Worst Pets

Has anyone had any terror pets that you are willing to talk about?
Here is mine.

When I was in junior high school, my parents adopted an irish setter pup. I guess my stepdad liked the breed because an old college friend of his had one and it was well behaved.
Well, Sunny was terrible. Very hyper. My stepdad is a doctor who is out most of the time. He was the one who had some experience with dogs. My mother on the other hand did not. She used the old training methods. She had him housebroken in the bad way. If he had accidents, she would rub the dog's nose in the mess and then slap him in the face(I was young then). She used rolled up newspapers to discipline him. She trained him to wait to be fed. She would have him stay in his corner of the kitchen while she prepared his food. Then put it down on the floor. She had him wait before it was okay for him to eat. And she trained him to use the bathroom in a corner of the backyard. Besides not being neutered, he was very unmanageble. I would take him on walks. My mother had no patience with him. Now I realize that a dog like that needs more exercise and attention. One day, we left him in tied up inside the garage and we went somewhere. When we got back, the garage looked like a tornado struck. Sunny tore everything. If we leave him alone for too long he will get very destructive. He didn't last a year at our house and was put up for adoption. Someone else adopted him. I haven't heard about him since.
Now, this type of experience helped me. In the future when I get a dog, I will be taking him/her to obedience school and learn how to properly train a dog.

Whew!! Irish Setters make me tired just thinking about them. They are difficult dogs to train and they are hyper hyper hyper!!

I don't know if I've had a pet that was terrible. We once had an ex-police dog named Toby who was a German Shepherd. He had a bad case of seperation anxiety and chewed the window sills to bits. Great dog, it's too bad my parents weren't dog people they could have worked with him.

I haven't had any terrible pet's. Let's hope it stays that way!!

I don't know if I would call the basset hound that we had a terror, but a lot of it was our fault.

We got Odie when she was 6 weeks old from a breeder. The only reason why we got her was because my husband felt bad for me being home at night by myself while he was at work. We got her in Dec. 1997... we had just moved into our brand hew house (built, btw). For about a month, I didnt have a job, so I tried to potty train her, etc, but it didnt work Then, I got a job working nights (yes, the same place I am at now) and it was a Sun - Thurs. job working from 10:30p - 7:00a. We had to keep her in a crate while we were gone at work because she still wasn't house trained The year after that, we got news that we were going to 12 hour shifts. Well, as you can imagine, when you work nights and long hours, it is hard to fit time in to play with a dog. She still wasnt housetrained. I came up with the idea to put her in the kitchen at night while we were gone and put a baby gate up in the kitchen entrance. It worked for a few weeks. One morning we came home and she had busted thru the gate. She got into Fluffy and Cinnamon's litterbox, ate their poop (I am assuming), chewed up a pair of hubby's dress shoes, destroyed a wedding gift (some popouri bears dressed in wedding outfits), and a bunch of other damage. So, hubby was p.oed. Eventually, we decided we couldn't keep her -- it wasnt fair to keep her in a crate for close to 24 hours. My parents 'voluntered' to take her, so now they have her. As much as I like dogs, I love my cats so much. I wish, honestly, that we would never had gotten her, but that was a mistake I cannot take back.

A friend took on a rescue dog - a lab cross - he and his litter mates were dumped out on the moors (Yorkshire, UK - think Weathuring Heights) in summer and finally rescued in winter time, after months of living off dead sheep and scavaging from bins. We lived out in the countryside, so Kane had plenty of space for runs and walks, and he finally learnt to come to his name after months of chasing him over hills and down dales.

He never lost his attraction for rubbish bins - and would often sneak off to the neighbours for a good rummage - his favourite food was potato peelings. How many times did we have to apologise and replace their bins after he had chewed the rubber to get inside....

Our other neighbours had a dairy farm and they were happy for us to walk the dogs in their fields, however Kane's greatest joy was finding fresh cow manure and urine for a good roll around - mmmm I can never forget that smell on top of wet dog! He could never understand why he had to take more baths than the other dog.

Kane could not get used to being left without his people pack around him -he would howl and become destructive, chewing furniture and scratching plaster from the walls - even if he was left for 10 minutes. This was many many years ago - now I understand how to reward dogs and to train dogs to accept that he hadn't been abandoned and we would be back.

Kane and his owner moved away but last I heard, he had settled into a lazy, calm, typical labrador. He still loves to roll in smelly things and no bin is safe from him within a 5 mile radius.

I had a red doberman that turned on me. I was going through a terrible time in my life (bad breakup, stalker from work) and a friend gave me this dog. I was living alone and thought I needed the protection a big dog could provide. When I would come home from work, she would run down the hall to meet me. One day she ran down the hall and went for my throat! I threw my arm up, fortunately I was wearing a heavy leather jacket. She had her mouth around my arm and was shaking it. I managed to get to my nightstand where my gun was and had to shoot her. The animal control officer that came out said I was lucky to have only lost a jacket. The person that gave me this dog did not tell me that it had bitten several people and she was going to be evicted if she did not get rid of it. I had no charges filed against me, and had only a few scratches, mostly from her claws. Needless to say, this person is no longer in my life. When I told her what happened, she got mad at me! I couldn't believe it.

I am a true believer of obedience school and tell everyone who acquires a new dog that it's the best money and time they can invest.

When our mixed terrier was a pup, we called him the mixed terror. I got him from the NOSPCA. I had only had 2 dogs in my life and both of them were very calm and obedient. When "Scottie" came along I got a taste of reality. He chewed my $80 shoes, the remote control, uprooted my plants in the yard, ran out the door and kept running until a neighbor would call, pee on the floor. The funniest part was, when you corrected him he'd give you a dirty look and walk off! I'm not kidding. He had a head like a brick. I obtained a book from my vet about animal behavior. Wow what a lesson I learned. I learned that you can't baby some dogs or else they will walk all over you because they think they are dominant. After reading this book I knew obedience school was what we all needed.

After 6 weeks of obedience school Scottie was a different dog. It was amazing. He was still stubborn at times, but learned who was the master and who was the dog. Now he's 13 and deaf as a door and can't hear any command except it's time to eat, and that I don't have to call him for!

Having learned a hard lesson with him, when I rescued my Border Collie from the street, she also went to obedience school. She's so smart though she yawned through the entire class and was the best student their. You show her something once, and she's got it. Now she knows what sit, stay, come, etc. mean and is much happier and so am I.

When I adopted out a litter of rescue pups a couple of years ago I told all the adopters that obedience school was required just like the spay/neuter. I spoke to them a year later and they were so glad they brought their dogs to obedience school.

LOL notice these stories are all about dogs?? Krazy Kat I'm so sorry to hear about your experience with the Dobie. Hearing stories like that make me so upset because when a dog like that winds up in the wrong hands(Not you!!) it can be a mess.

I once had a gerbil that my parents got me. It was pregnant when we got it although we didn't know untill she had the babies. Anyway I took one of the babies when it had grown up to school with me to live there. One day while I was holding it at school it bit me and wouldn't let go. Now if any of you have been bitten by a gerbil or anything like that you know how it can hurt!!

I freaked and shook my hand and it wouldn't let go. I was yelling(I was only 9 keep in mind) and shaking my hand but it kept holding on. Finally after I swung my hand it let go and flew across the room. I had to go to the nurse because my hand was bleeding and I was crying.