..He was never the same...

Hello checapricorn, *Laughs* When I read your topic, I thought you're talking about your husband or 'someone' close to you! It's a dog! I think the dog is afraid of your FIL for what he had done to him. Your FIL was really, really ' naughty' huh? How come he could used a dog for a terrible test? *laughs* The first animal that my son knew is a cat and after that a dog. So he always think that a cat is like a dog. Whenever he sees a dog, he will chase the pity animal because he wants so much to scratch the face of the dog! I always end up screaming when he does that!

Hi dear Pets and even plants are quite senstive and they can guesss who like them or dislike them, i am sorry to say that the way to Check Electric Fence by pet was inhuman, their are other way to check it like it by tester or by putting some other meter Take care

I can't say I blame poor Toby after that. My niece takes her dog Lily and I tell her don't do that you might hurt Lily. She is a older poodle dog and very sweet.

Awww that poor doggie! That is so sad! I and neither of my parents or siblings have ever mis-treated any of our animals. There was actually a time when we were little that my sister was referred to as "Elmira" because all the animals would run away from her. Her and my little cousin were playing with some kittens we had outside once and they had them in a little kid pool. The only thing was they were holding them under water!! My mom was like "what are you doing?!?!" and their response was that they were giving the kittens a bath. Bathing and drowning are two very different things...

well, i am sometimes hard on my pet before..but i do love my pet dog. i miss her..

omg that is HORRIBLE why would a person even think to do such a thing!? I can't blame that poor dog!! I have never had this happen. My dog is my baby so I treat him like a little prince! he's way too spoiled!

That was a horrible thing to do to the family dog,that you are supposs to love..Your mother in law & father in law were very cruel...Why didn't they use themselves instead of the dog..That is so disgusting...I have a dog & 2 cats but i love them very much and would NEVER do that to one of my pets..Pets are dependent on us and we are their protecters...If i was "Toby" I would hate both of them.This is so disgusting & if i were so eveil to do such a thing i would not tell it....& I would hang my head in shame....I am sorry but your inlaws do not DESERVE a pet,because they are CRUEL......

That was not a nice thing to do at all. I don't blame Toby for hating FIL. I would also. Why should he greet the person that hurt him. FIL couldn't find some way else to test the fense. I would never allow anyone to mistreat my pet when I had a pet. That is sad that FIL felt it necessary to use a living thing to test his fence. Doesn't make any sense at all.

They used the dog to test an electric fence!?!?! That's terrible! No wonder than dog didn't like Fil anymore!! He felt betrayed and hurt by him! I've never treated any animal like that, never had a situation that made an animal hate me like that. But I have a funny story that proves animals Do hold grudges. I work at a PetsHotel, and a lady I used to work with was giving one of the dogs their knog treat, and she accidently dropped it and it bounced and hit the dog in the face. The dog had doggie peanut butter all over it's face lol. It HATED her after that! WOuldn't let her pet her, wouldn't go near her...but this dog LOVED me! :) She is so sweet! lol. But you could physically see this dog's sweet face turn into a glare when she looked at the other lady! :)

Well,we have 2 dogs.The one is quite and obedient while the other is noisy and naughty.They're really opposite.Actually we treat our obedient dog good while the naughty one,sometimes, we hit her with sticks, because she we cant control her nosiness she acts weird and keeps on barking.We tried to be calm in making her stop but when we left she stars barking again.But for the long time,I didn't see any changes.She's still sweet but noisy.I Guess your dog's confused about what FIL did.Maybe the dog doesn't understand why you his family did it..

I don't have a pet of my own... but my mother does... and nothing like this ever happened... and my mother would never use her dogs for something like that... Dogs are very intelligent and they tend to assume human traits when treated like such by their owners... i think it will take a very long time and a lot of apologies for Toby to like FIL again...

hello che, dogs are very sensitive to their experiences and it does take awhile and sometimes a lifetime to get over with. it is the same with cats though cats take long grudges compared to dogs. anyway, i can completely relate with your in-law's dog coz our dog is having issues based on his past as well. here are the scenarios that made him changed. 1. flying from shanghai to beijing, china his crate was smashed when he reach the conveyor and he was crying and scared coz of this, his first reaction when he sees me was run to me and hide on my arms. after that he is afraid of noises, anything that moves at his back, wont go near to anything that is dark and is moving. he is very afraid. when he reached our new apartment he wont leave my side for a few months and i need to make sure that i am there for him. i also noticed that he gets more nightmares (as he cried while he is sleeping) for a few weeks. ****HE IS STILL SUFFERING FROM ALL OTHER THAN BEING SO CLINGY TO ME. 2. a chinese man intentionally stepped on his paw when we are out visiting my hubby's colleague (they gave us a farewell party in their home). my sister studied the mandarin language so she heard that the man dont like dogs so he stepped on him so he dont walk around. we are very pissed but we cannot do anything out there as they denied it ever happened. anyway, after that my dog will bark to any chinese (he never does in the past he loves to be with them), he will get so frustrated when he hears chinese people talking and will not go near a chinese man. we left china not resolving this issue, though i try to help him by talking to him using mandarin and see how he reacts. back then he will bark even if its my voice but now he is fine with it. (thank God LOL) 3. my husband and i are staying with a friend coz we are looking for an apartment here and when our friend's daughter's boyfriend come around our dog barks at him and my hubby come pick him up so he wont have to bother him. that very incident changed our dog big time and its been like that for almost a year now. after my hubby did that to him, our dog no longer befriended with him, will bark at him, he wont even let my hubby pet him, my hubby cannot go next to me if i am around our dog and will go crazy if he tried to touch him. my man's dad lend us the video of "the dog whisperer" hoping that it will help our dog somehow. honestly, it didnt help him and the only ways that seem to work is - if my dog barks or growl at him he will just go away and let our dog ask for attention and that is the only time he will pet him. he is getting better now, he growls a little but not as much as he used to. i guess the ignoring part works and that fact that we do bring him sometimes for a ride (he loves to ride in the car) and that makes him trust him again. it is a very long process, just takes time to bring back the trust i guess. i hope your in-laws provide him some patience and extra love at this time of dog's confusion. it is sad that the dog have to suffer with psychological effects from actions that is either intentional or accidental. it is never easy for them as their mind are tangled up with memories be it past or present. wish them all the best. have a good one!

That is terrible my friend,and I feel sorry for poor Toby because that should have never happened,and to me that sounds like animal abuse,I can honestly say that I have never done anything like that to any of the pets I have ever owned and I never will and if I catch anyone doing anything like that I make them stop and tell them if I ever see them doing it or trying it again they will have to deal with me.

No, I haven't been like that to my dogs. I love them a lot that's why I choose my living having them (A dog obedience and dog breeding business).

the dog experiences a traumatic event..and of course the poor dog still remember who was responsible..and maybe a hated him...throught this now i can conclude that dog are intelligent animal..nope im never been naughty to my daughters pet dog..not even relatives ..they really like it...theyre all pet lovers..

no i have not don anything naughty. they acn't speak, but they can think very well. they are sensitive. i am very sympathetic to pets.

Hi Checapricorn, No wonder Toby doesn't like your FIL very much, I don't think I would either if I had been used like that to test out an electric fence either! I have never been naughty to any pet even as a child but my cats both hate the cat carrier box as they know it is to tale them to the vet LOL and will bolt the minute they see it. Ellie :D

I think sometimes we do things without thinking, I did not know whether to laugh at your story or be shocked LOL. It is not surprising the dog will not have anything to do with him really! Perhaps a good job he did not stick his wife on there or else there would have been trouble! The only naughty thing I have ever done to any of my pets, was to my dog and this was years ago before all this dressing up of dogs came out. I dressed her up in a dress and a shawl and shoes and took photos of her. She was really not impressed at all!

This is another example that dogs or any kinds of animals have intelligence. I actually argued with my instructor in ethics because he insisted that animals don't have intelligence but they just survive by instinct. But don't worry, I took it lightly and he did not fail me in his subject. I was always a polite student. (lol)

Your FIL is an @ss! Anyone who would intentionally use their OWN PET to test an electric fence should be tied to the fence for an hour. Maybe then they would know how it feels. What a complete moron.