Giving up dogs.

I am most interested in doing what is right by the dog.  I have rehomed many, many dogs - some rescues, some not, some my own that I raised, or purchased as trained or partly trained dogs.  I don't give them away - there's training to pay for, vet bills, and minimally for a companion dog I'm placing, there's a fee for adoption.  

So that's the first slightly different perspective on this topic.  From a human point of view, there's a big difference between someone getting a free dog from Craigslist, and purchasing a fully trained stockdog or goosedog.  From the dog's point of view, a new home is a new home, and the only question should be, it is an appropriate one?   Well, there's a second question that leads from the first - is it a forever home?

A dog that comes here has two options.  He must either contribute to the workload, because that's where I spend the majority of my time with the dogs, or else he/she must be a quiet companion that enjoys long walks in the sheep pastures and down to the ponds. 

I've been brought up against this fact over and over.  Sometimes I get a puppy that doesn't work out.  What usually happens is that I try to work with the dog for years, and never get to the place where he or she will be EITHER a useful worker (and therefore get plenty of wearing out), or a dog that can mind her own business.  Where BCs often get stuck is at the place where herding stops being fun, and so they won't let you train them, but will try to sneak away and freelance.

For instance, two years ago I had a pair of females that were related - I had bought them as puppies two years apart.  I got stuck at the place I described above.  I spent thousands of dollars on training with them, and still couldn't even do the most basic chores reliably.  I had experts quietly take me aside and tell me what I needed from these girls, they just couldn't give me.  My sheep are just too tough.

So they didn't get much work, and pretty soon it was a big game to them, seeing whether they could escape from the house and go harass the sheep.  One day, one of them broke out of a crate, went through a window, jumped three fences (including an electric fence), and nearly killed a sheep.

Since then, I have not hesitated to move a dog on that just doesn't fit in.  It's cruel to keep BCs here in sight of the one thing they want most, but can't have if they won't be nice while working.

So, a bit different perspective on the idea that every home should be forever.  This can be true outside the work experience, too - I had a Jack Russell that I had rescued and kept.  I had him for about a year and the whole time he seemed miserable.  He was just overwhelmed by the BCs.  I found someone who had a female Jack and played flyball on another team.  Ketch instantly came to life there and today has multiple championship level titles (including FDGCh and Onyx).

The opposite is true sometimes.  Rescues come along that are just too cool for words, and I desperately want to keep them.  But, in 15 years of rescuing, except for Lynn and Zhi, I've always ended up remembering that keeping one means one less I can help. 

 I've never had to think about this. When I got Penny it was with the understanding that whenever I couldn't take her with me my mother would gladly house her until I could take her back. She lived with my mother when I was in uni and she lived with her for 2 years while I got my career underway. If she hadn't agreed to that, I would have found a way to keep Penny with me.

There was a time I was ready to give Kit up. It was very hard because I knew if I did it I'd have to let him go rather than find him another home. It was the domestic situation that was making me think he wasn't happy. I thought long and hard about it. I was absolutely ready to quietly release him into the bush. I even had a release site in mind. I thought I'd just give him another month or so and do some work with him and see if I could make him happy. Very glad I gave us that one last chance because he settled a bit and I worked out how to keep him happy and he worked out how to communicate with me and the rest is history. I'd let him go the moment I judged it better for him, though. It's an easy decision when you love them.

I did rehome a rabbit I took in. She was beating up my hare, despite being a fifth his size. I found her a nice home, but I would have found a way to keep them both if I hadn't been able to. I was planning ways when her new owner contacted me. I would rehome any of my animals (except Kit) if they were overall unhappy and I didn't see it changing anytime soon. Thankfully, I doubt that will happen. My partner is financially very well off and I'm holding my own, we're both very employable, and my mother would always take my animals rather than see them rehomed and out of my reach forever.  

The majority of times when dogs are owner released to shelters, the folks should not have owned the dog in the first place.  There are however times when the situation is best addressed by changing the placement.  Some times, that involves returning a puppy to the breeder.  Some times that requires accessing rescues.  Some times that involves private placements.   There are also times when putting the dog down is the right decision but too many times I see people avoid the tough choices.  Yes, most dogs can be saved but at what cost.  We live with limited resources overall.   I dont personally believe that a crate or a kennel run for the rest of an animal's life is necessarily the best choice.  Some dogs should not be rehomed.

Granted I am just reading these posts at home with no emotional information from the posters.  However, I have learned in my 50 odd years, never say never,  you just might end up wrong.   I was.

I almost gave Bubblegum back when she tore into Ollie a few months after I got her, but I decided that I took her to have her be mine... and I am responsible for her now. Thank God I did...she grew to be my heart. 

I suppose its different when you rescue dogs...take dogs in to find them homes. Even then...I dont' think I am the kind of person that could do that because I probably would feel responsble for them after they left me.  Gee,,I'm worrying about the couple of puppies left that are Gibsons siblings.

I don't remember a time in my life when we didn't have a dog.  And I don't ever remember my parents parting with a dog for any reason other than death.  Almost every dog we owned was one we got from the pound. So as an adult, it was very natural for me to start looking at the pound to try to find a pet.  My first dog as an adult, however, did not come from the pound.  I bought a wonderful Alaskan Malamute from an acquaintance and had Tara for 13 years.  We bred her twice and sold the pups with a 'lifetime return policy'.  We did get two pups back over the course of many years - one family was moving and the other said they couldn't afford the care.  We kept both of those grown-up pups until they both died of old age.  To be honest, I don't know if it ever occured to me to try and rehome the above-mentioned dogs - they just became part of the family. 

Right now we have 5 dogs in our household: 4 Standard Poodles and a mixed breed 'pound puppy'.  It is chaotic at times, noisy most definately, and we sacrifice time and personal wants and money to keep them.  Our house is messy sometimes (okay, most times) because after work I mess with the dogs; they have a huge outdoor kennel that they can run around in when I am home, but only the 3 older poodles can be in there.  Our mixed breed can't handle the poodle wildness, and the youngest poodle gets mowed over by the rambuncious older ones. So those two get walked and played with.  Then there's feeding all 5 of them.  We have some dietary issues because of age, weight, or allergies, so they are fed different foods and they are fed separately.  That take some time and some money.  Then there's the endless round of letting them out to potty.  And when the weather is nasty, they still need exercise!   And each day I like to spend some personal one-on-one time with each of the poodles (the mixed breed is my daughter's and she is totally devoted to her).

Would I consider parting with them?  There's no way.  There are times when I get frustrated and overwhelmed but that's true of anything.  They each own a part of my heart. I love them totally and completely. 

Here is an example of when someone has crossed the line.  This is just my opion.

One of the rescues has four adorable kittens.  The momma to be was dropped off at the vet to be put down because she was pregnant.  The owners said they'd get the next cat spayed.  Didn't want to deal with kittens so wanted the poor cat destroyed.   The vet kept her, spayed her and placed the kittens with the rescue.

That crosses the line to me.  The "inconvenience"???  THEY were the ones who didn't spay her and allowed her to become pregnant and then they were going to kill her for her "sins"?

People who treat animals like a broken toaster.  Put some darned time and effort into that animal and you won't need to throw it away and try again.  But, our society dumps spouses at the first hint of trouble so what can I expect?

glenmar

 

Here is an example of when someone has crossed the line.  This is just my opion.

One of the rescues has four adorable kittens.  The momma to be was dropped off at the vet to be put down because she was pregnant.  The owners said they'd get the next cat spayed.  Didn't want to deal with kittens so wanted the poor cat destroyed.   The vet kept her, spayed her and placed the kittens with the rescue.

That crosses the line to me.  The "inconvenience"???  THEY were the ones who didn't spay her and allowed her to become pregnant and then they were going to kill her for her "sins"?

People who treat animals like a broken toaster.  Put some darned time and effort into that animal and you won't need to throw it away and try again.  But, our society dumps spouses at the first hint of trouble so what can I expect?

Yup.  Rampant consumerism in some ways.  The cat is fun at first, than it goes into heat, not so fun, than it gets pregnant, which is more expensive or inconvenient for the owner.  I think it's like that with lots of folks and their pets.  Just as disposable as their old car, their old furniture, or what is no longer fun for the moment.  Sad.

About 22 years ago, my roommate and I found a Lab stray on the streets. We named her Lady. A marshmallow of a dog, though she was skiddish of stairs. Then we moved to another apartment. There was only a small balcony and I was working all the time at odd hours. Her bathroom duties were dripping onto someone's car. So, I had to give her up. I had gone to the Dallas Animal Shelter and there was a long line. An old man came in and didn't want to deal with the line. He said, "I'm just looking for a sweet dog that will be good with my children and enjoy my big backyard."

I said, "I think I have your dog."

Serendipity.

I got Shadow because his owner couldn't keep him anymore. She was the girlfriend of our friend's son, (the friend that had the Great Pyrenees for a while.) Because of their finances, she had gone back home to live with her adoptive family. They were not interested in keeping her pets, as she didn't have a job or money to care for them and it fell upon them. So, they would give her pets to the Sherman Animal Shelter, which has a euth schedule of 7 days. They had done so with a few of her cats. Shadow was next, slated for surrender the next business day after Labor Day 2004. We were at our friend's for a Labor Day Weekend dinner. It was Saturday (DW and friend work retail, so you have dinner when you can.) I was on the patio, smoking a cigarette and enjoying the view of the ranch behind these townhouses. DW came out and asked my if I wanted to get a dog, which she knew the answer. I have always wanted a dog that I could keep. The young lady had a pic on her phone.  In the pic, he looked dark with pointed ears and glow in the dark eyes. I asked what he was. Siberian Husky/Lab mix. As it turns out, we had actually met him as a small puppy but that had been almost a year previous. Anyway, I said yes. The young lady left that minute (I'm not exaggerating) and went to get him. She brought him back with all of his worldly possessions. A leash, which we still use. Bowls suitable for a 6 week old puppy and whatever food they bought on sale at probably Walmart. His purchase papers came later once she could find them.

I knew nothing about dogs, even though I had been around them in my life. Grandparents had a champion Apricot Poodle, a black Poodle. I once encountered a GSD when I was 5 with immaculate obedience. The Lab I had for a while in the mid 80's. Shadow acted nothing like that. I was ignorant. I changed that. I rose to the challenge. There was a couple of times when I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out. Some of the first things I read were based on punishment training, including some koehler-esque techniques, including the scruff and pin, eyelock, etc. To no avail.

Then Chuffy made a statement about how dogs escalate to achieve. "More is better" is very canine. A light bulb went on. Why not use the dog's tendency to escalate or increase a behavior to train the dog? How more natural could it be?

Even though my financial situation has been jumpy the last few years I always see to his needs first. I still have challenges. I'm paying for a new car. I'm having a ton of dental work done. And the property taxes are overdue. For right now, though, my job is stable. And there will be tons more overtime. Which means less time spent at home but such is life. I'm on a new, make-or-break project. We have one year to build a two year school.

At the same time, if I truly thought the situation was unworkable, if Shadow was unhappy here, I would rehome, for his sake. Or, if he had become too dangerous for human or animal and the only solution after exhaustive efforts was euth, I would take him myself to the vet or shelter and remain with him for his final breath, as I will some 9 or 10 years from now, when his life will have run its course. I am the captain who goes down with the ship. Semper Fidelis.

I, too, would become frustrated at those who would surrender a dog because they are moving or whatever, even if the real reason is that they just give up or see dogs as disposable items. But, you know what? The dog is better off without them. A home with no love is not a home. Not that the shelter or the needle is better. But isn't it torture to be where you are not wanted?

I can't fix the world. I can barely fix myself, one step at a time.