Responsible breed rescue suggestions or any advice on how to find a new home for my lovely dogs?

[Athendof]

I'm not happy about rehoming them as this will be the first time ai don't see a dog until the end of its days. These dogs have been loved to bits, but in the years since we got them our life has changed so much that I think letting them go is kinder on them.

I'm no meanie selfish bastard, these dogs have been cherished for years, but whereas when we got them I had a husband, was not working and had no children, now I am single, have a child with asthma and have to work very long hours in order to make ends meet with this resulting in the dogs not been able to be around the house due to severe asthma and they are now spending almost 9 hrs alone in the house.

I have explored every possibility and tried very hard for the last few years but this is not working and I cannot forsee my circumstances changing in the foreseable future.

Can somebody tell me what I need to do or point me in the direction of a reputable rescue organisation?

Thank you

[D0oinMeCleanin]

Your welcome.

If you post on that rescue forum, on Facebook you will get more suggestions. You'll probably get an easier time there than you did here, so don't be shy

A lot of rescue owners and representatives post on there.

[kilmuir]

you will have to know that some oldies are never rehomed, they spend last of their days in kennels

[Athendof]

D0oingmecleaning, thank you ever so much for the multiple links and references. It has been very helpful to get some guidance.

[Athendof]

Thank you all for your suggestions, I have filled a form from the Oldies Club so they can be added to their listings

I suppose it would take a long time, there are many other dogs (and yorkies) who seem to have been waiting for ages.

Damn, it is only five minutes and I'm already in tears!

[Athendof]

What now, I'm in the north, but thank you, will also try the vets.

Have just emailed PAPAS and had a look at the Oldies club

[Athendof]

Had a look at SOS, will emathem latter and see what they say. Thank you.

[Athendof]

They are house trained, they bark to go out when they need to. Obviously they can't wait 9 hrs, the maximum they can manage is about 6. And obviously I'm not going to trick an innocent person to take them because to be honest it won't be nice on the people or the dogs.

They are fine, no accidents, and sleep at nights in weekends, when I'm at home. Unfortunately I cannot stop working to keep the same routine during the week.

People. I'm having a very busy day at work I will read and reply to you all when I finish for the day.

Thank you.

P.S. I have contemplated to continue paying pet insurance for them until they die, the food is normal dog food, nothing specialised or expensive really, much cheaper than vet stuff and moist food.

[Floralnomad]

I'm sorry but I do think you need to point out to whoever takes them that they are not housetrained . I know you leave them for a long time but TBH they should be capable of holding on . In your first post you said they had no problems which on reading the whole thread they obviously do , it's one thing taking on two elderly Yorkies its a lot to ask someone to take on two elderly incontinent Yorkies . Do you walk them when you get in ? As that may help with their sleeping issues

[ThatVikRinA22]

ah thats a shame OP but if its become untenable i would also speak to your vet.Mine are lovely and so helpful.

best of luck.

[Whatnowffs]

Ring your local vets - they will have a breed rescue directory with a local number. That would be a good place to start, of course a lot of these places are just snowed under at the moment so you might have to look further afield. I would certainly be willing to help if you have transport issues and are in the south east x

[Whatnowffs]

No words of advice, just wanted to say, i understand :( So very sad for you and i hope that you find nice homes for them.

I know this seems a bit mental but as one of them has dietry issues, could you offer to pay a percetage of the food bill if someone were to foster for you? That may help things? Just an idea - i know things are tight, but if you could contribute something people would be more likely to consider?

[D0oinMeCleanin]

I'm going to assume that you are reading posts on a smart phone or at work and are just skimming through posts?

I have just given you details for The Oldies Club, who assist in rehoming elderly dogs all around the country.

SOS who I have personal experience of dealing with and who do really great things for elderly dogs.

And a rescue forum, local to you, who will have more suggestions and who, seemingly, can perform magic when it comes to helping people find the best solution for their dogs.

Please get in touch with the above and see if they are able to help you. The last two I am involved with and they will bend over backwards to help you if they are at all able to.

[Athendof]

I really do appreciate your suggestions about pets and asthma but it has been years of dealing with this malarkey and it has got to a point that is not longer in the best interests of dogs and us to stay together.

I could spend the rest of my life justifying why I cannot keep them any more but I won't be able to convince you because you don't know about the whole of our circumstances, and I am really not happy to go into further detail about how miserable and difficult our life has come to be in recent years.

I don't want my dogs to spend the rest of their days locked in a small kitchen, and I don't want to be cleaning soiled newspapers and accidents everyday in the area I use to cook our food. I want to sleep at night (and so do our neighbours), the dogs are awake at night and barking for attention all night, as a result I'm so sleep deprived I cannot operate normally during the day therefore the job that pays the bills is at significant risk unless I improve. I have absolutely NO ONE to help me, and by that I mean absolutely NONE. And I cannot continue like this.

May I please ask those who are in the known, for details of finding a way to rehome them?, we are well beyond the keep trying route.

[D0oinMeCleanin]

It also might be worth posting on Facebook's Rescue Dog forum North East for more suggestions, the admin of this group are absolute saints and although it says NE they have now expanded that to cover all of the north and Scotland because of demand. Everyone is very friendly and helpful. I have never seen them give up on a dog yet

If they can help, they will.

[D0oinMeCleanin]

The Cinnamon Trust is not technically the right rescue for you, because of the reasons you point out, however, it is possible that they may know of an elderly person or couple looking for a new companion, so they might be able to help, or guide you in the right direction at least.

I don't know where about you are in the north but SOS do excellent work with older dogs, often securing them long term foster placements so they never have to spend time in kennels. When the dogs are suitable for rehoming they offer a pension plan, promising to take care of vet bills for the remainder of the dogs life, so that they know the dogs are getting the best possible care.

They are full right now and desperately struggling for foster homes and volunteers, however they do have a waiting list and are very helpful. They will go out of their way to assist you, if it is at all possible to do so, so it would be worth contacting them if you are close enough.

[Athendof]

I have checked the suggested rescues, I'm in the north of England so the Berkshire one is a bit far, I have had a look at the Cinnamon Trust, would they accept my dogs? I'm not an elderly person going into care or dying, to be honest I'm even a bit embarrassed to contact them, there are obviously other people and dogs who have more serious problems than ours.

[D0oinMeCleanin]

I keep a cat, despite being allergic, like Vicar's ds I find that over time I become more tolerant of them. My cat moves out regularly, I find my allergy is actually worse when he is not living in the house, simply sitting near someone who owns a cat can be enough to start the itching and awful dry eyes and wheezing. When the cat is home I use Piriton for the first few weeks, limit my contact with him and slowly start seeing improvements.

It does sound you like have things tough atm, but I can't see that rehoming the dogs will make things an awful lot easier for you. How much hard work can two 13 yo dogs be? You'd still need a strict cleaning routine, to keep on top of dust, as Vicar pointed out.

I can't see how active they can be at night? I have a collie x pup. He is active at night if he has not had enough exercise, but even for him throwing a tennis ball up and down the field for 45 minutes an evening is enough to keep him mainly under control. Surely 13yo dogs would need little more than a gentle stroll twice a day?

What support do you have? Is there anyway you could access more support? As you have a sick child there are charities that might help you keep your dogs, PAPAS might be able to offer some support around the dogs and I would look at finding local asthma support groups if you have not already done so. Maybe ask at your sons school if there are any other organisations that could help you.

Rehoming dogs of that age will not be easy, nor is it the best thing you could do for them, particularly at their age, they will find it extremely hard.

If you genuinely feel you have explored all other options I second whoever said to contact Cinnamon Trust, you could also try The Oldies Club, but you will have a wait. Unfortunately rescues are full to bursting with healthy, trained young dogs, older dogs are often over looked because of this.

If you can find anyway possible to keep the dogs in your home, despite being left longer than is ideal, they'd have a better life than the alternative.

Good luck and I hope you can manage to access the support you need.

[Athendof]

Yes, we have tried all that and many other things, it's been YEARS of trying to keep them. I am afraid though that DS is the kind of child who gets wheezy if a dog gets near his face, and gets a quick and nasty rash if he is licked by one. And it's getting worse year on year :(

[ThatVikRinA22]

my son had chronic asthma, and we were told to get rid of all our pets. We had 2 dogs and 2 cats, 2 rats and a hamster!

i just couldnt do it.

so i made some changes at home - the floors were all laminated so i could mop and keep the downstairs dust and dander free.
none of the pets were allowed to go upstairs at all - so his bedroom was a pet free zone.
he took a low dose daily antihistamine.
and gradually he desensitized - unusually now at 20, he hardly needs his inhalers anymore.
at 13 he was in hospital several times a year.
as the small furries died we did not get any more but were left with cats and dogs.

we had him tested for allergies but the tests are notoriously inaccurate - most asthma sufferes are allergic to the house dust mite - and there is little you can do about that barring keeping dust to an absolute minimum, damp dusting, changing bedding often, hoovering mattresses etc etc.

have you tried any of that OP?

when the consultant told me it was the boy or the pets i looked at DS and said, "well sorry son, looks like we have to rehome you" the oonsultants face was picture....i was of course joking but i would no more have rehomed my beloved dog than i would my son.
we worked around it.

if thats the main issue perhaps you could try some of the things above and see what happens?

[Athendof]

Ggirl, I was there years ago, but the asthma has got worse with time. It is scary. If I had money to spend in sitters, i would use it to pay a cleaner to keep the house as free as possible of allergens and to open the door to the dogs while I'm out, to avoid comming back home to a mountain of soiled newspapers to cleanł and to prevent the dogs from sleeping all day long so We all could sleep at night,, but am afraid sitters and cleaners charge more per hour than I do.

And yes, DS has a proven and diagnosed allergy to dogs, yorkies do not have an undercoat, so they are less "allergenic" than other dogs so we have sort of managed ok, until now when there is not only the dogs but the whole situation I live in: stressful job, a child with health problems (asthma is only one of them) and learning difficulties, financial difficulties, etc. I'm rising my son single handedly, and do not have anybody around who can give me hand with things in a regular basis. I am having to take days off work due to asthma related problems very often, i'm not sleeping well as the dogs arevery active at night, which obviously affects my performance at work, my job is already at risk. :-(

[Floralnomad]

Sorry , maybe I'm being a bit thick but I don't get your problem ,is it asthma ,the fact that they are alone for 9 hours or the financial issues ? I'm not getting at you BTW just not clear on why you have come to the decision to rehome .

[D0oinMeCleanin]

Has your son had allergy tests?

I have asthma. I have three dogs. Cats, grass/straw/hay etc, dust and something else I can't remember trigger my asthma. Dogs and birds do not, although I find it hard keeping small furries because I am allergic to their bedding, I am not allergic to the animals themselves.

Has the doctor told you it will be the dogs and you should get rid of them? They always say that, mine still do. The first questions they ask 1) do you smoke? 2) do you keep pets in the house? I have to remind I had allergy tests as a child and I was not allergic to dogs.

My mum rehomed all of our birds when I was first diagnosed, after having the doctor panic her. Years later my Dad insisted on buying a parrot, determined to prove that he was going kill me, she took me for allergy tests, funnily when it came back that I was allergic to cats and not birds she had a slight change of heart and the cats stayed I still have not forgiven her for getting rid of my birds with no good reason.

There are also products you can use on the dogs to reduce the allergens spreading around the house. One is called petal cleanse. That coupled with strict regular cleaning and airing the house, maybe a few air purifiers for the main rooms and you should see an improvement.

I wouldn't be too hasty in rehoming the dogs, they'd rather have less exercise and live at home than find themselves in a strange place, scared and confused.

Push for allergy tests before you make any hard choices. Dogs are not normally a common allergen. Birds, house dust, pollen, grass, cats are all more common. Central heating if you have that also used to make my asthma a lot worse, try placing damp towels over radiators to keep the air from getting too dry.

[babyboomersrock]

Try this one - have heard good things about it. All dogs are fostered first...

www.littledogrescue.co.uk/Givingadogin.html

[JaxTellerIsMyFriend]

atthendof I second the cinammon trust. They are a fantastic charity and may be able to help. If you want to tell me where you are in the country I will see if any rescue people I know can help you.

An older couple would probably be happy to have your yorkies. Feel free to PM me if you want to.

[ggirl]

Sorry you're having trouble but if you get a sitter for the dogs how does that help with the asthma?
Is the asthma under control enough for the dogs to stay with you if you get company/walker for them during your working hours?
My son has asthma, when his asthma developed we got a good friend to take out dog for 2months , cleaned the house like maniacs to see if it altered his asthma..it didn't so dog came back . Is it worth getting your son tested to see if it in fact the dogs causing the problem?