To wonder why so many people rehome their dogs

[Lifeisinteresting]

Recently I've seen multiple need to rehome my dog because I have a baby, changed jobs, moved house and find it lazy and frustrating. A dog should be for life not just until it suits.

We took on a rescue dog who had been bought as a puppy by a family that had a toddler and a baby and just couldnt cope with him - a german shepherd. We had 3 teenagers, DH wfh most of the time etc etc so thought we would be right for him… he was completely reactive to other dogs and even people so only DH was able to walk him. We spent lots of money on trainers etc. but when he started biting us and nipped 12year old DS2 on the face and drew blood we knew we couldnt take the risk of him really going for one of the kids.

Lots of people just get pets, especially dogs, without thinking of the long-term commitment.

I do think though that often having a baby is often a valid reason to re-home a dog. Better a re-homed dog, than a stressed/anxious/reactive dog and a bitten child. Or a stressed mother with PND who feels overwhelmed by the dog. I do wish people would think ahead in detail about what breed might be suitable if they know they're planning children in the future, though obviously you can't predict how a dog will react. It just seems like common sense though that something like a lab will be better suited than terrier breeders with high prey drive!

I love animals. I have two cats, and used to have 10 rats. I'm now down to 4. I also have a 1 year old baby. Tbh I couldn't stand any of the animals when she was first born until she was about 4 months old. I was adjusting to motherhood, and felt overwhelmed. It's passed now, but I've made my decision to re-home my remaining rats. I genuinely love them to pieces and have owned rats for a long time, but imo sometimes as an owner the best decision you can make is to re-home. I want them to go somewhere they can get more free roam time than I can currently provide. The cats are staying. Believe it or not, the rats are far higher maintenance than the cats!

I absolutely judge people who rehome dogs. Sorry, but I fled serious domestic violence with a toddler, became extremely ill and ended up disabled in a wheelchair with very high needs disabilities, and have had to move house a number of times. Never once would I have dreamed of palming my dogs off.

Most people rehome dogs because they're either thick, entitled, or both. They don't research, they go on the first website they find with puppies for sale, pick something close to home and from a puppy farmer, then are done with it in a few weeks when it gets too much. Then, because they didn't get it from a reputable breeder, there's no return to breeder contract, so they just get shot of it. It is absolutely foul, and really, really makes me angry.

Then there are the entitled ones who want a dog NOW and they feel as though they should be given a dog from anyone, including reputable breeders who ask them questions and deem them unsuitable. Then they go and get aforementioned puppy farmed dog because that's all someone will sell them

If people only bought puppies from reputable breeders, there would be NO dogs in rescue. None. Zero. Imagine that. All reputable breeders take dogs back at any stage in their life.

But, people won't use reputable breeders. They're not willing to wait, they're not willing to travel, they don't meet the breeders requirements (haven't done any research, wrong breed for lifestyle etc), they want to breed in the future. Entitlement, uneducated, impatience and unintelligence, always.

I’ve seen a lot of Fb posts with people asking about rehoming and being attacked- personally I think a dog is better off out of a home where people are unsure whether they can manage/ mind them.

We have an escape artist dog- he’s dug under a fence, broken a fence and a gate and gotten out a front door. I love him to tatters so would never dream of rehoming him but if someone else had him- their life and his would be hell because it’s difficult to not get insanely stressed/ bitter etc (he’s an idiot of a tail waggy legend though, he’s worth the head off wall banging moments!)

I think rehoming a dog for unforseeable life situations is, of course, reasonable - and a devastating decision to have to make. I don’t judge in those situations.

If people have a baby and then decide to rehome the dog for convenience then I do judge. A pet isn’t a practice baby, and it’s something you think about when you get the dog. I also judge people who rehome dogs because they didn’t research suitable breed traits etc.

I bet a sizeable chunk are due to relationship breakdown coupled with housing issues. Some will be due to illness or death. Very often it is the best thing for the dog. My dog is a rescue and it took him about 30:seconds to realise we were his new family and he was in his new home - dogs are very adaptable. I rehomed an unhappy cat once. She was crying to go out where she would promptly get beaten up by the neighbourhood cats. She wouldn’t use the catflap, couldn’t settle in the house and couldn’t go outside. My other cat was absolutely fine but this one was anxious and distressed. We tried her out at a friend’s more rural place as an only pet and she settled fine.