Gone

but not forgotten...

Dasher was a foster dog that we took in when she showed up at Fossil Ridge.  I couldn't believe that her owner never came looking for her.  She was the sweetest dog, very beautiful, house broken and had gorgeous white teeth.  Dasher was named after the Reindeer because we got her at the end of November '10.  She was great with Avery and was a total attention whore.  I couldn't talk to or pet one of the Yorkies without Dasher bounding her way over and crawling all over me.  D-dog was my favorite wake up call for Chris.  I would let her in the mornings and she would jump up on the bed and all over Chris. 
On Saturday night, October 8th, I went in the backyard to check on the dogs because it was about to rain.  I couldn't find Dasher, but could hear her whining.  She was able to get under our fence and in the yard behind us (a vacant house).  When I looked through the fence I saw a HUGE tan/white pit bull on top of her.  He/she was attacking D-dog.  I was home alone with both kids.  I threw a ball at the dog and it did nothing.  I called Chris and he told me to get our neighbors and that he was on his way home.  My next door neighbor wouldn't answer their door, so I had to call my dad.  My dad had to come over with a baseball bat.  The pit bull left Dasher alone after that and she was able to limp back to our yard.  Her legs were bleeding and she had 2 puncture wounds on her rear end.  We nursed her the best we could Saturday and Sunday.  On Sunday night, she wasn't getting any better and was laying in her own urine.  So we decided to take her to the Emergency Vet.  They gave her fluids and pain meds until we could transfer her to our regular vet (cheaper).  Our vet recommended putting her down.  She said if it were her dog, she would put her down.  I wanted to at least do the X-ray/bloodwork to make sure.  Dasher's bloodwork came back septic and her kidneys were shutting down.  We made the decision to put Dasher down.  It has been really hard.  It has been a difficult weekend.  I am angry at the owner of the pit bull, the pit bull and pit bulls in general.  I'm sick of everyone saying that it's the owner not the dog.  You will never hear stories of Yorkies attacking another dog, or a Miniature Schnauzer killing a human.  I will always associate pit bulls with this incident.
We have attempted to contact the owner.  AND of course he won't answer his door and is never home.  The dog is in his garage right now.  We also called the police and Animal Control. 
Some good has come out of it.  I don't take my precious Yorkies for granted anymore.  AND I found my neighborhood's page on Facebook.  Through that page I was not only able to warn others about the dog, but I was also able to start a playgroup for the stay at home moms in our neighborhood.
Dasher didn't deserve this.  I think she was abused before we got her because she would cringe when you threw a ball for her.  And then to have her life ended like this, it's not right.