Mason

Mason, much more handsome than his shelter picture shows, was surrendered at age 11 for euthanasia because of severe separation anxiety.    The shelter determined that this very handsome brindle guy was quite healthy and instead put him up for adoption with a warning that he would couldn’t be left alone.   This of course turned adopters off and he stayed there for 6 weeks.   He tried to chew his way out of the kennel and became more stressed despite efforts to get him more exercise and a larger area.    Finally, I couldn’t stand it and took him home – our large group of dogs has always made them feel safe about being without human company, so we hoped Mason would feel that way too.  That worked, though he was still agitated if left in the car without one of us.

His anxiety, however, didn’t decrease and his hyper-awareness of everything made it difficult for him to relax or to even relate to us.  He just kept worrying about his surroundings.   We discovered severe elbow dysplasia which limited his walks etc, and no doubt didn’t help his discomfort with his new life.   Finally, the tension became too much for him and we had to say goodbye. Who knows what had happened to him in his past life but the long shelter stay seemed to have pushed him past the tipping point.

We so wish we could have made life better for him – but we hope he knew he was loved.  We will grieve for him.