To be so upset they have got another dog.

[Afternooninthepark]

I know this is out of my control and really nothing to do with me but I am so angry and upset.
My Dh’s sister and her partner have been together for 12 years. During that time they have had 6 dogs and only kept one long term. First, they had two Yorkies but got rid after a few months as they were too yappy, then came a small mixed breed pup but they got rid of her after a year as she pulled over one of the kids when he was walking her, next came a pug which they kept until he died at 8, then a cockerpoo pup but got rid at 4 months as he was too hyper and that upset the pug!, then last year (after the pug died) they got a Weimaraner pup but she went after 6 months as she was getting too big ffs!!
I’m a real dog lover and it absolutely boils my blood every time they get a new dog without any thought and I’m even more incandescent when they rehome them and don’t give it a second thought.
Dh told me yesterday they have just gone and got another puppy last week.
I am bloody fuming.

Wankers, shouldn’t even be allowed a tamagotchi. 🤬 Have they ever considered actually training any of the dogs they get?

I can not STAND people who do this.
I have 5 dogs who are all basically other people's cast-offs.
I adore them and even with their "issues" would never get rid of them.

I totally understand that circumstances sometimes change and sometimes people have no choice but to rehome.. Thats fine. For example we took in a dog who's owner (our family member) had health problems and a semi-obligatory house move into a place that wouldn't accept pets.

But people like this who seem to just enjoy the novelty of a new pup drive me mad.

Maybe you should sarcastically mention that they're basically teaching their children that when you can't be bothered to look after someone, you get rid. I wonder if that'll dawn on them when they're abandoned in a grotty nursing home and never visited.

They're just impulse buying aren't they. So cruel IMO. They need something trained & calm from the sound of it but they just go for cute or popular breeds then get fed up as they're not into putting in any effort. Me being gobby, & experienced with rescues, I'd have to say to them that it's not fair to the dogs they're ditching & have they thought about a rescue that's got basic training & no behaviour issues etc. Or if you're the tactful sort, ask them what it was about the pug that was right for them & maybe they'll put some actual thought into finding that again. (a faint hope probably)

Awww I love that "MY horrible"
One of mine is a little dog that looks a lot like a patterdale. She is the living epitomy of a terrierist. In the house she's such a sweet cuddly little thing but outside she's a snarling banshee demon. But she's MY snarling banshee demon hahahaha

We rescued our current dog in December - we'd lost our previous one in April last year. She was a staffy-mastiff we took from a small rescue after she'd been from one home and back again, etc. several times - she was traumatised by the regular 'be rehomed, form a bond, be rejected and sent back to kennels' experience she'd had.

It took several months for her to relax and bond with us and when she did, all she wanted was us - she'd be pefectly civil to other people, but wouldn't even wag her tail at them, so badly was her trust in other humans destroyed. She loved us to pieces, however and we felt the same about her. When she died, we grieved terribly.

New boy was 11 years old when we took him and we deliberately went out to get an older, male, black staffy, because they are the most overlooked. We adore him.

I say all this because it breaks my heart to see people paying money to breeders and then so casually discarding the dog when it doesn't turn out the way they expected. To do it once and learn a lesson is OK - but to repeat several times is appalling. As someone said, dogs form very deep emotional bonds with humans and they are damaged by being dumped.

Every day my phone turns up an ad on Pets4Homes (such are the cookies deposited on it, I suppose) for a staffy someone wants rid of. It upsets me dreadfully.

I just can not imagine what goes through a poor dogs mind when it is taken from the home it has become used to then ends up with complete strangers and sadly sometimes have to go through this process several times throughout its life, it breaks my heart.
All my dogs have been rescues. My current dog was with a couple who were divorcing, neither wanted him anymore, he was only 6 months old, the husband had got him for the wife who didn’t even like dogs! When we picked him up he was dirty, smelly and riddled with fleas, totally unloved. He’s had the best 8 years with us, he’s one of the blessed ones, my heart weeps for those less fortunate who were purchased as a cute puppy and cast to one side once they become less desirable adults. This is typical of my SIL, the amount of ‘new’ things she has to have is astonishing.

she was traumatised by the regular 'be rehomed, form a bond, be rejected and sent back to kennels' experience she'd had.

It's dreadful. With every new family the dog tries to give it's trust, but always takes a while to settle in - this sometimes includes soiling or destruction for w few weeks.

Then people can't be arsed (expect a superbly trained dog with no emotional/abandonment problems from the beginning) and get rid of them to yet another family - and another - and another . . .

And each time the dog becomes more and more anxious, and less able to control that anxiety, and occasionally even becomes aggressive. The animal is always the one that suffers.

Serial pet abandoners make me sick!

Terrible. I have three dogs, all rescues. One is a pug, he’s 16 and still going strong. I’ve never heard of a pug passing away at 8. What on earth happened?

My other two dogs are a French bulldog and a Heinz 57 terrier. I got the French bulldog from a rescue six months ago. She was a breeding dog at a backyard breeder, who owned around 40 dogs, either Frenchies or American bulldogs, and they lived outdoors 24/7. My Frenchie came to me underweight, with frostbite on her ears, and two tick-borne illnesses (I’m in the US). She was skittish and had never been walked on a leash. Fast forward six months and she’s an absolute mushy little joy in every way. It makes me furious to hear of people who buy online or from crappy backyard breeders. I would find it hard to hold my tongue around your relatives, tbh.

stopgap I’m not sure what happened. Apparently she went to her bed, made a strange noise and just passed away. Tbh, she barely got a walk and was quite overweight so the poor love probably had a heart attack.
I think there are more back yard breeders than not these days and I think they are currently doing a roaring trade. There was a discussion on the radio the other day saying more and more people on lockdown are getting puppies, god only knows what’s going to happen to these poor mites when everyone goes back to work and school. These breeders are unscrupulous. My neighbour wants a puppy (she is a responsible dog owner already) and has contacted lots of Kennel Clubs members but not one of them are currently breeding or would sell her a puppy during lockdown.

@Afternooninthepark, that makes sense (sadly) about the dog being overweight and rarely walked, and possibly having a heart attack.

Are pet stores that sell puppies still legal in England? People are sort of wising up to the puppy mill trade in the US, but there are still many people who frequent puppy stores or impulsively buy a dog online 🤦‍♀️

My little terrier mix is 8 years old. We’re his 3rd home. We’ve had him for 5 years now, he’s our dog now, for life.
We just adore him, and he adores us, but it took time to gain his trust.
A dog is for life.

It took several months for her to relax and bond with us and when she did, all she wanted was us - she'd be perfectly civil to other people, but wouldn't even wag her tail at them, so badly was her trust in other humans destroyed.

This is my dog down to a tee too - even now he's been with me for almost three years.

He blanks strangers in the park. I frequently have to apologise to people who would love to give him a stroke (often dog-less dog lovers) when he blanks them and they look sad. It's only very recently that he's started occasionally and briefly accepting affection from strangers in the park - almost always other dog walkers.

There's only a handful of people he's genuinely thrilled to see - me, my DF, and one friend who he inexplicably took an immediate liking to. I've had the same lodger for almost a year and he's still a bit 'meh' about the lodger. There's a few other people he likes enough to beg for food from, but that's also a short list. He's not even much of a picnic raider, as he knows he's liable to get cuddled by the picnickers (usually groups of young adults in our local park) if he gets too close. Cue people admiring my well trained dog ...

On the plus side though, he's very good with other dogs and he's even pretty good with primary aged children (e.g. he's happy to play with my small relatives, though he doesn't live with kids).