A DOG IS FOR LIFE!!!!

[WhatAGoat]

Argh just a mad rant

An acquaintance of mine found out she was pregnant. She then decided to get a puppy.

Now the baby is born and the puppy has grown she is saying its too big and she hasn't got the time for it

She is sending the poor thing to the dogs home. Why bother getting one in the first place you knew it was going to grow! You knew it was going to need time!

I got my beloved boy 9 years ago a rescue that somebody no longer wanted. I couldn't imagine sending him away because he took too much times.

I feel so sad. I would take the poor buggar if my boy wasn't such an antisocial brat

Sorry but dp wasn't listening to me

[prayingmantisgroupie]

She's an idiot, sorry. Hope he finds a good home, he's young, which will go in his favour. This sort of thing makes my blood boil, so I'm right with you there. I'd have him if it wasn't for my two geriatric cats. Poor fella

[WhatAGoat]

I'm not sure about the finding a home unfortunately for him he is a very common breed (staffy) poor thing is going to be stuck

Why are people still allowed to breed dogs

[Callisto]

I got my very first rescue dog because her owners had had a baby, and they accused her of going for the baby. I picked her up direct from them (no home checks in those days, gawd knows what kind of rescue it was, but I spoke to the lady running it on the phone and she told me to get the dog! Poor thing had been through several homes already).

Anyway, I walked in and this little black shadow appeared, very shy and cowed. She came with me straight away, jumped in the car and into my heart. I know very well that she did not go for that baby, she was the most gentle unassuming and loyal dog I have ever met. It was just an excuse. Fucking people.

I agree, there should be a ban on all puppy farms, breeders should be liensed and inspected and people should have to go on a course before getting a dog.

[TantrumsAndBalloons]

People are idiots. Pure and simple.

I had a foster staffy/boxer for a month. He found a forever home.
10 months later he is back with me. The poor thing has been living outside for 2 months because he "snapped" at their teenage DC.

Now he is scared, and "aggressive" apparently.

[GrimmaTheNome]

However, circumstances do change and I don't entirely go for this 'a dog is for life' thang. Some people have no choice.

Some people do have no choice, but that really wasn't the case for the OPs friend. Its best that everyone does realise at the outset that the responsibility for a dog is for life - and that part of the decision-making when getting one should include a good fall-back if circumstances change beyond your control - not just 'send to the dogs home'.

[Cuebill]

A dog IS for LIFE and if you do not consider that important you should NOT have a dog. No one is forcing you to have a dog after all it is your own decision!

You need to be prepared to make allowances in your life to be able to accommodate dogs for life.


Very very very occasionally there are situations when dogs may need to be rehomed ie owners die etc and that is what rescues are for however unfortunately they are full of dogs that have been bought by cruel uncaring idiots.

A dog is for life not until you get bored with it
A dog is for life not until you get a new partner
A dog is for life and not until you get a new baby
A dog is for life and not until your baby starts toddling
A dog is for life and not until you change your flooring!
A dog is for life and not until you decide a gym membership would be better
A dog is for life even if it does need medicine for life
A dog is for life even if you are having a full house at Christmas

The above are all reasons given to in the last month as people dump their dogs at rescues.

[TantrumsAndBalloons]

Someone put their dog into the rescue because they didn't realise how much a dog would cost.

How is that a valid reason?

[D0oinMeCleanin]

However, circumstances do change and I don't entirely go for this 'a dog is for life' thang. Some people have no choice

I am currently involved in a case where a lady and her two dogs were suddenly made homeless. She could have taken her dogs to the local pound/had them pts/sold them on gumtree. She didn't. She logged onto a local rescue and asked for help.

By that night she had a secure foster placement for her dogs and help from a housing and legal expert who is also involved in rescue and I've been told she should be sorted in a few days, with some temp accommodation that will take her and her dogs.

There is always choice and always people willing to step up and help if you ask for it.

A dog is for life. End of sentence.

[ChickensHaveNoEyebrows]

DOoin, I didn't know you could do that. That's really useful. I thought you either surrendered your dog to a rescue or didn't, I didn't know they could help temporarily. I have a friend who might struggle to find rented accomodation in a hurry with her dog, and she's been so upset at the prospect of giving him up. I'll look in to this for her. She'd be over the moon.

[Wolfiefan]

Where is your friend? Can someone else walk the dog for a bit?

[D0oinMeCleanin]

You can't 'officially' have your dog in foster, as in the rescue will not pay for food and vet care, but if they have a fosterer with space they'll help provide a home with an assessed fosterer for you but you still need to provide food.

We'd rather help for a short time and have the dog go back to a loving home than to need to start paying for and looking for another home for yet another dog.

I've been amazed at this lady's courage and love for her dogs. I can't begin to imagine what it would be like to suddenly find yourself with no home, yet she has and is still concerned with her dogs welfare

I also learned that some BnBs help homeless people via SS and will welcome dogs, so that could be worth looking into too.

[Cuebill]

We have a dog in rescue whose owner is going through chemo - however we are 98% full of dogs that are in rescue through circumstances that could have been avoided.

Ruby what a ridiculous comparison

[GrimmaTheNome]

And marriage is for life also of course.
Not an apt analogy - marriage is between two consenting adults. If you take on a dog, its totally dependent on you - you assume full responsibility for it. In extenuating circumstances that may include finding it a new home - that's very different from people who find (too often entirely predictably with a little thought) that the dog is inconvenient so they dump the problem on the rescue (or worse).

[WhatAGoat]

I'm not like a mentalist I understand that sometimes people have to rehome if they can't feed the dog or they have a serious illness but this girl knew the dog would grow and it would need time that's what upsets me. It's not an unforeseen circumstance it was obviously going to happen.

That poor dog is just another number

[littlewhitebag]

I am probably going to regret posting this but i feel the need to confess my sins.
My DH and i took on a German Shepherd pup when a friend of mine found it tied up in a sack in the river. This was around 1987 and we were not long married. My DH had loads of reservations but we took it anyway. It was a fearful anxious dog but we trained it as best we could, loved it and cared for it.
We had our first DD in 1990 and we still managed with the dog even though we lived in a small house and could never leave the dog around the baby as she could be snappy. Then in 1992 i became pregnant with DD2. I was already struggling to manage the pushchair and a large dog plus she was becoming increasingly unreliable around people so we made the difficult decision to rehome her. It almost broke my heart but she was placed with people who could give her the home she needed. In retrospect we should never have taken her on.
We now have a lab pup but it has taken us this long to get another dog so we could make sure we could give her the care and life she deserves.
Don't shoot me down - i just wanted to say that sometimes our hearts rule our heads and we make mistakes.

[permaquandry]

Bring back dogs licenses. Make all breeding illegal unless council (or RSPCA) approved?

Make it only possible for dogs to breed once every 2 years?

My ideas may be pie in the sky or have many good reasons to not implement.

My puppy is much harder work than I expected, am spending more money on her than I imagined and in hindsight I think it would have been better to wait til summer to get a pup, HOWEVER, I love her dearly and feel a huge sense of responsibility towards her. The only reason I would ever give her up (which would be back to the breeder, as agreed) would be if she was aggressive with kids.

[WhatAGoat]

Little there is no reason to worry you work hard and tried your best. You didn't just give up. It's very obvious you still feel guilt and you shouldn't. It went to a better home

This dog is unlikely to get a home and she knows this

[GrimmaTheNome]

Little, there's a world of difference between your situation and the OP's aquaintance. You were presented with a sudden choice and you did your best for that poor pup (she might not have had a life at all without you) and rehomed her responsibly.

[Arseface]

DH persuaded me to get another greyhound to keep our old girl company distract me from having more children
I'm now expecting twins and have been quite shocked at the amount of people who just assume we will be getting rid of the dog.
Very upsetting, but there are an awful lot of people who think the way your friend does.
I'd be fuming too OP. Have you said anything to her?

[LtEveDallas]

My friend runs a cat rescue in my area, on occasion she takes in dogs. She actually had a woman turn up once with a gorgeous Weimeramer (sp?) and a Siamese cat that she wanted to rehome because:
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She had decorated and they no longer "fitted in her colour scheme"


...some people

[WhatAGoat]

Greyhounds are so lovely. I would definitely consider getting one in the future. I was asked millions of times because my dog is such a handful. I just looked at them like that

I asked her if she couldn't hold out for the dogs trust because they wouldn't put it down. She said she needed it gone now. I was like at the risk of it being pts? She said they don't do that.

I know for a fact they do do it but didn't want to argue. Suppose it's her dog her choice her conscious