All dogs go to heaven

At least, that's what I think.

The Steinhagens have had a rough couple of days. We had to make, so far, the toughest decision we have ever made. Vinney sent a third person to the emergency room on Monday night. The bites have gotten consistently worse, and this was only triggered by Steve's Dad trying to pet him, and he would not let go. He went home with 17 stitches.

I wish I could tell you why he got worse. I wish I had an answer, a moment I could tell you he became aggressive. But it's been getting worse over an entire year. He started being aggressive with other dogs, then strangers, then sometimes us. We learned his triggers, we tried to avoid them. We attended obedience classes, we worked with him at home with a trainer. You couldn't discipline him, or tell him no firmly, he would respond aggressively. But, he was our dog, and we loved him. Then he bit our dog walker, someone he knew from the beginning, then he bit Steve, on the lip - and sent us to the emergency room and home with 11 stitches, then he bit our friend, then he snapped at George, and everytime we said - we will work on it. This is not his fault, he was abused before us. But he scared us Monday night, and we knew we had no more options. We can't put Jane, or anyone else at risk.

I want to thank every single person I've talked to at CEBR this past week, especially the Directors. Your support, and direction has been incredible. I think the decision itself was the hardest, although the drive out to Dr. Navin's today was not easy. Steve stayed with him, we didn't want him to be alone. Coming home, being home is hard. The house is too quiet.

I get rescue. I love rescue. We will ALWAYS rescue. You take the good with the bad. You take an animal who wasn't given a shot, and you give him one. I don't know how people can choose *not* to rescue with all the unwanted animals in this country. But I can say with all my heart we gave Vinney everything we could for our wonderful three years with him. He was loved, cared for medically, fed, played with, walked, and trained. I know his actions were not his fault, but the fault of someone before us who if I ever found, I would hurt.

He will always be part of our family. The last six months, he wasn't finding the joy in things he used to - in his walks, in his time with us, he even snapped at George. He was scared, or anxious every waking moment and responded with aggression, we tried to teach him other ways to cope with it but it never seemed to click. I'd like to think he's up in heaven now, with Winston, napping and waiting for us one day.

We will always love, and miss you Vin. I hope you are at peace now.