Yeah, the first dog that dansr and I got was her first dog, which Ex #1 had been taking care of for several years. He basically left her outside all the time and she was virtually feral. After keeping us up all night yowling, leaving excretory presents for us, and biting me, we decided she had to go. We gave her to a "rescue" group that apparently had her put down shortly after we turned the dog over to them. Now, THAT will make you feel like a craprat!!!!

Now, we have Keeva. Unlike your situation however, we both talked about taking her, and while the housetraining is not going great, in most other respects she is turning out to be a good dog. She will probably get a little rebellious in her puppy-teens, but with both of us not working full-time, we can do the training that she needs and spend quality time with her, which should help reduce bad behavior later. We definitely do not want to be prisoners in our own house again! It's too bad that your own puppy experience was so negative. :-(