Socializing your dog is probably the most important thing you can do as a pet owner. Taking him on walks to meet people and other dogs prevents the kind of situation that a Pomeranian named Gizmo is now facing in Aspen, Colo.
A judge has threatened to order Gizmo to be euthanized if the 13-year-old dog bites anyone else. The dog was kept in an animal shelter for 10 days after biting a woman in August - clearly not the first time he's bitten someone.
"As a judge, the hardest decision I ever have to make is to take someone's pet away or euthanize it," Judge Brooke Peterson told Gizmo's owner, Melinda Goldrich, last week. "But you and I have been dealing with your dog since 2006 ... and your excuses have worn out my patience."
Peterson told Goldrich that it's curtains for Gizmo (not the dog pictured above) if he's seen in Aspen again. A friend in a nearby town has offered to care for the dog.
I blame the owner, first for not socializing her pet as a puppy, second for not making sure it could not bite anyone else after it became obvious the dog was vicious. It's every pet owner's responsibility.
Yes, even small dogs can be vicious.
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