SO many people are rehoming their dogs

[BruhWhy]

I know of five separate families/people who are trying to find new homes for their dogs. Five! All of them were bought or adopted in the last 3 years.

What's going on? Is it the cost of living? Post-lockdown regret? Is this happening everywhere?

Our local rescues are full (and closing their on-site boarding to have more kennel space for relinquished dogs). More being found abandoned too rather than safely rehomed.

Best to rehome than neglect and or worse.

Because people get dogs without thinking through how much time/training they need. Once the cute puppy grows up and the lack of training starts to show ie resource guarding/no recall/barking etc they just get rid. A lot of people view animals as disposable assets and want the cute puppy part but not the rest.
Also rise in puppy farming which = poorly bred dogs with behavioural/health issues. Puppies as young as 5 weeks are being sold as ready to leave mum 😡
Finally people getting breeds which are completely incompatible with their life style and then can't cope with the high energy needs of a working breed.

Cost of living crisis I think.

People who got cute dogs over covid who no longer fit into their lifestyles. Sad really.

People got dogs when they were at home all the time, bored and doing lots of walking because they had no other options. You literally couldn't get a dog in 2020 - people were selling mongrel puppies for hundreds. Now people need to go to work and have other options for evenings and weekends...the poor dog no longer fits their lifestyle.

Because people don’t think through their purchases.

Sadly I think it's this.

Cost of kennels if you want to go on holiday, realising that you can't just go out for the day or away for the weekend without considering the dog, rising costs of everything, expectations that you'll go back to the office instead of WFH and the cost of dog walkers / doggy day care, DC that were happy to come out on walks previously but are now stroppy teenagers...

This really makes me angry. Bloody muppets who got pets during lockdown with no thought as to how they'd look after them when life opened up again. They should be banned from any future pet ownership.

Lockdown dogs that they didn’t think through properly. Utterly shambolic that they didn’t plan for upto 15 years of these poor dogs lives. They get a puppy, puppy ends up settled & loving it’s family then all of a sudden ‘get rid’. I wish people would think long & hard before getting a dog & only get 1 if they’re 100% committed for the whole of its life. It makes me sad & mad in equal parts. My dog is with me til death do us part, just like my child.

Suspect you’ll find proportionately no more are rehomed than before, just unfortunately the number of puppies sold in the last few years has been so much higher. Off to look at the charity websites to see if there’s any suitable for me….

They all got lockdown fever and forgot that dogs usually live 10 - 15 years. (More in some cases) and now don't know what to do with them because they're having to go back to work.

I think people are completely unrealistic about how much work a dog is and how much of a tie they are.

We're in n Wales retirement area only dogs available for rehoming are unsuitable for retirees. Charities say nope you're too old to adopt. I don't think these dogs are going to charities folks paid 2k upwards for them in lockdown and want their money back.

It makes me so angry. You get a dog knowing full well it's an expensive and lifelong commitment. Training never ends; holidays are hard work. Vets cost a fortune, as does good food. I spent a small fortune on my 2 but never begrudge a penny out of it as they're my best friends.

These idiots who sold puppies in lockdown should be shot, honestly. I follow a few spaniel groups and it's heartbreaking seeing 18 month old/2 year old dog after dog who has suddenly started "mouthing" small children or some other crap they've come up to justify getting rid of something that's now just an irritation.

I'd give nearly anything to have a dog. I adore them and I know my life would be better if I had a pooch at home. However, I can't give one a decent quality of life.

The dog would be at home from 8am-6pm two-three days per week. Weekends are spent usually going between activities for DH and DS so dog would have to come with.

I couldn't afford to pay a dog walker or doggy day care. Well I could but it would mean we went without other things.

It always breaks my heart when I see dogs looking for a good home.

This.
Pretty cute puppy needs training and proper care to evolve into a nice, well behaved dog and people didn't research enough on how to do it and how to maintain it, they don't research the breed they like because of the way it looks and have no idea of its needs and requirements to be a happen and we'll adjusted dog.
You see it with horses too, people whose had months of riding lessons buy an OTT thoroughbred and wonder why they can't keep weight on or sit two sides to it.

People are idiots. They bought puppies because they were WFH and thought they were cute.
Now those same dogs are 2yo and being left at home alone for hours on end as owners have to go back to work. The dogs are bored, unsocialised and either whining or chewing things up. So people are getting rid of them rather than putting the work.

Add to that the people who bought dogs and are now realising the cost of keeping them is more than they can / want to pay.

Rescues here are getting full and desperate. My MIL owns a boarding kennels and over the last few years has had a lot of dogs come in then owners either not coming back or just offering her their dogs as they don't want them anymore. It's awful, some of them are lovely dogs too.

Lockdown regret, it was always going to happen. There may be a few genuine cost of living elements there but I doubt they make up the majority.

I agree that there are dozens of stupid rules for rehoming. I am actually a volunteer with a large, well-known rehoming charity. I have a 7 year old border collie who is one of the fittest dogs the vet and the charity ever see. Well looked after, immaculately trained, disgustingly fit with at least 10 mile walks every single day, and hours of games and attention. I work from home - he is only ever separated from me when I occasionally go somewhere he can't go, or for a holiday when he goes to an exceedingly good kennels. But the charity I volunteer with wouldn't let me rehome a dog if I wanted one. Why? I am disabled with limited mobility. But because I have adapted for that, I can look after my very active dog better than most people. I might be allowed to rehome a small and less active dog - but since I don't want one like that and never will, that won't happen.

Re-homers need to start being realistic because otherwise they are adding to the problems. They should be looking at individual circumstances and what that person brings to a dog - not what a bunch of set in stone rules say. They are complaining about how they are full with lockdown puppies and those given up because people can't afford them any more; and saying they have no space to take more in many shelters. But at the same time they are turning away perfectly good adopters because they don't fit a mould they have created. Most of those people don't give up on the idea of getting a dog - they get puppies.

At the shelter I volunteer at we are now actually mostly getting "cost-of-living" dogs. Lockdown puppies being given up were largely from last summer until earlier this year. What we are seeing now are older dogs, and in some cases old dogs, being given up because people can no longer afford insurance / health care and food. The balance is definitely tipping towards "can't afford" rather than "didn't think" - many of these people are heart-broken giving them up, and we are trying to do our best to help them stay in their homes with gifts of food etc., but we can't cover health care and that, in particular, is a great worry because they are also hardest to rehome.

It was bound to happen. People have been very shortsighted and selfish about dog ownership.

Can no longer afford is really sad though.

My son bought a dog (from a ‘charity’) just before lockdown (he saw the dog online,went down to have a look-they threw the lead at my son,demanded £50 and let him walk off with him-no home check,no questions-no nothing)

he came with his balls still intact,just about toilet trained and had some bad manners

he had him ‘done’,worked on the toilet training and trained him

poor thing had been through at least 4 homes at the age of about 3-someone had got him,he’d grown so not a pup anymore,so they got rid

he ended up living with someone who they think was abusive and we’re not sure of the rest

he managed to get in touch with the first owners (someone contacted him on fb with the line ‘hey,that’s my dog!’) and they said they wanted a pup,got him and ‘couldn’t manage him with the kids as well’

i made it very clear to my son that getting the dog was his choice,and if he got bored,changed his mind or things changed,I’d hand him his arse on a plate-this dog was his for the rest of his life-and my son had given it years of thought,made sure he could afford him/day to day costs/vets fees/insurance etc and has a real network of friends to have him while he works

the dog has a wonderful life-is well bonded with my son,spoilt rotten and is loved by us all

i don’t want a dog-but we have an agreement that if anything happens to my son,we will take him and have him for life-we often have him if my son has to go away for work or holidays,so he knows us

we would make it work with his best interests at heart,but I won’t be getting one myself-we are the back-up-so the dog stays with his family and not off to a stranger

some people didn’t see past their own noses-they where bored due to lockdown then real life kicked in so dog was first to go

They are just fucking idiots who thought it was a good idea to get the dogs in lockdown and now they can’t cope.