Tara

Tara is a very intelligent, sweet, and loving dog. She is also very hyperactive and I believe she has anxiety. She loves a lot of attention and I work very long hours, so I have failed her in that area. 1 1/2 years ago my daughter inherited a dachshund and they are inseparable. Tara did not adjust well to this and several other changes in the home dynamics that took place around the same time. Majority of the time, the two dogs play together well, but as time has gone on, I can see the toll it has taken on Tara's joy and she seems stressed out. The dachshund came with food aggression and eventually Tara started having food aggression. We have tried to manage this situation but as life happens, unexpected situations occur that have caused the dachshund to be bitten multiple times, such as fighting over a vegetable being grown in a planter or a bone being left out accidently. Unfortunately taking my child's dog is not an option, nor am I afraid of being hurt by my child's dog. Tara gets extremely anxious about going to the vet and is very difficult to control. I have not had much luck with vet staff supporting me and holding this muscular dog is very difficult for me. That anxiety built as oneday several staff members cornered her and made me, with no experience muzzle her. This got me bit mildly. Tara is not just randomly aggressive and doesn't attack people. I believe this bite was due to fear. After the bite at the vet office, I had to hire a vet to come to my home, who also could not assess her but because the vet had no staff to assist me in holding Tara, we couldn't get her to stay still as she was so anxious. After that, I enrolled Tara in a very expensive, 6 week Board and Train Program. She did very well, as I knew she would. She is very intelligent and very capable of learning. The staff loved her and they saw no aggressive behaviors during her time there. We were continuing the rules at home. Recently she appears to have developed something wrong with her hip and she has a black mass on her bottom. As previously stated, performing medical treatment on Tara is extremely difficult. The hip issues seemed to have healed but now sporadic hip issues appear for short periods so I am sure there is something there that needs treatment. I had plans to wrestler down to a new vet. However, yesterday, as I reached over her to turn on the hose while she was eating she bit me. I cannot give her any more chances. I can't risk something like this happening to someone else. I have spent a fortune trying to keep this dog health and behaved. Perhaps it was my fault for going near her when eating but I don't think a dog should bite its owner, even if I were to take her food bowl from her. Perhaps hip and butt pain contributed but she has made it so difficult for me to help her with any medical needs. 99.9% of the times she is so sweet and loving and very smart. I just can't deal with the 0.01% of the time where me and this other dog get randomly bitten any more. I need help because I want her to be in a loving home. She deserves a lot of love and attention and I know she will give it back. I just think she needs to be in a home where she is the only dog. (She is not aggressive to our cat. She gets anxious and is intrusive and an annoyance to the cat.) Where the owner can give her a lot of time and attention and she tends to do better with males in my opinion. If she could get away from the other dog at our home and maybe get more training for the food aggression, I don't think anyone would ever have any problems with her, other than having to get her medical care. Please help me find a loving home for her. She doesn't need to be in a junk yard or anything, because she does not have an aggressive temperament by nature. It seems to be medical care and food that can trigger aggressive episodes. She just needs more than I can offer her, and I don't want to euthanize her if there's someone that can help her live her life happily.