Tobi Getting A Hug

When Tobi was about ten months old, we were visiting my mother who was then living in Montreal, Quebec (we live in Pickering, Ontario), I took Tobi for a walk. He got scared by the noises that three boys made with their voices and the plastic bags they were carryng up a two storey exterior staircase, on the opposite side of the sidewalk where we were. Tobi took off and sat on my mother's house balcony. I was amazed that he found his way. After this episode, Tobi was very weary of strangers. We consulted a Dog Behaviorist. Now Tobi is still uneasy with strangers we meet on our walks but he has learned to sit and let them go by.

In 2004, my husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. In 2007, my mother had her first sroke and she moved in with us. My husband's condition is worsening and he is unable to handle Tobi. Tobi progressively took the lead. One day when my son told Tobi to get off the couch (he never was allowed on the sofas) Tobi bit his arm. Tobi always would steal any food left on the itchen countertop but he would drop it when we would ask him to. Now Tobi growls unmistakably when we ask him to "drop it" . My son was bitten another time when he was just standing in our livingroom talking with his girlfriend. We also have a cat. Lately Tobi got a fancy with the cat's food. One of my daughters took him by the collar when he was eating it, sprinkled him with water, Tobi bit her twice.

About two months ago, my mother suffered a second stroke. My husband and my mother cannot be left alone an I have to work. Three Personal Care workers take care of them when I am at work. Tobi is tied all day because he is big and the workers are afraid of him. When we have a supply worker, I am worried to death, because Tobi does not stop barking until he sees that everything is allright, and his bark is mighty impressive.

In spite of this attitude, Tobi is also a very affectionate companion and he spends his evenings with the family.

One night two weeks ago around two in the morning, when everyone was asleep, Tobi started to bark and bark and bark incenssentely. His barking woke us up to find that my mother was not in her bed and that the door was unlocked. My daughter and I found my mother in our backyard, dressed in her night gown and in her stocking feet, sitting and shivering in the snow. My mother was so cold! If Tobi would not have allerted us we would have found my mother the following morning dead in the snow. We never heard my mother walkand open the door. She normally is nable to walk by herself. You see Tobi is not all bad. I owe him a lot. However with the revolving door of Personal Care Workers, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists and their Supervisors that my home has become, I cannot keep Tobi anymore. The thought that he could bite somebody is a constant worry for me.

Last week I took Tobi to our veterinarian for his yearly check up. The Doctor said he would never be able to find an adoptive family for Tobi because noone wants a biter. So this is why I am writing to you. Could he be rescued? I do not even know how well Tobi would do with an adoptive family. Otherwise, it pains me but Tobi will have to be euthanized.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter,

Francine MacNeill
Ontario, Canada

email:  francinemacneill@hotmail.com
phone:  905-839-2340