Dog Community

Helpless? Don't know what to do!!!!!

Posted : 4/10/2006 10:39:57 AM

This is going to be long…. Sorry!!!!
On Saturday we were invited at a friends house for her kids birthday party. She is the friend we got Joey from. I am SOOO upset now and I do not know what to do so I#%92m looking for some input and maybe a few suggestions please [

]!?!
My friend used to have 2 dogs, Joeys mom and her sister. She gave the sister away, an older couple wanted her because she reminded them of their old dog. Now Joeys mom is all alone. And I mean alone… they rarely let her inside anymore. She#%92s tied to a tree in the backyard, she does have shelter (an old plastic crate) with a bunch of blankets, she does have water and they feed her so she#%92s not “physically neglected”. BUT
- they do not let her in the house
- she is filth
- She had something crawling on her, not sure if it was fleas
- her “shelter” and blankets are filthy
- she doesn#%92t get any exercise, or much attention at all
- the backyard is mostly fenced in but open on one side and
- even though they told me they did it, she is still not spayed!
We were there for her sons 1st birthday but I spend most of my time in the backyard with Chloe! She is SOOOOOOO hungry for attention and she#%92s the sweetest thing, her tail would not stop wagging while I was petting and cuddling her, she crawled into my lap as soon as I got down on the floor and did not want to get off!!!
I don#%92t know what to do! I don#%92t know much about her, she is about 2 years old, maybe younger than that (I checked her teeth and they look pretty good). She used to live with another female so I#%92m assuming she gets along fine with other dogs.
I talked to DH about this and we would LOVE to take her, but I don#%92t think we#%92re up for it yet! I know my friend doesn#%92t care for her and I know we could give her a better home! But I have a lot of concerns!
- I don#%92t know if she can stay alone, Joey#%92s crate trained and has no problem staying at home alone while we#%92re gone
- I don#%92t know if they would get along
- I#%92m not sure if we could handle this financially, she has to be spayed and checked by a vet, I don#%92t know what other health problems she might have!
- we are renting an apartment and while 1 dog is fine I#%92m not sure if our landlord would be so happy about another one, although people in our building have more than one dog
- we have to move at the end of this year, how hard do you think it will be to find a place to rent with 2 dogs? (although small)
- I did not ask my friend if she wanted to get rid of her yet, how should I go about that?

Ok, I#%92m sure there are more things to consider but I just can#%92t think right now. I cannot stop thinking about her! She is such a cute dog, tiny, maybe 16 pounds!
What other options do we have???? Should I contact local shelters, would people there be willing to help us out, maybe find her a good home (if she can#%92t stay with us)

Another concern I have is that she looked like she could be pregnant again???!!! Aaargh! I asked my friend and she said that she#%92s just bloated, she always bloats after she eats and after she digests she#%92s skinny again? It took all I had not to yell at her! I was so upset when we left, I cried in the car all the way home!

Sorry this is so long guys! Thanks for listening!

minimom

Posted : 4/10/2006 10:55:06 AM

Ah, that is so sad Nadine. I'd be crying too. I think you should try to get the dog out of the home. Lack of human contact and attention is one of the cruelest forms of neglect. Even if you can't take her, perhaps you could get her into a rescue org if the woman would be willing to let you do that.

willowchow

Posted : 4/10/2006 11:15:46 AM

Well, this is exactly how we got Willow. Her previous people had her tied up to a tree all the time, barely looked at her, she was a huge mess.

We also felt really sorry for her and DH absolutely couldn't resist and also spent almost the whole time he was there with her.

I would say see if you can get her. The only thing I do want to throw out there and maybe (hopefully) I'll be way off base. But, Willow was incredibly friendly to DH, kids, everyone at the party that weekend. However, when we got her home it was quite a different story. Now, I realize she's a chow and unsocialized chows are very prone to temperment issues but thought I'd just point out that you "could" have a long road ahead with not just health issues but also behavior issues and possibly potty issues if she's been outside.

However, all that said, I'd still say get her, because there hasn't been one second that I regret hanging in there with my girl.

Good luck!

jeano

Posted : 4/10/2006 12:50:39 PM

If you can get a hold of her then you can either keep her or get her into a rescue. Poor thing!

smilee1079

Posted : 4/10/2006 12:50:55 PM

As far as cost, unless she is pregnant, it should not be too terrible. The Humane Society here does spay for like $60 or less. Perhaps you can talk to your vet and let him know the situation and see if he can do an initial checkup etc. Maybe your friends will be happy to give the dog to you but you can make arrangements that they pay for any initial vet fees (esp. if she is pregnant).

I hope you can help! Gina, who no longer posts here but I am sure we can contact her, knows tons about beagles and should be able to help too!

pamdb

Posted : 4/10/2006 1:01:53 PM

If nothing else, call your local humane society or animal control or animal
shelter. Anything is better than what she is going thru.
good luck
Pam

Sandra TH

Posted : 4/10/2006 1:22:38 PM

Poor little thing! If you could get her into rescue or a shelter she would probably find a home fast. Little dogs, in my area anyway, get adopted quickly.

Good luck. I hope you are able to convince Chloe's owners that you can help her have a better life. Geez, what is wrong with people?!

Nadine Treadway

Posted : 4/10/2006 1:28:25 PM

OMG!!! I just sent my friend an e-mail, we were chatting about the party and dogs and so on and I was trying to get the point across that we're looking for another dog (I didn't want to come on too strong and just say hey give me your dog)
Here's her response (by the way, I got the names mixed up, Joeys mom's name is Kalli, her sisters name was Khloey, sorry)

We are gonna let Kalli have 1 more litter then get her fixed. We have to replace Khloey. If interested, I can let you know when we might have some. TTY later!!

Aaaarrrrrrrrgh!!!! I want to scream!!! I wrote her back that we are not looking for another puppy and asked if she didn't want to give Kalli to us... no reply yet!

Lexi

Posted : 4/10/2006 1:36:18 PM

Oh, no.....that's so crappy!!!! How do people get this kind of mentality!!??

labcrab

Posted : 4/10/2006 1:37:27 PM

Wow, this is a tough one. I guess the very first thing you need to do is find out if they are agreeable to letting Chloe go. I mean, without knowing what you're dealing with there - you can't really plan your next move.

If they are agreeable to let you have her, I say you take her immediately so that she doesn't have to suffer another day. Then you can determine whether or not you're going to keep her. If you end up not being able to keep her, then just think of yourself as a foster parent. You can save her from her current (HORRIBLE) life - get her cleaned up, loved up and checked up and on to a much better home.

Your local Beagle Rescue should be able to help, or you can do it on your own. I've done this a few times - rescued and re-homed on my own. You can save her and it doesn't necessarily have to mean keeping her.

gradyupmybutt

Posted : 4/10/2006 7:47:57 PM

What the heck is going through their minds? Kelli is NOT a puppy factory. Poor kiddo. I'd try to get her out of there first & then deal with the fallout. At least that's the way I work. Sometimes to my detriment. My heart is saying that she's got to get to a better home.

PS: Nadine, you & I are too much alike. I've come to the conclusion that I can't housesit for certain people because of how they treat their dogs. I'd have a car full of dogs because DH has kicked me out. I'm currently working on another client to fork over her dog to me. You might hear me talking about her later. That's all I can say now.

Good luck with Kelli, Nadine.

He is The Boss

Posted : 4/10/2006 8:43:20 PM

Awww, poor baby! First banished to the outdoors and now they want to make her a baby factory.

They want to replace Khloey? To do what, take up space in the back yard? How bout just showering their affection on poor Kelli.

I hope she agrees to give you Kelli.

smilee1079

Posted : 4/11/2006 10:06:07 PM

Any update? Did she respond to the 2nd email? It has been on my mind!

Sera_J

Posted : 4/11/2006 10:35:54 PM

Me, too. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they realize that they should really not be "dog people"... as they really aren't anyway.

So sad! Let us know how it's going Nadine.

outdoorschik

Posted : 4/12/2006 9:47:05 AM

I don't know if you are up to this, but being that the fence has an open side....
could you maybe rescue the dog and bring it to a no-kill shelter a few hours away? I know it seems horrible since she's your friend, but it doesn't sound like she's going to listen to reason since she wants to "replace" the dog she gave away.
On the other hand... if you take the dog she may just get a new one

i've only considered that once, and the day we were going to do it, animal control came and did it for us because someone else had called.

I'm similar to some other posters... there are just some places I can't go because I'll wind up with more dogs than i can take care of and I'l be kicked out!