I’ll start by saying I am prepared for a flaming. Didn’t think I would be in a position to write a post like this but here we are. I will try to put as much information as I can, sorry if it is really long.
2 and a half years ago we adopted our dog, he is now 10, he’s a greyhound. At the time I was able to work from home 3 days and go into the office 2 days, my daughter also worked from home 3 days and was at college 2 days, so one of us was around all the time and it worked out fine.
In April, 2 weeks into lockdown my husband had his hours cut at work. It was either take the reduced hours or be made redundant so he took the reduced hours and took on another job in a supermarket. We are down a lot of money each month. Husband is now working 6 days a week pretty much from 7am until 10pm. I had to increase my hours and am now in the office 5 and a half days a week (Saturday until 1pm). On top of that, my daughter changed jobs (in a bid to help out with money partly) and is working 32 hours in shift patterns that change. Basically, the dog is now on his own 6 days a week from 7 in the morning until I get home at half five. We sold my car at the beginning of May for a few hundred quid and that paid for us to get a dog walker to come in for one hour every day – this obviously is still terrible in terms of how long he is alone but was better than nothing. That money has run out now. I have to get up at five every day to walk him for an hour to try and tire him out so he sleeps when he is alone but I KNOW this isn’t a solution and I feel guilty. The guilt is making me feel sick every day.
Dog is now messing in the house (wee and poo 
) because he is alone so much, not his fault but he can’t hold it. To make it worse our house is rented and I’m terrified he is doing permanent damage to someone elses property. Nothing is going to change – we are behind on rent and will have to continue working like this until we can get straight.
I feel like we have been backed into a corner and have to return the dog to rescue. I don’t know what I want from this post really. Has anyone done this? Am I the worst person in the world? The stress of the situation is making me ill – tough, I know, I took on the dog but I can’t see a way out of this situation without returning him. What would you do
If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.
The doghouse
Thinking of returning my dog to the rescue
HappyMealWithLegs · 29/07/2020 09:16
I'm sorry that your circumstances have changed so much. I don't know what to suggest, but didn't want to read and run. I can't imagine a 10 year old dog is going to get much interest in a rescue, tbh.
Can you get a dog flap so your dog can go out and relieve himself in the garden
He is too big for a dog flap, he's a big greyhound, nearly 3 feet tall. No way would the landlord let us fit a flap that size in the door. I did think of this as an option I know he wouldn't use it either, he has always been hit and miss with not going in the house. With nobody in all day a flap wouldn't make a difference, he has to be physically taken out before he will go.
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They are very docile and chilled but they do like some company
Mine isn't docile or chilled. It's part of the reason we chose him over all the others in the rescue 
He is as mad as a basket of squirrels. He thinks he is a puppy. Behaves like one 
He isn't our first greyhound, his predecessor was the absolute example of the breed, a big lazy lump who had to be coerced into walking, or moving. This guy is like a border collie on speed
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