Needing to rehome dog(s)

[1MitchellMum]

I agree totally with other post on here that careful consideration should be given before buying/acquiring a dog.

But I hope that people on here still feel able to ask for help when they feel they can't cope with their dogs. There's been some very good advice on here vis a vis training/feeding etc. For example the Bakers dog food debate - those of us 'in the know' would never feed it to our dogs, but a novice dog owner would probably think that any dog food sold in the major supermarkets ought to be good quality.

So on some occasions it's just advice that people need ... and someone with a clear perspective from an objective point of view.

I think though that when people have come on here wanting advice on rehoming, most responses are thoughtful and helpful.

Most people are well aware that there are some circumstances where owners will have to make that awful decision. The decision may be heartbreaking for the owners and when people post in those cases, they usually get compassionate, thoughtful advice IMO.

Where people are less understanding is people that come on saying, "I bought my cute puppy 6 months ago, did no training with it, gave it 10 minutes of attention every day and now it chews everything and the kids want to rehome the puppy and get a cute rabbit instead". In those cases, the people with the cute puppy really could have thought things through first.

I've seen people on here get loads of help rehoming dogs.

Everyone understands that unplanned things happen in life that make it too hard to cope with a dog as well - children are born with severe allergies, children are born with disabilities, adults become disabled, people die and families split up, none of those can really be planned for, they're life changing events.

But if you get a dog knowing that children are likely to come along and suddenly decide that you don't have time to look after both or get a dog and realise that you don't want it to behave like a dog - then yes people are going to be much less sympathetic.

Yes, very good point. Just look at the "Anyone with a British Bulldog? Help needed please..." thread. The owner got fabulous suggestions and it has really helped her dog's condition. Other threads giving training tips or general reassurance that things will get better (often in puppy threads!) can make a huge difference.

But sometimes the "advice", although correct (thinking of a recent thread where the dog was pregnant) can be judgmental to be point of scaring the person who posted away, which doesn't really help the dog in the end...

Many people who come on here asking for rehoming just can not be bothered to do the research themselves. There is a lot of help available for rehoming and in my opinion it should not be easy. It should require thought and also take time.

Basically advice for Rehoming would not be an issue if they had obtained the dog through the correct way in the first place.

If you are getting a puppy make sure the breeder has a lifetime clause to take the dog back .(All good breeders will offer this if they do not walk away)

Get your dog from a reputable rescue which will also offer life time responsibility for the dog.

If you buy from a back yard breeder you are asking for trouble and this has been publicly known for years so you are just an idiot if you do so.

Buying from gumtree or freeads is obviously a very very stupid thing to do.

Make sure when you get a dog you research this carefully and then the rehoming issue will not occur.

I try very, very hard when I'm posting to only be positive and polite. It's not easy and I don't always get it right - there have been many occasions when I've really struggled to be courteous and there are some threads where rather than be rude or angry, I simply don't post, including one of the recent ones. My reaction to one was "For FS, Labs don't mature till they're at least 2 and are often complete loons till four or five - WTF did you expect?" but I'd be the first to say that wouldn't be particularly constructive, so I simply didn't say anything.

It's very easy when you are involved in rescue to be angry at selfish and thoughtless dog owners - I try very hard not to let that aspect suck me in. I've seen a number of rescue volunteers either get burned out or become horribly cynical about people - both are protective responses but neither is healthy. The truly heartbreaking thing about rescue is when you see people who do have to give up their dogs for genuine reasons. Ironically, they will often fight tooth and nail to keep them, and are heartbroken when it happens. Two of ours are long term fosters and were surrendered because their loving, responsible owner became very ill. We provided respite care while owner was in hospital (including regualar visits by the dogs to the ward) but sadly the owner's health deteriorated further later on with another unrelated condition. It was one of the most genuinely moving and upsetting things to see that person decide it was in the best interests of the dogs if they stayed in the care of the rescue. I've also seen similar heartwrenching situations when people are terminally ill - it's incredibly humbling to be entrusted with the loved companion of a person in that situation. Once you've seen that, it's really difficult to summon up a polite response to a person who's wanting to rehome for more foreseeable or manageable reasons.

Lastly, I'm also very aware of the reputation (unfair I think) of the Doghouse in the wider MN community. It's deeply satisfying on one level to tell someone they are being selfish and thoughtless but does nothing for the wider MN community to encourage them to post here ifthey have problems with their dog. And there is such a wealth of knowledge and expertise on this board which should be a treasured resource - we have vets, vet nurses, behaviourists, breeders, rescue peeps - the works. I've seen so many people helped or assisted in the Doghouse - including really sensitive topics like pet bereavement - it's a shame that's not more widely known and recognised.