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Strider's Passing - Ethno 07
414 Plays6 days ago
In this episode, David shares the news of Strider’s passing, and discusses the two other times he has had to say goodbye to dogs in his life.
Segment one deals with his childhood beagle/spaniel mix named Maggie.
Segment two begins the story of Athena, the family lab mix.
And Segment three begins the discussion of Strider and the difficult issues that lead to his recent euthanasia.
Transcripts
- For rough transcripts of this episode go to https://www.archpodnet.com/ethnocynology/07
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Transcript
Introduction and Personal Reflection
00:00:00
Speaker
You're listening to the Archaeology Podcast Network.
00:00:11
Speaker
Welcome to episode seven of ethnocynology.
Trigger Warning and Personal Loss
00:00:16
Speaker
I was going to do a movie review of I Am Legend, as I said I would in the previous few episodes about the apocalypse. But today I am going to talk about something that is a huge bummer. And I had to put my dog down. So trigger warning for those who don't like to hear about dead dogs, but it's part of having a dog. So.
00:00:39
Speaker
you've probably been through it been through it two times before this is the first time it's like been my dog not like the family dog so it's been different but yeah i had to put strider down the last weekend and i'm recording this what is today the second so yeah it was the weekend before thanksgiving but this will probably be out a week after that so as of listening to this it'll have happened two weeks ago
00:01:11
Speaker
yeah Anyway, picked up his ashes today.
Family Dogs and Emotional Impact
00:01:13
Speaker
I'll just start from the beginning. I had dogs my whole life. I think I had said that in my first two pilot episodes. The dog I remember having first was Maggie. She was a Beagle and a Cocker or a Britney Spaniel mix, just some kind of Spaniel. She didn't have curly hair. She had like Beagle hair, but had the coloring of a sp a Cocker, Britney Spaniel, Britney Spaniel.
00:01:35
Speaker
and Yeah, she was a stray. My aunt was a vet, found her, or someone dropped her off at her clinic and was like, you can't take care of it. You're just abandoned her. So my parents and I, my parents, when I was like, you know, six or seven, were like, here, have this dog. We'll brought it home as the family dog. Cause my mom wanted the dog and my parents thought, you know, it's good. The kids have a dog. She passed in, let's see.
00:02:03
Speaker
Before Obama, I remember high school in terms of Obama got elected my junior year, so that was 08, I graduated in 2010. Sometime before that, whenever 300 came out, because I remember we put her down, she was like starting to seize and had a lot of health issues. She was just getting old and like having a lot of seizures, just old dog, and we've and she's kind of fat.
00:02:27
Speaker
And we put her down. And then my dad and I went and saw 300 afterwards. This was in high school. I never being like. We're crying with my dad. There's specific times. I remember crying with my dad in sixth grade when we saw Return to the King in theaters. And I remember like crying at the end of that. And I was in sixth grade for that. And I remember it being such an impactful story that I was like crying at the end because the ending scene is just terribly sad, but like happy sad. And I remember that. I remember my dad cried one time like when his mom was really sick. And another time we cried together. I distinctly remember it was when we put our dog down. My mom couldn't.
00:03:06
Speaker
do it because it was like her dog. This was Maggie, the Britney Spaniel. We put her, I remember bringing her to the vet's office and we didn't go in with her. The vet just took the dog in the back, I guess, because my dad didn't want me to have to go through that. I don't remember what the, what it was. I was too young to remember. It was high school was long time ago, or that was just their policy. You just took the dog in the back.
00:03:29
Speaker
Yeah, I remember crying when we went and saw 300 that day. And what I remember being weird about that was ah I remember hearing like phantom barks and she was like half beagle. So whenever the doorbell would ring, she would go wild. And like, you know, crazy beagle bark. And I remember like every time the doorbell would ring after that, my brain would fill in the gaps of Maggie barking.
00:03:57
Speaker
I imagine that's what ghosts are. Like people think like, oh, their father or their mom or their dead relative is like talking to them or something. and It's just your brain filling in the gaps. And I remember that specifically happening with my dog because I've never had a person that close to me pass away. Both my grandfathers are gone. I lost a grandfather before I was born.
00:04:19
Speaker
I was the one to die when I was in high school and my grandmother died when I was in grad school, my dad's mother and father. My mom's mom is still alive, but I was never close with them. They lived upstate. I lived on Long Island, the move to Tennessee, so I never really knew them. Never that close. So the closest like deaths I've had in my life were dogs. And ah yeah, like I remember that being weird. I was with my cousin. And like even my cousin who like didn't live at my house but he was there all the time, also like when the doorbell would ring would like kind of His brain was filling it, because I returned and looked, and he also turned and looked at the scene. Like, it's just weird. It's not a ghost. It's just your brain filling in the gaps. And then we didn't have a dog at the rest of high school, because we were going on to college. I was going to college, my brother's special needs, and and was not going to college, but was going somewhere else. And let's see. Continuing.
00:05:12
Speaker
We had, I was in college and I went to Knoxville, UT Knoxville for college. My parents live in Franklin, Tennessee, which is a suburb of Nashville. So it was like a two and a half hour drive through our drive to Knoxville. I'd go home all the time. It was home enough on the weekends that like I still considered our next dog, my family dog or like my dog in a sense. And this was Matt, no, where they had Maggie.
00:05:38
Speaker
The next dog we got was Athena and we, I went to pet, I had chinchillas. I never mentioned that. I should probably do an episode on that.
Adopting Athena: Challenges and Joys
00:05:47
Speaker
I had chinchillas through like most of college, my sophomore year through senior year.
00:05:53
Speaker
And I gave them back to one of the breeders when I was moving to grad school, because I didn't want to move them across the country and figure they'd have a better life. Like, you know, Chinchilla, like this lady really cared about Chinchilla. It wasn't like a farm. Machu Picchu and Sierra, and Machu Picchu and Sierra, they fought at first. Chinchillas are like really territorial for some reason, I guess, because squirrels are too. They're basically just rats. I like big furry rats.
00:06:17
Speaker
that live in the Andes. And anyway, I'm talking about chinchillas now. I had chinchillas, we were going to Petco to get feed or whatever sand for my chinchillas and, or alpha, alpha, things like that.
00:06:31
Speaker
And they had like puppies outside. They clearly came from a puppy mill. Like this is like, and the lady that we got, like we just saw puppies and here's the deal. People will, I see on the internet will shit about or like shit on you for buying a puppy to puppy mill or going to like a place that clearly the puppies are coming from puppy mill. I don't want to support that business, but also like,
00:06:51
Speaker
Are you just going to leave the dog in the cage and like go back to the puppy? You're going to like, like the moral superiority of that is really weird to me. It's a dog that like it's alive. Has it been aborted or killed? So that's a weird way to phrase that. It's a dog that, you know, it has been born and it's alive. So, uh, it should have, it has a right to a good life. So we got Athena that way. And I remember it was really sad. Like my, my mom was just like, okay, I want that dog. It was a cute, very adorable chocolate lab.
00:07:21
Speaker
that was mixed with something else. And I remember we got her. I don't think we told my dad. I think we called my dad. I don't remember. He said no. Every dad is just like, no, we don't eat another dog. And then we got him anyway. I got her. And my mom and I got her. I think we're my brothers with us too.
00:07:39
Speaker
And I remember like yeah someone adopted the sister too and or the brother I think either way it's the sibling of her in the litter and we were like all right say bye and they like kissed through the cage and then we left and like that's like terribly sad you're just separating these animals at birth from their litter but dogs don't care. So I brought her back had her forever and we knew it was a puppy mill because we did ask like where their you know came from it was kind of a weird answer that we got and also how they were selling them outside of Petco I don't know but the lady was like you need to give her this pill every day it's like a deworming pill and I had no like number or like name on the pill it was almost like she made it and my aunt is a vet my mom was like what pill would we be giving her and she was like whatever she's off whatever she is telling you to give
00:08:27
Speaker
this dog don't do it, you can get this. So yeah it's nice having an aunt who's a vet because I can just text her whenever there's a problem. I'm digressing. I'm already 10 minutes into the podcast here, but, uh, had Athena and she wasn't the smartest dog. I don't think labs are always like good service dogs and like therapy dogs and stuff, but they're not like Unless you train them from birth, they're just, oh, his lab seems kind of like goofy and dumb to me, but that's why I love them. And Athena was not the most intelligent dog. She was very loving. She was a perfect family dog. Any stranger that came in the house, she was happy with. She was very protective of my mom at times. She would like show her teeth sometimes, which I guess you could blame on my mom for like bad training. But again, dogs have all personalities. Like some labs are completely
00:09:16
Speaker
like goofy and loving with everybody, but Athena was very protective of my mom, with other dogs, I should say. We'd take her to the dog park all the time. She didn't fetch. She just liked to smell and run. I remember, I have a video I can probably put here where like I would have the ball and I would just throw it and she just didn't do anything. And I've never seen a dog do that. i Actually, our beagle didn't fetch either. it was really I remember getting a book at the Scholastic Book Fair and how to teach your dog to fetch. well What's wrong with my dog? Why can't you fetch? And I got a book and i and she just didn't do it. It's just some dogs just don't want to.
00:09:51
Speaker
She didn't fetch and I have a video where I took the ball and like threw it and she like just didn't do anything and then she would like go run and check on the ball and then come back to me and then bring it back and I think one time I got her to bring the ball back and it just like seemed like a task for her and a chore she didn't care but The thing was Strider was very much I want to fetch constantly kind of dog and he needed something to do, ah but he wouldn't cuddle and Athena would cuddle. She would like get in bed with you. You could like move her around when she was sleeping. Just a cute family dog. It's very docile and nice.
00:10:24
Speaker
I never had her on my own. like I would watch her when my parents were out of town. I'd come home and watch her. I wanted to bring her to the my apartment in Knoxville, and they were like, no. ah But I loved that dog. She was a family dog, and I think she lived to be about like seven or eight, and then she had like real bad liver failure. She met Strider. I have videos of them playing together.
00:10:47
Speaker
Very bad liver failure. Again, she was from a puppy mill, so terrible breeding and had a lot of health issues. My mom also loves to feed dogs all the scraps. This was a problem I had when I had my mom watch Strider. Mom, if you're listening, I'm very sorry, but you made my dog fat.
00:11:04
Speaker
And I came home one time after them watching him for a summer because I couldn't bring Strider, this goes into the thing about Strider. I couldn't leave him places sometimes and my parents were the best option and I loved that dog like it was their own. And my mom would like baby him and talk to him like that and then she'd feed him scraps. And I know she was because every time I would then come home. My dog would pound me for scraps while I was eating. like want He was begging all the time. And I was like, I never taught him that. So he must you know be getting scraps from you. And she's like, no. He definitely was because he gained like 40 pounds. Not 40. He probably gained like 20 pounds. But again, dogs in their middle age do gain weight. so it was But he should have only gained like 10 pounds, not 20. He lost that eventually. Thena died.
00:11:53
Speaker
All through college and grad school, we had her, and then I moved to Georgia with that job I had at the veteran program in, let's see, 2018 is when I moved to Georgia. Anyway, I think I died 2019, I think, it was right before COVID, because I remember my mom didn't have her during COVID when she started working from home, and that took a big hit on her, because her dog was always there in the house with her.
00:12:21
Speaker
like always in the office, like hanging out. She had her own little bed in my mom's office, just like I used to have here. And but it really hurt my mom to not have a dog anymore. And they were in Montana visiting their friend and Athena was like, her liver was failing and I was home and I was like, hey, like she's dying. ah She'd already had issues and I wasn't home. I think I was,
00:12:46
Speaker
I think I was in Georgia. Then I had to have my friend pick up Athena and bring her to the vet, the animal hospital. And he picked her up and dropped her off and he's like, dude, she's like not in good shape. And it's like, I know, thank you so much. And then I went home and I picked her up, brought her home and it was like brutal. And I brought her home later on a bed and like full of blankets cause she kept pissing herself and shitting herself. And my parents were in Montana and I was like, you gotta come home cause she's like diet. Like if you want to do it, if not, I'm gonna have to go do it. And.
00:13:16
Speaker
My mom and dad, like, cause they had to leave, I think it was at Bozeman or somewhere near there. Then they'd drive across Idaho to Spokane to fly home. And flew them a day early. And Athena was just like,
Academic Interests Influenced by Dogs
00:13:30
Speaker
she was clearly dying. So I like laid with her on her bed. Strider would come like mess with her and like lick with her and like lick her and want to play. And she would growl cause she was old and like clearly not feeling well. ah But after a while he did kind of get the hint.
00:13:44
Speaker
And then I said bye because I had to go back to work on Monday. ah So I drove home from Nashville to ah Augusta, which is like a six hour drive. I made that all the time because I hated a Augusta. Loved my job, just didn't like Augusta. And anyway, they put her to sleep later that week and I wasn't there for it. But I remember my parents, they told me like they did it and they sent me pictures and stuff and I had them put a projectile point I made and some sage on the ground just because it's like a native thing here and just, I don't know, it's something I wanted her to go out with. Sage in a projectile point to protect her, wherever the hell she goes.
00:14:30
Speaker
And my parents sent me a video or a picture of that video of my mom like crying with a dog on the ground. And then we were stepping outside of work and like sitting on the patio and like crying for a second. Cause like her dog just died. Wasn't as, you know, terrible cause I wasn't there. And also it was a slow burn. Like she was dying for like a couple months and I was like, okay, it's coming. It was strider.
00:14:55
Speaker
Sorry from the beginning there. I was already interested in dogs because I love Athena. Getting Athena at the time we did is kind of what got me into really being interested in dogs and archaeology. I know I have a different
Strider's Life and Behavioral Challenges
00:15:11
Speaker
answer every time. There's a million different things that got me into it. Of course, having Athena and raising a puppy on the weekends and I'd go home to see her all the time was a big factor.
00:15:22
Speaker
And in grad school, I studied dogs for all of my term papers and stuff. I wanted to do my thesis on dogs and ended up doing the Projector Point stuff, but still wanted to do dogs. And my professor had a dog that was like a really cool mix. Put a picture for her, her name's Callie. She's a German Shepherd mostly, but mixed with other stuff. And I was like, that is a cool dog. And she was very.
00:15:44
Speaker
stoic and very good with people. She's very good at site, uh, uh, dig sites. She would kind of patrol the site, keep an eye on everything who lay down and sleep when she, you know, did was very good. Always came when she was called good, obedient dog. And I was like, wow, this is a good dog. And then I heard in town that they had another litter of those dogs and it was at a trailer park in town here in Laramie and I went and saw it and I was like, okay, I'm getting a dog. Because like the videos of Strider as a puppy were adorable.
00:16:18
Speaker
and Yeah, I got it. I was going to name him Hiawatha at first, but I was a lot of, it's the legendary, uh, or whether he was real or not, was a legend in Iroquois history that like united all the tribes and made the Confederacy. And I thought that'd be a cool name for him, but seemed kind of appropriative and also a lot of words syllables to say. So love Lord of the rings. He's black. I was like Strider. That's a cool name. And Robert plant and Led Zeppelin, apparently named his dog Strider too. I didn't know that at first. I learned that after.
00:16:51
Speaker
Anyway, I got him and I took, I just, I raised him from six weeks old. I met the mom who was kind of aggressive, but like was a German Shepherd who had just had puppies and was at dog park, which is gonna be a little, so I just always considered that. I never met the father. I had heard the dad was kind of a dick, but I was 23, 24, didn't ask too many questions and I was just like, I want a puppy. And at that point I was just like, it's all the trainer. It's not the, it's not the, you know,
00:17:20
Speaker
And yeah, so I got Strider and I put him through puppy class and dog class. He got his canine good citizen thing, which is an American candle club standard test of obedience. He was a good dog. Great dog. Adorable. Played well with all the other dogs, played well with people. It was great. And then like ah I trained, like obviously this video is going to be training my dog constantly. He was great.
00:17:48
Speaker
Excellent dog. We'd go hiking all the time. He would run up and down like while we were hiking and like protect us and like I wanted like a good outdoors dog, and that's what he was. like He was built for the cold. He's a Wyoming mountain dog, which is a mix of German Shepherd, Norwegian Elkhound, and Alaskan Malamute, which is ah very obedient breeds, and also built for the cold. like he's and Obedient, but the Elkhound and the Malamute made him, like he had big webbed feet, not webbed feet, but like a huge feet for the snow, good for skiing. A lot of them were used for search and rescue stuff out here.
00:18:24
Speaker
But another thing, a lot of them are like kind of aggressive and that became part of a problem with Strider. And when we would hike, he would like run to the front of the group, run to the back of the group and like circle around. And then he would like heal with me, run to the front, run to the back and just like, he was loving it. Like he had a job as this thing. And then I graduated and he had, he had bit somebody just at random. It was during the eclipse and a professor of mine like went to say, Hey, and Strider just like bit his arm and like,
00:18:52
Speaker
Nothing provoked it. He had never done that before. No reason. My professor was like, obviously kind of disgruntled. And then he was like, why is your dog here? And I was like, I had nowhere else for him. And then, wrong story there. But the point being, my professor was like, oh, he, you know, see a clips, whatever. He's never done it before. Like, it's an accident. And then later on, he'd done that.
00:19:15
Speaker
four or five more times. And luckily I was always in a different county when it happened. So I never got like a judge to be, and I wasn't purposely moving around. It just like, I happened to just move. And sometimes like when he would bite people, it would be like,
00:19:31
Speaker
ah Like one time a kid, like he the he was always great with kids and he would walk up to me and I dropped him off at an academy when I had to do a big, long CRM project for a couple months. And I was like, well, I might as well have my dog go to a boarding train because I have the money now. And this is after he put my professor.
00:19:51
Speaker
and like you know, rather than just be babysat and not be trained while I'm gone. Like have him, you know, doing something constructive and working and being trained. And I brought him to a like professional kennel place. And the funny thing was too, like or professional training place after like three weeks, she sent me a picture just being like, yeah, he's in our house. Like he's, he didn't even stay in the kennel anymore. Like with the rest of the dogs, they brought him in the house. Cause they were like, he's a spectacular dog. He doesn't need any more training. Like he learned sit, you know,
00:20:21
Speaker
I heard he and knew all that. But he learned like searching, he learned ah heal, he learned to be off leash, to use an e-collar, use a prong collar, use like, what is it? He learned place, he learned like, basically they put him through therapy training or service dog training with the rest of the dogs, which was just like, you know, doing the stuff that they did.
00:20:41
Speaker
And he was a really obedient dog. And the day I got there, I went and picked him up and he was like licking a bait. There's just a baby laying in one of those little like car seat things where it rocks back and forth on the floor and started just like licking the baby as I walked in and like.
00:20:57
Speaker
Testament to how good of a dog he was, they just trusted him with a baby sitting there in the fog, questionable to me. And then he saw me and just get bolted for me at the door and he was like, and I was like, are you sure this is fine? Like, oh yeah, he's great. Like sent me all these pictures of him like in their bed, like sleeping with, it was like this lesbian couple and like sleeping in the bed with them and hanging out and just being a good dog.
00:21:19
Speaker
which I thought was like so funny. And then he had like a therapy vest on and a lot of the pictures they would take him to the ah doctor's visits and stuff with them to be like good and obedient. And he was fun. And I got picked them up. And then I moved to Georgia a couple months later, brought them there. All right. And then in between that, I was living at my parents in Nashville for a few months in Franklin.
00:21:41
Speaker
And we went to the woman's march, like we were there and this kid walked by and like, they asked, can I pet the dog? And my dog was like twice as big as you can. I don't know. The parents would say this anyway. I said, sure. And like, I let the kid feed, try to, try to treat. It was all good. And like, it was a fun, positive interaction and they took pictures with them and stuff. And then. And an hour later, that same kid came like walking behind me. I didn't hear him or see him. And I guess he stepped on Strider's tail and like Strider whipped around and didn't bite the kid, but just like whipped really hard. And he was twice the kid's size and knocked him over. His forehead was bleeding and it wasn't like a bite. He just like Strider's tooth was just stronger than the kid's skull as he whipped around or his muzzle, I should say.
00:22:24
Speaker
And I like his, you know, snout and I like flipped out and I was like, what the fuck? Like, why would you like, what the hell to my dog, not to the kid. And then the dad came running over and he was like, Hey, I saw the whole thing. Like it's all good. And I was like, do you want my card or anything? Cause I figured he was going to sue me.
00:22:41
Speaker
And he said, no, like that's my fault. I let the kid wander. He snuck up on a dog, stepped on his tail. That's on me. And I thought like, what a great dad, you know, not for letting his kid do that, but for accepting a good dude, like accepting the consequences of what happened. He was just like, I just hope it doesn't have a scar. And I was like, here's my card. Like, give me a cut. And he said, no. So if you're listening now, my dog's dead. I moved to Georgia, super obedient and like.
00:23:11
Speaker
just an excellent dog. Like he lived in my house with me. And I think part of his, the major issues that went was straighter. He had eaten something as a puppy that required an X-ray. And when they did the X-ray, the vet like pulled me aside and she was like, Hey, he has really bad at dysplasia. Like at less than a year old. So that's going to be a lifelong problem. And I got pet insurance for that and I put it because I knew it was going to cost me a bunch in the end. And that's part of why he started to get more agitated. He was very bad with kids after that moment. like He just always would growl at kids. I'm scared of them, understandably. It was traumatic for him, I guess.
00:23:48
Speaker
Really good, really good dog. Like I would have him search stuff, so but i I was working all day, eight hours in a lab and then coming home. And he was stuck inside all day because it was blazing hot in Georgia, superhuman, not for a dog like that. And he didn't really have much to do all day but sleep, but that's what dogs do all day anyway. And he would chase the dog up and down the fence every day, the neighbor's dog. But I would take him for walks, he'd go to the dog park. He was fine with people, fine with dogs, he was great.
00:24:16
Speaker
And then one day we had, it was when Trump gave us the day off for, I want to say it was H.W. Bush's funeral. We got like a national holiday for it. And I was like, oh sweet, I'm going to go to the forest. And there was a national forest near us in Augusta. It was right across the river in South Carolina.
00:24:35
Speaker
And I took him there and it said, no dogs off leash have to be leashed. There was no one there. I was the only one parked there. It was this little bike trail and no one was there. And I had walked with him and it was rare that I could let him off leash in Georgia. Cause there's just no place out West. You can do it everywhere. There's national forests and stuff that there's certain designated areas where you can.
00:24:55
Speaker
There's just no people, big open spaces, ah public land out here, out west or ah east, there's like lots, public land or state land or metro land, city land, and it's like harder to do that. Then like I let him off leash this one day because it was winter. It's like December, I think. I remember January, I think it was December. And it was like such a nice winter day, nice and cold, so he would be fine running around and we were all good.
00:25:22
Speaker
and like taking pictures of them stuff. Like I guess they're really fun. It was a fun day. Like it was finally like he was
Legal and Moral Reflections on Aggression
00:25:29
Speaker
like free. He could be a dog again and like run around and like do the thing where I'm hiking and he would zip up and zip back as I was, you know, hiking and he would like check on the hill and stuff next to me. And three hours out there on the trail, totally fine. And then as we're walking back towards the the cars, I was probably like a mile, half mile back to the car.
00:25:52
Speaker
he just growls and I had him back on the leash and because I was walking back towards the car and this bike lady came flying by me and I like pulled him to the side and he was off leash and I even waved to her and she waved to me too and it was fine and then like I let him off leash after she went by just to like you know because I had another like probably half hour back to the car and no one else was with that lady and then after Maybe 10 minutes of that, another bike, came he growled and he came this bike came flying. I didn't see the biker hear it because he just was zipping down and I guess it was i guess against the wind, so I didn't hear it. Anyway, I started growling and like chased the bike and then bit the dude's leg and then the guy was like, understandably freaking the fuck out because this giant dog with a vest on that looks like a fascist, you know, police dog bit his leg and he was like screaming at me. He's like, you didn't even call him off. You made him do that. And I was like, why would I do that? And then too, I didn't see you coming. You came flying down. Not your fault. He just, you know, he was off leash and he's like, why was you off leash? And I was like, i because I didn't see anybody for like three hours.
00:27:03
Speaker
And the guy was like, understand he was a crying, concerns a huge dog and bit his leg and he's bleeding. And I was like trying to help him bandage it. And he was like, oh, you ruined my vacation. And I was like, ah I'm sorry. And just he's in shock, right? He's just saying pretty mean shit to me when I was just trying to be as polite as possible.
00:27:21
Speaker
and like but in that moment I just remember like understanding like he's just a huge dog and this guy just was having a great day biking and I already had a prejudice towards bikers anyway uh and the bit the guy And this guy might have a cousin who's listening, and he's like, oh my god, this is a dog. So anyway, if you're listening, dude, I'm sorry. And the animal control came, and the guy was like, is that a wolf? And I was like, no. Before animal control, the guy asked if it was a wolf. And I said, no. He's a German Shepherd mix, and he's a great wolf. And I just did the dick move that I would always do and be like, well, technically, all dogs are wolves. And then he didn't like to hear that.
00:28:01
Speaker
And I like was like, whatever you need me to do, blah, blah. And I went back to the cars and they were there and the guy wanted to call an ambulance and the wife was like, you don't need an ambulance. And he was, again, just in shock. I'm not saying the guy was like a pussy. He was just in shock because this huge dog bit him. And it was very interesting to me.
00:28:19
Speaker
Studying dogs to see how like this man reacted to that Because I probably would have been a shock too. He's a huge dog and it just came flying out of nowhere He or like to turn the corner on a bike and then just be chased down by huge German Shepherd is, you know kind of wild and Animal control came and we were talking again like I put the dog back in my Jeep the guy wrote his bike, you know back to the back up ahead of me on the trail. I walked back and I was like, my car's there. I mean, I'm not going to like disappear. So then they were right. And I remember the guy like.
00:28:51
Speaker
looking in my car and I heard him, you know, like, does he live in his fucking car? My car was a mess at that time. And the the wife was like, you don't need an ambulance. And Animal Control was there and they took a picture of Strider and they scanned his thing. And he wrote me a citation for animal at large. And the guy pulled me aside and he was just the animal control guy. And he was like, he's supposed to be on leash.
00:29:14
Speaker
just so you know dogs like to chase the bikes not for the people because it's the sound and it's something flashy and I was like oh and he's like I see it all the time I didn't know that I don't know if that's true or not but anyway I did go to court to like pay the thing well but before that the guy I offered to like, he was like, yeah you know, you ruined my vacation. I hope you're fucking sorry. And like, I was just again, like maybe he was a dick. I just at the time remember being very apologetic and in the moment was like, I'm more than gonna do lie. Like just say like.
00:29:47
Speaker
He didn't bite you like he clearly did. Like yeah i it was 100% my fault. And all I was doing was like completely accepting all culpability for this and like being as cordial as possible. And I think the guy kind of wanted me to like push back on it and I was just doing everything I should have. And I would want to, be maybe i maybe I wasn't as sympathetic as I could have been. I was just like also kind of in shock that my dog just did that.
00:30:10
Speaker
And I was a heat like, he's never chased somebody on a bike before and bit them. He's bit a person like on the arm who tried to pet him, but that was about it. and Yeah, so the animal control came and the guy told me that. And I gave the lady my card and I was like, look, he was trained at this place where they train like p st PTSD dogs and service dogs and stuff. Like he's had training. It's an accident. And then she was just like, well, my husband's going to have PSTD now. And I remember her saying PSTD and I was stuck in my head and I was like, oh, funny joke lady. But I paid for their dinner. I paid for their,
00:30:46
Speaker
I said, send me the medical bill. when It was like 200 bucks for him to get antibiotics and a bandage and shit. And then I paid like an extra, I think 50 bucks. And I was like, you know, dinner's on me. And he was, you know, texted him. He was very nice. And he was apologetic afterwards. And he's like, sorry, I was not myself. And I was like, no, I get it, dude. he's ah He's a huge dog. And then me being me, two months later, I forgot about the court date. I thought it was like the week after or something. and I didn't end up going.
00:31:12
Speaker
And the animal control guy called me and he was like, hey, I'm in the courtroom. Like right now, are you not coming? And I was like, oh, fuck. I thought that was next week. And he was like, dude, i I'm going to tell you right now, like you did everything you should have. You were very apologetic. You paid for the guy's thing. He was kind of think the guy said he was kind of an ass. I remember being like v validated in that moment. And he was like, you did everything you could have. It was an accident. I'm just going to write it off or whatever. And I was like, oh, okay. And I don't know if that's illegal for me to say that the guy just like did it. But it was just like they're going to throw the case out because I paid the thing, whatever. Or I didn't even – I didn't have to pay the fine, I think it was. I remember what the deal was. It was something different in South Carolina. Anyway.
00:31:57
Speaker
So he didn't have that on his record. And after that, I was like, okay, my dog clearly has a problem. I can't have him off leash anymore. I can't trust him around strangers. So I need to be more. And that then made me have him be more sheltered. And i would he had to be on a prong call when I walked him because he's too.
00:32:17
Speaker
Put it this way, a sled dog, when he has a flat collar on, like here, start his collar for anyone who was like force free training. Like I get it. I know where you're coming from, but it's easier when you have a beagle or a lab. When you have a 90 pound German shepherd who is pulling a collar like this, who's part sled dog, just gives them more adrenaline. You do need the prong collar. And I'm sorry if that bothers you and you're like, oh, it's corrective training. Before I used a prong collar, he already had behavior issues. So don't say that it had something to do with the prong collar. This was after.
00:32:48
Speaker
But it's just like you have to hold them in a prong collar. it's not like a It's not barbed wire or anything. It's just like kind of pokes into their neck. And if they're not pulling, it doesn't hurt them. But if they start to pull, it pokes into their neck a bit and puts pressure pinches a bit.
00:33:03
Speaker
so When he would have that on, he would walk beautifully. He would heal. he was like again in like When I would pull it out, he would get stoked. like i I didn't bother him, because it like meant we were going outside and we were training. And if we had his vest on, he knew it was training time, and he would sit better. like He would heal better. He'd just vest and collar meant, like, it's go time, because he'd like to work. Anyway, this is a long podcast now. But was I going? I was like,
00:33:33
Speaker
I was like, okay, you have a problem. We're getting training. And I thought about doing another board and train, but I didn't have $3,000 to do that again. and And I was like, I'll just do it myself. And I found through, I worked for a vet program and I got your train service dogs for vets. I like emailed him and I was like, Hey, I have a dog.
00:33:54
Speaker
who's got some problems. He's been through all this training. He's very smart. What do I do? And then he had me come to classes with him in the service dog training. And I think they had classes for obedience to stuff on the weekends anyway that wasn't exactly service dog stuff, but I didn't have to pay at first. And like he was like, because I worked for that program and then I started paying.
00:34:14
Speaker
but him and his son ran it and they like took Strider as like a good case of like this dog would growl at me when he first came and then now he like loves to see me every week and we would do like healing and it was more training to be around he was fine around other dogs he would get reactive sometimes but it was more people exposure and I wanted more people to like be around him and come meet him and stuff but Of course, the problem was like you never been anyway at class or anything like that. He was fine because he was in class and he knew he was training and it was like I need to be obedient. The only time he ever growled or like reacted bad at class was when a dog came too close to him one time. He didn't like.
00:34:52
Speaker
And we were trying to get him more associated, more back in with kids. And I even said to the guys like, I'm not comfortable with him being around kids because I'm going to get nervous when he's around kids because of what happened. And that's going to make him more nervous. But they were like the best way to do his exposure. And his daughter would like feed him treats. And I was talking about the daughter, but like any other kid, I was like, no.
00:35:14
Speaker
And they kind of like were cool with that too. But we at least tried like out of near kids and like when he was on his leash and collar with me and I'd feed him treats and stuff. But to me, that's where. Positive and like treat training becomes kind of negative sometimes too, because in his head he might be like, oh, there's a kid there, I'm angry. And then I give him a treat for not biting the kid, but he's still getting a treat for this a kid near here and I'm angry. You know, before he growls, he just, when he's growling, he's full shirt for sure indicating, but he might be like in his head, all right, you know, it just.
00:35:44
Speaker
argue with me So the e-collar and the prong collar did work. The prong collar was never correct. If you're using the prong collar to be corrective, that's where I'm against it. But just to keep him in like next to me is where I used it. And then he used his e-collar too when he was off leash training with me in the yard or like at the park with the people. And he was great. Of course, he's a great dog. And they were like, there's really no need for you to come back anymore. Like he's doing good.
00:36:07
Speaker
But just avoid these situations. Avoid this, avoid that. And it just became like I had to avoid a lot of situations and... Never had a bite issue for another like three years. But I was in Wyoming for field work. Anyway, you ended up biting an electric, or trying to bite an electrician at my parents' house. And he was always fun. If people came in the house, he was he loved him because he knew it was like, you know, someone to play with. And he would bring their toys and stuff. But randomly he bit an electrician and my parents were like kind of older and like couldn't grab, my dad grabbed him and was like, I'm so sorry. And the vet was like the,
00:36:43
Speaker
electrician was like it's all good but my parents even them were like there was nothing that provoked that he just did it and later on my brother who is severely autistic my parents were out of town and he was watching my bro my dog we we had a dog door he'd go in and out and stuff and yeah like it was my brother could watch my dog just fine my brother my dog liked my brother but He ordered a pizza, our parents ordered it for him, he was supposed to open it. But he opened the door and straight out ran out and just sniffed the pizza lady and then just chomped on her like, for no reason. And that one was on the doorbell camera and we saw the whole thing. And it wasn't even like an aggressive bite. He just sniffed her and then like kind of like nipped her for no, like no reason. He's never done that with other people that came to the door.
00:37:29
Speaker
And we assumed maybe he was like protecting my brother. But anyway, the funny thing about that was poor lady, like my dog bit her leg and then she like, my brother just said, sorry, and like took the pizza because he had already paid online and then just closed the door. And of course, to her being in shock, being bit by a dog was just like, what the fuck? And like my parents, ah Seth called and told them that my parents called the pizza place and were like, sorry, the lady was like raging.
00:37:58
Speaker
and like blah bla blah and then they explained that my brother's special needs and she was like well he shouldn't be watching the dog wrenching the door blah blah blah and it like got kind of vicious and my parents offered you know if you can't work the next day we'll pay for your thing like my parents just it was you know it was on my brother but it was on that I was like it's not their fault my dog just did it this is an unfortunate set of circumstances and Yeah, so they pay it in the lady, my parents went down to the pizza place and apologized to the lady, and she was still like very angry, but then she texted back, or I think maybe called back and apologized like the next day, being like, I'm really sorry, that's gotta be a...
Strider's Health and Final Decision
00:38:36
Speaker
rough situation for you guys too with your son and like you weren't there it's not your fault blah blah blah and it was all good and I don't think it got filed with the it's like every time he bit somebody never got filed except for that one time with the animal control guy but even then he like threw the case out so
00:38:54
Speaker
Yeah, so the moral of that story is just like, oh, and i've I've seen a lot of dogs bite people and I've seen them like lie and say, they oh, it wasn't like a bite or anything like that. The first time I dog bit my professor, I thought he did just growl. I didn't see him bite him. And I was like, I thought he growled and he's like, no, he bit my arm. I was like, oh shit. Cause I was like kind of half looking. It was the eclipse and shit like that. I can't remember the specifics of that. I did not notice that he he bit my professor. I thought he had just growled. And then the next day he was like, no, he bit me. I was like, oh shit. So the,
00:39:22
Speaker
Anyway, that was the last time for a while that he did that. And, like, I still took him to training. I took him to, I'll say it once, dog training, Vinny, Vinny Selma. You've probably seen him on TikTok or YouTube or Instagram. Great guy. He does classes in Nashville, actually, and I hit him up on Instagram. ah Actually, Donnie connected us. And I went to one of his classes, and I brought Strider. And, of course, Strider, again, was an exemplary dog.
00:39:46
Speaker
totally fine. But, and like I took pictures with him, he's like, that's a big dog. And he just kind of pulled me aside and he was just like, Hey man, some dogs are just like, some dogs just bite. You got to work around it. And I know that's going to be very contentious for some people in the comments, but I've noticed that my whole life with other dogs and then having my dog. And I don't, I know you don't know, I'm telling you my experiences here, the negative ones. I'm not telling you all the positive experiences of my dog right now.
00:40:14
Speaker
You don't know the experience I've had with my dog and how much training and how much I've worked with my dog and how frustrating it is when he does this shit. And like, I can give him so many treats and be like, good boy. You know, they never, and like, there's some trainers are like, never say bad, never say bad dog. Bad dog sometimes is required when he bites somebody. I'm not gonna lie. I never hit him or anything. I was just a bad dog. And I, apparently he learned that at the training place because anytime I would say a bad dog after that, his ears would go back. And I'd never said that before.
00:40:41
Speaker
But anyway, there's, I'm going into the force free versus corrective training. I'm more of a force free person. That's what I started my dog with when he was good, but he's still, I think again, but that works better when you have a small dog that doesn't bite. When you have a bigger dog that needs corrective stuff, like you do have to work around it. And the more I bring him out of situations where that is not going to happen, the more he's less so he's less socialized, you know, he's not going to be around. So, and he's a huge dog that needs to run around.
00:41:11
Speaker
And my mom would take him for walks and stuff and to tire him out when I wasn't home because he was with my parents when I was at field work. And then the last in the last year, though, he started like he always had bad hip dysplasia. I told you that in the beginning. like His hip dysplasia was bad. He always had trouble sleeping correctly. I know dogs get up and move around a lot and sleep. but he I said this on ologies the other day, he would like wake up and he would move around to different spots in the house where he would like century points, I guess. And where he always had a view of me and another entrance to the house. So like he would sleep in the hallway outside my door so that he could see down the hallway, but no, I was in my room. Or he would like have his head out, like half in my room, half out my room to see down the hallway. At my parents house, he would like move around between different points too to patrol the house.
00:42:06
Speaker
And a lot of that was him just doing that, but a lot of that too was he would wake up because he had hip pain and he would like wake up and like yell. He would wake up and growl sometimes. He would like, he's just uncomfortable. And he he was a huge.
00:42:21
Speaker
fluffy dog that had a lot of knots and dreads in his fur, and he hated the groomer. He would bite at groomers, and they're used to that, obviously, but some groomers were like, this one lady who had three teeth was like, he tried to bite me, and I was like, oh my God, I'm so sorry. She's like, oh, he's a shepherd. They do that. And I was like, oh, okay.
00:42:38
Speaker
do you want me to not bring him back? And she said, no, bring him back anytime. Like she was fine with it. But like he got really knotted and all that fur with like pinch and stuff. And I tried my best to groom him and I would do it as best as I could. But towards the end this last year, he was like, it was very difficult to groom him and he would never bite me. He'd never bit me. But like the last year, it was very difficult to groom him because I could tell how uncomfortable he was, especially with his hips and how dreaded this stuff it was there.
00:43:08
Speaker
And that led to, it was more the hips than the fur because if I could take a scissor and cut out dreads and stuff. But like this last year he would just start lunging at traffic and he'd never done that before. He.
00:43:23
Speaker
Like we would just be on a walk and he would like lose his mind when he saw a truck go by, which he needs to never pay attention to. Like again, he went through all this training and he was like, they would throw a walker and throw crushes and like loud things near him that would crash and bang. And he was supposed to pay attention to, and he was great with that. But like on walks, the last two years of his life, he would just get so reactive to,
00:43:48
Speaker
trucks He tried to chase a FedEx truck one time. My mom said she pulled her or like knocked her over trying to grab, she held onto him. Actually no, because one time he did run down the street trying to like smell a dog and it was even with the prong collar on. And my mom's like not starting to have to hold him. So like, yeah, he just started like going crazy. And like, of course, when I had him, I would be like, we're trying to like listen to me and like he would behave. But even after like that, he would still like,
00:44:18
Speaker
lose his mind and like drool when you saw cars and stuff go by, which I'd never saw before. And he was always, I'm saying all these is negative things about my dog. This is like why I had to put him down, but like clearly I love my dog. Like I, it was, this has been very hard for me. This is the hardest decision of my life that I had to make. And I've cried enough the past two weeks. I don't really want to get into that, but just like in the past week,
00:44:49
Speaker
I love my dog. And like everybody who knows my dog and like interact with my dog also love my dog. He was a lovable dog. I just was very good about not getting him into situations where this shit would happen. And that included like field work. And it wasn't that I was worried he would bite somebody at field work. It's just one of the sites that I worked at was on a busy road. And like, I didn't want to be digging and then worry about him running in front of traffic. Like he just like would try to bite the cars and Anyway, I brought him back to Wyoming with me this year and things were great. like I'd bring him hiking and stuff, but he had to have a muzzle on. Oh my God, that's another problem too. I brought him in the bus. and This is part of why when I had the bus, like I couldn't go as many places because I had Strider and he was just such a liability and it was too hot in the bus for him most of the time anyway.
00:45:39
Speaker
to leave him in there and stuff and you're just too big for it. But this year I finally brought him in the bus and we drove across the country with it and it broke down three times on the way out here. And one time it broke down outside Kansas City and it was Labor Day weekend or Memorial Day, when everyone's in May. And of course they couldn't work on it until the following Tuesday and it broke down on Friday. And I was like, oh my God. So I'm in this little like,
00:46:05
Speaker
I got a decent hotel because I didn't want to stay at a motel for days, but one that could take pets that was near the auto shop. And like I was just in this hotel room outside Kansas City with my dog. And like I had to start giving him, my aunt was like, you got to give him Trazadone. Like if you can't like, I didn't have a car, I couldn't bring him out and stuff. I would walk him around the hotel, but he was just so I guess because I was stressed out with the thing and it was hot and like we were stuck in this hotel room. He would start lunging at people and he was lunging at, it was dead the day I got there. It was packed because it was the weekend, a holiday weekend and there was a big amusement park, a world's of fun as they would call it in Kansas city.
00:46:47
Speaker
And the place was like filled with people. And anyway, I was in this hotel and it just kind of reminded like, or let me know being in this hotel, with him lunging and all these people and like growling and barking also while being on Trazadone that like, okay, there's something wrong with my dog.
00:47:07
Speaker
I finally got the bus to Wyoming. And when we got there, Strider was raised with Elko, Connor's dog. We raised them together, got them as puppies together. And the first day they got there, they got into a fight and I had his muzzle on and he was fine. Strider couldn't do anything. And like.
00:47:28
Speaker
Long story short, Elko would snap at Strider, because Strider wanted to play, Elko didn't, and Strider's way of playing is very rough, and he's twice his size. And then when Elko would snap, Strider would snap back, and Strider would not end it, like and it would like we'd have to physically separate them. And it became very clear that Elko did not want to play you with Strider, but Strider didn't take the hint, and they would like go at it, and at one point, like Elko wasn't bleeding, but it was like a very solid bite that would have made me, and I was like, all right, that the they're not interacting. to get like they're not going It was always when they went outside to pee together. Inside, they were fine. But a dog that he grew up with and was raised with and played with for years, they were fighting really hard. And then I was like, okay, well, he can't hang out with other dogs now, like unsupervised or without a muscle on. And I would take him,
00:48:22
Speaker
for walks and stuff. I'd take him for a walk around the street, around the neighborhood, and he would be... He was good. He had his quirks and stuff, but he would still... I just distinctly remember a UPS truck where a postal service truck went by, and he drooled and tried to lunge at it. He lunged at it and then was drooling because he couldn't get to it. I was like, okay, something is up with my dog.
00:48:50
Speaker
and I would go to like social functions and stuff and layer me with, you know, friends from the department and stuff to like, where's your dog? And I was like, he's, I was kind of just Patel. He's a cunt. I said, which he was. Uh, but I was like, I never really like went into it because it's kind of, I mean, real, if your dog is like to see, like, I felt kind of shameful of it because it felt like I did something wrong and I like, I wasn't doing enough for my dog and that like, you know,
00:49:19
Speaker
Like I'd failed him, that I didn't train him enough. And it's like, everyone around me was like, no, you've trained that shit on that dog and you're a good dog owner. And like people who don't even know me on the internet were like, clearly you're a good dog dad. And I was like, yeah, but you don't know all of it. And it's like the level of training I put into him and like drilling and like how much I think it might have just been a combination of my anxiety of him doing something that he fed off of that made him anxious too or something. I don't know, but I did learn that his sister was put down for aggression and his mother didn't get put down for aggression, but she got
00:49:59
Speaker
Her, the mother and one of his siblings were like roughhousing. The the owner owned one of the siblings with the mother and they were roughhousing and he she ran into her while she was jumping or something. Long as she broke her hips in like a scuff with the other dog. And when the owner, the breeder went to pick up the mom to put her in the truck to bring her to the hospital, he bit her ear, or bit his ear. And like,
00:50:26
Speaker
that. And then she had to get put down because it was going to be like a $40,000 surgery to fix her hips and you know, wouldn't be the same life. You just, you know, you got to put a dog down at that point and he's missing part of his ear. And that was always like in the back of my mind too, was like his hips are so fragile. And this is another thing too. I was at Dr. Bob Kelly's house for two months house sitting and it was a wood for the whole house upstairs at least and he would like fall down the stairs a lot because he didn't have enough grip and his hips would give out and stuff and like one time he like just slid all the way downstairs and it looked like Mufasa like sliding off the cliff and he gave it to him.
00:51:06
Speaker
and they gave me this like yowl and like yelp the whole way down and it was so sad. And I was like, no, cause he wasn't strong enough sometimes to like support himself. And clearly the hip pain was a big problem for him. Anyway, he was fighting with Elko. I just, he had to be muzzled and we would bring him out hiking and stuff. And I had to Muslim cause I'd let him off leash in Wyoming where he could be off leash, but I'd muzzle him cause I didn't want him and Elko to go at it.
00:51:33
Speaker
If somebody came walking down around the thing and do it like a car drove by one time and he chased after it and I was like, at least he has his muzzle on, but like I would recall him and he just wouldn't come back. He just wouldn't because he would like get into this like wolf mode of like, I have to eat that car. And I debated on it for a while.
00:51:53
Speaker
And like my parents were like, I don't think we can watch him anymore. It got to the point where I couldn't let anyone dog sit him. I had to put him in a kennel and I told the kennel lady, like look, here's his deal. And he was in the kennel. It was like a decent sized kennel, like inside a kennel house on a farm.
00:52:12
Speaker
So there was like the kennel, he would like at the cage he was in, the fence around the farm and the fence around the whole property. So he could not escape and that would make me feel better because one time he did escape at dog sitters. The first time I ever let him with a stranger that I didn't know, I was out of signal because I was doing my first CRM project and I went to lunch the next day and got finally got signal on a hilltop and like a bunch of texts came and then my friend found my dog at the pound and she's like, this is your dog? He had escaped.
00:52:40
Speaker
ah So from that was like when he was two. So from then on I did not let anybody dogs at my dog unless he went to a kennel and he went to a kennel that the dog trainer in Georgia recommended and stuff like I just it got expensive when I would travel and I felt bad that he was locked up in a kennel with other dogs just barking all day but it was peace of mind for me knowing because he's so smart he would escape and I wouldn't worry about him biting somebody.
00:53:05
Speaker
Anyway, if you're in that situation, i i I feel for you. It's very stressful. And then I really debated on it. And I didn't obviously didn't want to put him down. I wanted to get more training and stuff, but like his hips were clearly a problem. And i would he was on trasadone. And watching him just be stoned stuck in stuck in my room with me all day in the house and like moan and just be stoned and stuff,
00:53:36
Speaker
upset me more than him being trapped inside not on pills because it's just like it's what's the quality of life there like he's just not a dog anymore he's just like an animal that's pilled out in my house and he would be sweet and he would come and like lay with me and stuff but I could tell he just like gave me the look multiple times of like what's happening and that really hurt me And like I couldn't bring him around other dogs. I couldn't bring him to social functions. I couldn't bring him to his favorite place in the world, which is Wyoming where he can zip around. Like I just couldn't do it. Like he just too much of a liability. And it was straining my relationship with the roommate and his animals. And just like, it was just like, okay, this it's, I got it. I don't want to do this. And I was debating on it. And then I finally,
00:54:28
Speaker
talk to the vet about it. And that he had a record at the vet here of, you know, needing to be sedated when he was there and stuff. And they were like, if that's what you decide to do, like he qualifies. And I talked with several behaviorists on Instagram that I've met and several, like, you know, the babies that I disagree with in their trainings. And they were like, you know, it's better to let him not suffer if he's suffering in his head. And another person told me, like, you know, if he's Like freeing them for a mental prison is like the same as like a, you know, physical pain kind of thing. And he's only nine. Like he could probably could have lived another two, three years healthily before he really started to break down. But did I want to see my dog become very violent, drool more, and like lose his mind?
00:55:20
Speaker
and also stress out every day that he's going to eat somebody. like ah He could easily kill a dog and he could easily kill a kid. like like Every dog could easily kill a kid, but like i would look at like a kid would walk by and like one time on a walk home, this was like three months ago, a kid just zipped around the corner while I had my dog you know, with his prong collar on and a harness and not a harness, just a prong collar on. I had him good and a kid zipped around the corner and like strider lunged and I grabbed him and stuff and it was just like constant every time. You know, just it was always on my mind like he's going to hurt somebody.
00:55:55
Speaker
And it just became the point I was like, okay, I can't, I just can't deal with it. So I made an appointment with the vet and this is when it fully solidified for me. I took him for his last day into the mountains and like drove and it's, the pass was closed and not even closed yet, but it was just coated in snow. I couldn't get all the way through to where I wanted to go, like to my secret spot where I know there's no people.
00:56:21
Speaker
And I went on this like ski trail. There was no one parked there. It was all good. And I was like, okay, I'm going to keep him leashed, but we're going to walk. And no one was there. I hadn't seen a car the whole way up, but like an hour drive up into the mountains.
00:56:36
Speaker
And of course, as soon as I open up the car and I let him out and I let him out of the fucking Subaru and his leash wasn't on yet because he was you know in the car. As soon as I let him out and I was going to let him like sniff around for a second, he's good with that and I'd call him and put his leash on.
00:56:53
Speaker
As soon as he jumps out of the car, a Subaru came flying up the fucking road, which a little too fast for my liking for their safety on this snowy mountain road, but it was a Subaru, and he was an older guy. I knew what he was doing. And Strider just bolted. And I have never screamed louder in my life, and I was like, Strider! And I was like, come! And I was like, come! And then I yell, bad dog, because that usually, like, he knows. And I was like,
00:57:21
Speaker
screaming at the top of my lungs so hard that, like, Colorado could have hurt me. Like, it was so loud. And I didn't see him for like five minutes. He chased this car and he was, the car just kept going too, which I know they saw him. They saw him run at him and like kept going. And I assumed the guy figured like the dog will tire out and turn around and go back to me if he just keeps going. But further up the road, i had I had turned around from that spot because it was too snowy. And he came, he just flew off the road and started to chase the car. And in that, I had my pistol with me. And in that moment I was just like,
00:57:57
Speaker
okay, I'm going to have to see my dog run over and I'm going to have to shoot him because the he was not coming back. Like he, he was out of sight. I didn't hear the car anymore. I didn't hear him. And I was just waiting to hear like the, his German shepherd squeal that like, yeah when he like you be step on his paw or even get near him, he'll squeal sometimes and screech. If you have a shepherd, you understand what I mean? And I was waiting for it and I didn't hear it, but I was just like,
00:58:27
Speaker
Like running up the hill without snowshoes on in snow, my snow boots, just like running with my fucking gun in my backpack, ah just knowing I was gonna have to put my dog out of his misery. And I had thought about doing it myself too. And I think that's illegal, which is why I never did it. But I think in that situation, it's warranted. And like, I was just like, I literally have an appointment to euthanize you tomorrow because you do this and you're gonna hurt yourself. And you're about to get your ass run over.
00:58:55
Speaker
And this is where it's going to get hard for some people to hear, but like I was running and like run. And I just like, I don't, I've, I've never actually killed something hunting. I kill a rabbit. I've never, I've been with people hunting that have killed larger animals, but I've never done it myself till something big. And I've shot into a dead animal, multiple with guns and arrows, at ah some experimentally, some while hunting. And in that moment I was just like, okay,
00:59:25
Speaker
take a deep breath, you're going to have to shoot your dog and you're going to have to see your dog in an intense amount of pain and you're going to have to put him down. And like, uh, and then the police are going to come cause someone's going to call it. There was a shot. Well, I guess you're in the mountains and it's, but it's not hunting season. So I guess maybe it is anyway, in that moment I was like, okay, I'm going to have to shoot my dog and I don't want to see this and I'm not going to be able to unsee this the rest of my life. And this guy's going to be so angry and apologetic at the same time. Like what, what, what version of this person am I going to get?
00:59:54
Speaker
And luckily my dog came running down the hill completely fine with his tongue out in the car. And I just like had the biggest sigh of relief in my life that like, okay, he's fine. I don't have to shoot him. But in that moment I was like, I am making the correct decision because I felt bad. Like I was giving up on him that I was going to put him down because he was, I wasn't training him good enough. But in that moment it was like, okay,
01:00:24
Speaker
not only is it for the safety of children and other dogs, it is for his safety now that I'm going to have to put him down because he is going to get run over and it's going to be brutal because he just, there's a switch in him that would not let, and if you're a person out there, he's going to be like, well, you could have worked harder and i've I've seen people go after people for this. Fuck you. One, you don't know my story. And then two,
01:00:46
Speaker
to fall, so fuck you. like I know what's best for my dog, and in that moment, that that sigh of relief was just like, okay, he is going to hurt himself, and he's going to die if I don't do this, and I'm making the right choice, and I didn't want to post about it or tell anybody that this is why the people who asked I did tell didn't want to lie, and yeah, it was ah it was hard. So the next day, or that later that day, I took him,
01:01:16
Speaker
I didn't have snow shoes. I'm an idiot. I got all over the mountains, didn't buy snow shoes, so I couldn't hike on the trail. Uh, and he was. Not, he's supposed to be able to run in the snow just fine, but he kept getting the snowballs between his paws and kept eating them. And, uh, that was, I was like, okay, we can't come here. The snow is too deep for you. And, uh, I went to a river spot that he liked a lot, uh, where he could run up and down the river and like, you know, the whole mythology thing with dogs in the river and stuff. So I was like, all right, let's go to the river and just like meditate. And he just wanted to play fetch the whole time and wade through the ball.
01:01:51
Speaker
And again, every five minutes I was like looking over my shoulders and went parking here. Am I good? And he's fine. He's zipping around. Even went swimming, which he doesn't like to swim, but he swam. I think he like knew, or he at least knew I was stressed about something that whole week because he kept pawing at me like more than usual. and You could tell something was up. And we played fetch for like an hour. He didn't tire out. We were playing fetch the whole time. And then we went to a spot in a canyon, like a half hour away from there, where we had buried my friend's dog almost 10 years ago now. He got hit by a car. And I went and found his grave and we played fetch near it. And it was kind of a hike to it. And I was like, hey, look, it's Uncle Cosmo. I didn't give two shits, but I cut
01:02:40
Speaker
Some sage grass is different than like actual sage that you like cook with. The smell of sage grass is so fucking nice. The smell of of sage grass is like what Wyoming smells like to me. And I just wanted shredded. And again, Athena, I had my parents put, but my parents brought a little dime bag of sage from their, it looked like weed. But I got actual proper sage and I didn't bring a knife because I'm dumb.
01:03:06
Speaker
So I had to like literally flintnap some slate that was near the grave and cut the, and like I made a chopper. It was like cutting the fruit of this, like cheese cutting it off, trying to get it. And it grew at a cosmos grave and I thought it was kind of poetic and stuff. So I did that. We were fetching and stuff. And then he took a solid nap in the car and I brought him back home after a long day of hiking and playing fetch. I gave him, he was eating the farmer's dog.
01:03:34
Speaker
And I gave him like double servings of that. His last day I cooked him. He likes the fire. He likes to chase the embers on the fire. ah So I did that with him. And he seemed scared of the fire for this time, for some reason. I think he knew it was up and that gave him a bone. He went with the bone and the fire, but he didn't want to go near the fire.
Strider's Last Moments and Euthanasia
01:03:57
Speaker
and Again, I think he knew what was up and.
01:04:00
Speaker
I cooked him salmon on the fire, let him eat that, and then the vet was like, you need to give him five trasadilla, and I usually give him two and a half, or one and a half. They were like, give him five in the night and five in the morning, so he sedated when he comes in. Of course, none of that did anything to him. He was already tired from hiking, but he was limping, and I didn't push him too hard the last year I had him because I didn't want to like make him limp as much anymore, so I didn't run him or make him, I wouldn't let him fetch too long or run too long.
01:04:28
Speaker
And then I was very short, he just passed out, but he was limping when I had my, I FaceTime my parents. I was like, you want to say bye? And you know, I was kind of bleak and sad. And they were telling me like, you know, it's the right thing to do. And they were saying bye to Strader. And like, he was limping to the camera and it was just like, okay, he can't even have like fun without being hurt.
01:04:49
Speaker
And it just, it made me feel bad. And it just was so weird to like stare at your dog and be like, you're, I'm putting you down tomorrow and you're not sick. But like he's sick in the head and it was really hard. And then he went to sleep and then I woke up the next morning. The appointment was at 11 and I gave him more of his Trazadone. I played with his flirt pole that he loves. It's like the pole with like,
01:05:14
Speaker
the cat toy with the string and the feather on it but same thing for a dog it's what they use with that military training with dogs he loves that thing we did that played a bit he was just kind of suited and limping and yeah i got i brought the sage and i had my friend make me these col clovis points that you've probably seen in some of the videos here ones Judea and Flint from the Negev desert in, I guess it was politically Israel, Palestine. And then this is Georgetown Flint and another one I have around here somewhere. I laid those on the blanket with him and I put my Star David necklace around his neck. I'm not religious, but I figured it's technically it's the Magum David, which is like the shield of David. And I was like, wherever he's going, like it'll protect them or something.
01:06:05
Speaker
I put that on him, I put the sage on the ground with him and the vet came in and gave him this big. Connor was with me too and like we were both like, I was trying my best not to cry because I didn't want Strider to be scared.
01:06:20
Speaker
Connor was like bawling because it's like he raised him too and he knew how hard it was for me and I put the bundle of sage with him and the vet came in and gave him this like comically large cart like a video game style syringe of sedative and he was like fine he was still like panting and they came in twice and were like he's still not laying down i'm like no and this was on the triple dose of tracetone that again he was just such a high energy dog but not high energy really he was just anxious and this is another thing too he would pant constantly and i know it's because he's like hot
01:06:56
Speaker
But he also was just constantly stressed because his hips hurt and he was stressed that he couldn't like be he couldn't be watching everywhere in the house at once. Like it sounds made up, but like I've studied my dog enough to know like he was just constantly anxious about shit and he would pant like anxiously. And it got worse as he got older and he was just panting in the room and I knew he was stressed because we were stressed and Connor was crying and I was trying to hold it and I put the David around his neck, the points and I had the, the sage on the blanket with him and they came in and gave him another comically large syringe and he still wouldn't lay down and after like another 10, 15 minutes. He finally laid down and they came in.
01:07:43
Speaker
And then they give him, I forget what it's called, but it's like an anti-seizure medicine, but it stops your heart in a high dose. It's like an overdose of it. And they essentially go to sleep. And then once they're asleep, they give them this injection and their heart stops, but started, didn't go to sleep. And he was very, I don't think he was scared. He was just anxious because every dog's anxious and scared at the vet kind of. And I was just petting him and telling him, I love them.
01:08:11
Speaker
And yeah, I just like made sure the last thing he saw was me. And I just wanted him to know that. I think he might've been stressed too because Connor was sitting in a chair behind us and he might've wanted to see Connor too. Yeah, just just slowly like pet and then the the vets were like really kind and calm.
01:08:32
Speaker
And again, I felt more like relieved than sad. Like I was just like after that day in the mountains within in the car with the Subaru, I was like really worried he was just going to get run over because he just was losing his mind. And like I just I felt guilty for not crying in the moment because I just like I was so transactional for me. And like it was like, OK, what's happening? And then I had a plan for his body and stuff. And It felt bad, but as soon as like he finally laid down and the vet came in with the last syringe and I was like how how long left and then she was like it it usually works instantly and I just I started sobbing and like I just told him I love you and I like was petting him and I said I'll see you soon and I remember exactly what I said I think it was that and uh
01:09:24
Speaker
Yeah, I just kept telling him I love them. I think I like I was, you know, sob, crying, yelling that at the same time. And the vet finally broke down and cried, too. She sniffled a bit because he's too non gay. Crowed men were in the room just like sobbing. Clearly, we love the dog.
01:09:43
Speaker
yes <unk>s My aunt has this in her practice too and it's called the last kiss and you can give a dog a Hershey kiss for their last snack when they're in the euthanasia room because they can't have chocolate. And I tried to give it to Strider and he'd much like hang on.
01:09:59
Speaker
much like Strider is. Only eats meat. He hated vegetables and anything that wasn't meat. So he just turned his head away from the Hershey kiss. But yeah, he he was scared of the injection and he looked up because it you know they had to shave his leg and touch his leg and he didn't like people touching his leg or his backside. But I was holding on. I was like, it's OK. And I love you. And then.
01:10:20
Speaker
It took another like three minutes for his heart to stop beating, which should be instantly. And she was like, yeah, you he's a fighter. It made me feel bad. Cause he, I was like, is it not, am I making the right decision? Like, is he scared? Is he fighting it? And like, just he was just an anxious dog and he wanted to be with me and he died.
01:10:44
Speaker
And I like stopped crying and I was talking to the vet and I was like, I'm sorry, you guys you know i had to ruin your Saturday. And they were like, no, it's okay. And like clearly you loved him and you're doing the right thing. And they asked me if I wanted to
Memorial Plans and Reflections
01:10:58
Speaker
cremate him. And I said, well, I'm taking him to get, we were driving him. I made an appointment with a taxidermist in Cheyenne to process his bones in a beetle colony so that I can have his skeleton.
01:11:12
Speaker
because I want to do a a display with his bones and then 3D scan them before I make the display. Sorry. I want to make a 3D scan of his bones to have them for educational purposes so I can 3D print them later too. But also, I want to make a burial, like an archaeological excavation of a dog burial display to put in a museum someday or just in my house just to have it.
01:11:38
Speaker
And the taxidermist was very kind and understood like what was going on. And I told her all about it and she saw my Instagram and stuff. And she also was like very, you know, it was transactional with her cause I had to pay. ah But to like also like she understood and she was like, I think this is a really good thing. And the vet even told me like, I think that's a really unique and good thing to do with his bones, especially with you.
01:12:03
Speaker
And then I called the the cremation place that the vet uses and I was like, I'm going to bring multiple bags of a dog. but I promise it's not a human. And they were like, it's okay. And I got his ashes but and I went and picked up the rest of his remains. Oh, the funny thing too is I left my necklace on him and the taxidermist was like, I found this and it was like my star David necklace. And she was like, I didn't see that on him and I assume you didn't. And I was like, no, I didn't. I left that on, I forgot. I'm wearing that now. And then,
01:12:40
Speaker
Yeah so like he passed with wearing that and I can wear that around me now too. I might make some jewelry out of one of this like you can make put ashes and jewelry to make rings with too but His ashes are here, I'm putting them in a new, I've got this custom made urn in Egypt. It's being shipped right now. That's like a new bis, I'll put a picture of it here. Anyway, I've gone on way too long with this. I miss my dog terribly. I've cried and cried and cried the last week, but I just, again, it's the right decision.
01:13:11
Speaker
especially after that last day like in that moment of just fully accepting that you're gonna have to shoot your dog and see him cut in half by a car was really traumatic for me and I just didn't want to have to deal with that again or worry about that again with him or bite another person and he lived a good and everyone that messaged me on instagram thank you so much like it was insane the overwhelming support and everyone was like clearly you gave that dog a good life and the people who did ask and I told them what happened you guys listening right now the first ones to hear all this by the way They were like it sounds like you made the right decision and I haven't gotten any judgment for it and I really appreciate that So thank you. I am making a go fund me tomorrow. Today is what the
01:13:52
Speaker
Second, tomorrow I'll be putting a post up on the third that has a link to the GoFundMe to if you would like to help ah pitch in for the earn and pitch in for his burial the remains display. I think it's going to cost a couple grand to do it right and just to make sure I have what I need and make sure it's all good and preserved and to pay people that are helping. Anything extra will be going to the Native American Humane Society. I've talked with a person there. I've already donated to them before.
01:14:21
Speaker
um They're working on legislation to help you know dogs on the reservation out here get homes and health care or veterinary care. So anything extra will go to that. if you'd like to don it i know I don't need your money, but i just like people are like, if there's anything I can do, it's like, well, yeah, here's what you can do. Help me do this. ah You guys all made this account, made my YouTube because of my dog. It's all because of him. If you'd like to donate, you can honor him that way. By donating to this, that would be really
Conclusion and Credits
01:14:48
Speaker
cool. And anything extra, again, will go to the Native American Humane Society. so
01:14:53
Speaker
I'll do another one where I talk about more positive things and fun stories with Strider. I just wanted to get this this off my chest, because it made it sound like he's like an evil dog. or Not an evil dog, just a bad dog, but he's not. That was like but just the bad shit that like led to his why I had to do this. But I'll do another one about you know fun stories with Strider, and if people want to call in, or I'll do a live talk about stuff with Strider.
01:15:20
Speaker
Yeah, thank you. So that is gofundme dot.com slash ethnocynology. I'll put that here. And thank you all for listening and especially here on YouTube. I know a lot of people comment about Strider and stuff all the time. I'm really sorry you won't be seeing him anymore. I'm sorry, I'm too. Yeah, I just miss my dog. I know you will too.
01:15:42
Speaker
ah But we'll get through it and I eventually will get another dog once I've traveled to enough Latin American countries and Taught enough English now that I don't have a dog That's a weird thing to end this on That's my podcast. All right
01:16:03
Speaker
The Archaeology Podcast Network is 10 years old this year. Our executive producer is Ashley Airy, our social media coordinator is Matilda Seabreck, and our chief editor is Rachel Rodin. The Archaeology Podcast Network was co-founded by Chris Webster and Tristan Boyle in 2014 and is part of CulturoMedia and DigTech LLC. This has been a presentation of the Archaeology Podcast Network. Visit us on the web for show notes and other podcasts at www.archpodnet.com. Contact us at chrisatarchaeologypodcastnetwork.com.