do a week later and XXXX miles away from the situation. But he did what he could at that time and place.
As for the dog getting out, well, I’m not a fan of invisible fences, for the reasons demonstrated in that thread. And we’ve always taken our sick dogs out on leashes, and/or always kept them in sight when they were out, to prevent “sneaking off to die,” as dogs in Mr. S’s past have done. You’ll notice I didn’t mention that in the other thread. Why? Because it wasn’t the time or the place.
I did say over there, accidents happen to the best of us, and if I were in FoieGras’s shoes, I’d feel just as heartsick as he obviously does. I told him not to beat himself up, but I can see how hard it would be not to.
He’s punishing himself enough already. He doesn’t need a bunch of assholes on a message board to help.
No, Clovernook’s individual facts are reasonably accurate, but he’s cherry picked them to present the situation in a particular light.
For instance from his OP "The dog is the wife’s property; the husband considers the dog to be “his wife’s.”
From the OP of the linked thread “My poor epileptic Boxer dog Riley” and “We are going to wait and see what the vet says when the wife gets him there (she wanted to be the one to take him, it’s technically her dog,”
Yes, FGIS indicated that the dog is the wife’s, but he clearly thinks the dog is his dog as well and considers himself responsible for the dog’s care, while Clovernook is clearly trying to suggest that FGIS feels no such responsibility.
Yeah, the op is a cowardly asshole and I feel for FGIE but really, what was he thinking letting a confused dog out unleashed in a hazardous environment?
Having a dog off leash is always a calculated risk, no matter how alert and well trained the dog is. If the dog is at full cognitive capacity and well trained with an owner who knows well its capabilities and limits, then that risk is a very small one. In this case it was a negligent one. Sorry there is no nice way to say that.
Gramps has Alzheimer’s and we are leaving him with you today. Take care of him, 'kay? [hours pass] Oh, you took him downtown and let him alone on a bench in front of the store while you went in to shop at Macy’s and now you don’t where he went to? Oh, don’t blame yourself. You were just doing the best you could under the circumstances. And you feel awful about it already. You poor guy.
Well intended? Sure. Loved the dog? Sounds like it. Negligent as an owner? Uh, yeah, that too.
Unless you are SURE that your dog is at full mental capacity, and HIGHLY CONFIDENT of its recall ability and other training, keep your dog LEASHED!
And still didn’t take him to the vet. Asshole. Complete and total asshole. There is always a way if you actually intend on doing something. The fact his own children were begging him to help the poor animal made him sad, but not sad enough to take the damn dog to the vet. Jesus Christ.