Jamie Otis gave up her rescue dog to protect her daughter
I don’t watch very many reality shows, so I am a little unfamiliar with the folks in this story, but it hits a little close to home, so I still want to discuss it. Jamie Otis, who appeared on both The Bachelor and Married at First Sight, posted this photo to Instagram Sunday night:
They are sweet pics, even without context. But it’s the caption that I wanted to talk about. Jamie and her husband, Doug Hehner, had to rehome their rescue dog, Foxy, when she showed signs of food aggression. Jamie became worried that Foxy would hurt her toddler, Henley:
This was the hardest thing I’ve had to do in a long time…💔
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3 years ago we began fostering our pup, Foxy. She was found by a dumpster in LA scrapping for food. She was hobbling around on a broken leg.😰 She was going to be euthanized bc the cost to fix her leg and then feed her/vaccinate/etc just was too much I guess.🤷🏻♀️
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Thankfully the rescue company I adopted our first dog, Lady, from asked us if we’d be willing to foster Foxy until they found her a home. …Let’s just say, we went to pick her up and it was LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT.😍 {Unlike with my hubby.🤣 lol.} I BEGGED @doughehner to keep her.🙏🏻
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She has been with me through some of the hardest times in life. When I lost my first born son, Johnathan, Foxy was there to constantly cuddle me and lick away the tears.🙏🏻 She has been the sweetest, most loving pup. She loves to play & snuggle …unless there’s food around.😬
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When there’s human food around she kinda stares you down like she’s about to put her fighting gloves on & go to war to get that food at whatever cost. Her whole disposition changes.😐
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I thought it was trainable (and maybe it could be if I had more time or worked harder at it). I thought we could just separate Foxy from @henelygracehehner when food was out (which we were able to do for the longest time). But now Gracie is big enough to get into cupboards and grab snacks, she can get down from the table with her chicken nuggets in hand to go play.
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My biggest fear as Gracie gets older is that one day I’ll turn my back while Gracie has food in her hand and Foxy goes to get the food and bites her…she has bit Doug in the past and she growls and snarls at me occasionally.😰 I would never forgive myself if an accident were to happen with Gracie and Foxy. And it’d be 100% my fault bc I’ve known Foxy has had this issue.
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I have held off as long as I could bc I *adore* this pup, but it’d be irresponsible of me to naively hope for the best when I know Foxy has food aggression and Henley is at an age now where she walks around with food.
In addition to everything written above, Henley is a rainbow baby (a live birth after a miscarriage). Jonathan, to whom Jamie refers in the post, was lost to miscarriage at 17 weeks. These decisions are heartbreaking. Ultimately, a person wants a safe environment for everyone involved and sometimes you can’t foresee problems that come with the introduction of new people in the household. We’ve discussed before that kids see dog bowls as their personal buffet, I’m almost certain the scenario Jamie proposed, in which Henley gets bit, would happen. I adore my rescue dogs as much as they adore me, but I bear a permanent scar from being bit. I broke up a fight between them over a treat and the male went for my leg. I’m sure I did not do the correct measures in that scenario, but the point is, I never would’ve believed one would bite me unless I was attacking another family member.* I’ve seen some other milder aggression triggers, but my kids are older so I can tell them not to do A or B. Henley is 23 months, telling her not to grab things, especially food, won’t work yet.
As for the lady Jaime found for Foxy, her name is Betty and she just had a hip replacement. Betty doesn’t have much family nearby and was looking for a companion. Apparently, it was love at first sight for the two. I’m delighted, it sounds like a perfect match and Betty has told Jamie they can visit Foxy whenever they want, which will also help the transition. I’ll bet this was gutting for the family. I’d rehome a pet if it posed a threat, but I’d never get over it. But the pet isn’t going to want to live with more and more restrictions and punishments either. Foxy’s quality of life will be much better with Betty.
*True story – I wore shorts when the bruising was still visible and he would come up and lick the bruises whenever he saw them with an expression that looked like he was saying, “I’m so sorry.”
Photo credit: Instagram and Getty Images
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