GSD found guarding owners body after Double Homicide! - Page 5

          Agar....     What a story !!!!...I love a happy ending ....Glad that everything has worked out well....Very handsome pair...

                                                                                                            Ruger1

Agar, thank you for the update.  Truly a beautiful dog and so glad he has come home to you.

Cheryl

Thank you everyone for all your compliments and kind words. He is such a handsome boy...sigh BUT the second owner had him NEUTERED

What a great story and what a great family and responsible dog breeder and owner.  Thank you so much for saving his life sounds like a great dog and better friend.  also i am so glad a smart experienced gsd person like yourself got him he has been traumatized and will need time and lots of love from his pack.  He feels like he has lost his pack more than once and don't want that to ever happen again.  I say thats where all his extreme protection tendencies are coming from as he gets more comfortable in your home he will become better.  Sounds like you and your family are doing exactly what needs to be done with this great gsd please keep up the good work and i am sure many blessings are to come your way.  And thank you to the trooper who gave this guy a second chance.

Blair Built said:

"And thank you to the trooper who gave this guy a second chance."

I've no doubt the trooper would have been justified in shooting Thunder after receiving a bite from him.  The fact that he chose not to speaks pretty highly of this troopers character, at least from my perspective.  Too often when cops do the "right thing" we never hear about it and even in this instance this relatively small detail is easily lost in the tragedy of the story. 

I'm glad that your boy is back home with you!

I'd like to send a special THANKS to the trooper who allowed that posssibility!

SteveO

Steve, I actually did place a call to personally thank him and wish him well.  I have to "assume" the trooper has had some level of experience with dogs in general to have considered the circumstances that provoked the bite.  I have many good friends in law enforcement, some work with a dog and some that don't...with that said the one's that do understood the level of stress the dog was under and stated they probably would have done the same thing providing they did not feel their life was being endangered.  It was my understanding that the dog was merely guarding the body of his owner and just didn't want anyone coming near her.  Perhaps a dog does not realized it when his owner has perished and feels it's his duty to assure they are not further harmed??  Whatever the case I was very grateful the dog was given another chance because he is truly a remarkable dog.  The act of kindness and judgement on the troopers part did not go unnoticed in my book and hopefully it also made him feel good about the decission he made not to pull the trigger.  To him it would have been "just a dog" but to me he is family and I'm so happy to have him back where he belongs.

Hey Agar!

I'm glad to hear that you were able to personally thank the trooper for his course of action.  I've heard, and imagine it to be true, that being a cop can be a "thankless" job.  I would think that you making the effort to speak to him and express your gratitude would probably lend some much needed emotional support.  Good for you!

I wouldn't presume to know how often a different response would have been generated under those circumstances and I would hope that what this individual did would not be uncommon given the situation.  Well, I'm just happy for you and your boy that you were able to reunite and that all is well now!  Thanks for sharing this tale with us, it's pretty heart-warming.

SteveO

Yes, thank you so much for the update.  Please keep us updated on the trial of this scumbag and let us know how that turns out.  Thank goodness they caught him.  Kudos to the trooper for being cool headed and doing the right thing by the dog.  Awesome ending to a tragic story.

Wow,this was a great read first thing in the morning.Its sad that the 2 people lost there lives cause of a scumbag but at least the ending turned out good.I agree that it was very nice of you to take a moment and thank the Police officer for NOT shooting the dog.Its a shame to say but most would of probably shot him.Anyway,he looks awesome and must have a great temperment to immediately take to the others.Im so glad you were able to get your little guy back.Hey,I know its a PISS OFF that someone neutered him but he still sounds like a wonderfull dog.You guys are great for stepping up to the plate when it counted.All the best to your WONDERFULL FAMILY.Domenic

Domenic-  Thank you.  I'm not sure if you read the whole thread but it wasn't easy for me to get the dog back even though I was the breeder and held the papers in my name.  The trooper played a big part in this all not only because he chose not to shoot BUT because he was the one to make the call to the Humane Society to recommend what would happen to the dog after it was released from their investigation.  If he would have said "dog is deemed dangerous" I would have likely had a very costly battle in court to prove otherwise and save the dog.  The Humane Society was not very receptive to cooperate with me AT ALL & really didn't want to hear much of anything I said.  That was what pissed me off the most.   I was not allowed to come see the dog, evaluate it myself or with an experienced trainer or anything.  Having an attorney didn't help much either.  What did help was that by sheer coincidence a guy I train with here ran into a lady that was the best friend of the daughter to the deceased and this gal contacted her friend with my situation.  The daughter called me and was thankful I was coming to claim the dog because she was unable to take him but also wanted him in a good home.  So she was my voice from a legal perspective as she was the heir to the estate and the dog was a part of that estate.  So she told the Humane Society to release the dog to me and only me with the stipulation that the dog would not be returned to the first owner under any circumstances.  I had to sign off on all kinds of legal documents.  It was a nightmare that could have been much much more costly had I not had the help of the trooper and the daughter.  I felt like I was fighting a war just to say this dogs life but there was no way in hell I was gonna give up on him because I KNEW this dog inside and out. 

It worked out for me and the dog.  I also learned a little more about the "law"; just because you hold the paperwork as "owner" and have a verbal agreement with a "friend" doesn't mean you have a legal right to take possession of the dog.  I'll NEVER make a deal like that again.  And just because you were the breeder doesn't give you presidence over taking possession of the dog in this type of situation either.  The "estate" would have had the legal right to place the dog wherever they wished.  You learn as you go when it comes to this part of the dogs.