Auzzy.

<span style="font-size:80">I know I've vented about him already, but I've just learned some horrible news.<br><br>I'll retell about how his death happened for anyone who unfamiliar with the story so that that may fully understand this.. I can't even think of a word, horrible is a complete understatement.<br><br>Auzzy was adopted in late march/early april in 2007. He was a male australian shepherd mix, 1 1/2 years old. <br>When we first got Auzzy he was perfect in my eyes. He mouthed a little, yeah, but that's it. He didn't jump at people, he wouldn't go up on furniture(though we did try to invite him up), he loved being walked, being loved, running... <br>Then it went wrong. He began mouthing more, though he viewed this as a greeting. Like "Hi there, how are you? This is Auzzy! 8D *mouth*". He didn't have a tail so he just waggled his little bum, Waggle Butt, we called him. <br><br>We began to notice he had horrible separation anxiety. The reason we didn't know this at first was because being homeschooled, we don't leave the house much. But when we do, it's normally not that long. 1-2 hours tops.<br>He would actually run and slam the door with his front paws so that you couldn't leave, so we began using our small bathroom as a crate for him. And when we came back we realized he had tried to dig himself out through the door. So many scratches there...<br><br>He had the occasional medical condition, nothing serious though. He had kennel cough when we got him, and was on meds for a few days after we had adopted him. I think he had an ear infection at one point, and that was it, really. He just needed updated on his shots and that was it.<br><br>He began to get worse with his conditions despite our work to fix him. So we searched and found a private trainer about an hour away who was famed for her work with 'aggressive' dogs. She decided that it wasn't aggression, just stress and he needed to let off more energy. So we began tug-of-war with him to get some of that 'growlies' out of him, we used a sheet rather than a toy so our hands wouldn't be near his mouth. This helped for a while.<br><br>Once day I came downstairs to find Auzzy sitting on the couch. He didn't often go on the couch, but when he did he slept. So I assumed he had just woken up. His eyes were sort of half-glazed, but he looked up at me so I thought he was aware I was there and all. So I reached out to pet him, which is when he left up and bit my face. I remember jumping back, yelping in shock. I mean, I remember being just... shocked. I noticed it didn't really hurt. I'm not sure if I was just in shock or what. But it didn't start aching until a day or two later.. After I started using antibiotic and all. <br>But I remember him just looking.. I don't know. Confused? Like he didn't cower in fear, he didn't run off, he just.. sat on the couch again. <br>I ran to the bathroom and noticed I was bleeding. <br>So I went to the upstairs bathroom, I remember having tears in my eyes because I knew what this would mean for him. I guess my mom heard me yelp or heard me coming upstairs and she came out and asked me what was wrong.<br>I shouldn't have told her, but it just came out.<br><br>Days later Auzzy was surrender. After the 10 day watch for aggression he was euthanized.<br><br><br><br><br><br>I was researching words for medical terminology hang man in my vet tech course and I found something that reminded me of Auzzy. <br>"Rage Syndrome: A sudden episode of aggression without warning."<br>Oh. My. God.<br><br>So, curious, and just... wishing it was something incurable, so that I wouldn't have to feel more guilty, I looked it up, read about it, looked to see if it was common in australian shepherds....<br><br>He had the symptoms. <br>He seemed.. off when I saw him. He had the glazed eyes, he likely just woke up from a nap, he seemed disoriented afterwards. <br><br>But I read that it is treatable with some medication, behavior training, etc. It's a neurological issue guys.<br>And if he just bit me because I threatened him, with the way Auzzy was, he would sulk/pout for days around the person after being frightened, etc.<br>Days later.. The next day even, he was just.. normal. He actually was one /better/ behavior, guys.<br>My mom actually said that... how could he bite me and then just be fine the next day? It's not.. it doesn't make sense.<br><br>I there you are folks. It looks as if Auzzy had rage sydrome(which, if my research proves correct, has popped up in aussies) and he might not have even needed to be euthanized. I could still have him here with me today.<br><br>He would be 5 on November 2nd, if he was.<br>RIP Auzzy. I am SO sorry.</span>