Experience of giving up a dog?

[Rache7]

Hi I really need advice, I've decided to re home my boy but two things are stopping me & its my fault this is dragging out because of my emotional attachment to him but I know he'd be much happier elsewhere. (Dh & I split up & I've gone from own business at home to full time work).
The kids - its crossed my mind to lie & tell them he died because this will be my fault & they'll blame me for it

Second, actually giving him up to a rehoming centre - how does it work? I would like to tell them all about him etc but I'm worried I won't go through with it the longer I stay.
Hes such a lovely dog but I can't give him the one thing he wants most which is company, he just wants to sit at someone's feet all day & he's so miserable atm
I've tried borrow my doggy for a year now & either the people are unreliable or love him so much they get their own dog! I've tried a dog sitter but I know he feels stressed with other dogs all day, he can't relax like he does on his own.
I think he would find being in a rehoming centre really distressing because he likes peace & quiet
Has anyone gone through giving up a dog you love & do you have any happy ending stories for me? 🙏

He doesn't sound that miserable to me.

My old dog had separation anxiety and even if you left the house for 10 minutes she drooled, cried and howled and wouldn't settle, so in the end couldn't be left at all.

OP he's a 4 year old dog. By this age they've 'calmed down' and grown out of the constant need to play/chew things/gotta be doing something.

He's not a puppy anymore. He's gone through the adolescence stage. If anything he might be just as content when you're out if all he's doing is sleeping! He sounds relaxed and chilled out! Honestly, an anxious dog or a stressed out dog would not just go to sleep when you left. They'd be crying, howling, chewing things up or pacing about etc.

If you're looking for a reason to rehome your dog then you need to be honest with yourself and admit that.
But in my opinion this does not sound like a dog that needs to be rehomed. By that age, as long as they're walked, fed and loved each day most dogs are pretty content with a bit of play and sleep

There is a Facebook page called doodles for rehoming. It's not a charity but a network to find homes for dogs that need rehoming in a safe non judgemental way. They vet both the owners and the rehomers. Highly recommend, they will help and guide you through it all

DH would love a Yorkshire terrier but is allergic so needs the doodle bit and we only rescue animals

Bear in mind poodle crosses only have a 1 in 4 chance of inheriting the poodle coat. It is not guaranteed.

Yorkies actually are also non shedding dogs, with low dander. Technically he should be no more allergic than he would be to a poolde. is he definitely allergic to them?

Whereabouts in the country are you OP? If in the south East then I can recommend some rescues that use foster homes rather than kennels.

I worked from home (pre baby) and my dog still did the exact same as yours. She spent most of her day sleeping and plodding around quite happily. I think you might be being too hard on yourself. Dogs are content as long as they are cared for, exercised and loved x

I foster for a rescue, and we do have dogs signed over to us from no fault of dog or owner fairly often. We try and get as much information as possible about what the dog does and doesn't like, how they react to things, food preferences and so on - the actual hand over we try to keep fairly short, so we get the owner to write everything down. All our dogs are in family homes, living with their foster family just like their other dogs, so its not like being in kennels.
It tends to be small rescues that foster - the big ones all kennel in centres.

He doesn't sound that miserable OP. We have a Yorkie and he would be at my side or on my lap 24/7 if he could, but he spends vast amounts of time at home alone (dog walker comes once a day and neighbour sits with him for an hour a day for company - before I get flamed!). He's very jumpy too but I think it's just a general Yorkie thing rather than a sign of an unhappy dog.

If you do decide to regime, please try to find someone yourself who can do it. Your friends and family may not be able to regime him, but they might have friends and family who can?

I've just adopted a dog as its owner was no longer at home during the day. He was posted on several pet rehoming sites.

I get a lovely dog, his owner knows he's gone to a good home.

Don't know if you're still reading, OP, but another one saying sleeping all day isn't a sign of him being miserable or anxious. Quite the opposite. Dogs that are anxious howl, destroy the house and pace. My dog isn't 18 months yet but he sleeps pretty much the whole working day -i work from home so he could pester me but doesn't. Mine gets a walk in the morning, a walk at lunchtime (you could get a dog walker to do that) and a walk or session of play in the evening. Apart from that he's sleeping. Dogs use their energy in a very different way to humans. I hope you find that you can keep him.

Just to echo what other posters have said. Our dog sleeps loads and by the look on his face you might think he has the saddest most difficult life ever. But he doesn't. He is on his own one day a week currently with dog walker coming with her dog at lunchtime and just sleeps the rest of the time. I work at home one day a week and he does exactly the same.