Foster dilema

[Thewolfsjustapuppy]

For a bit of back story; we are currently minding a toy breed dog for family members who have a very young baby and are struggling a little juggling baby and dog needs.

Foster dog has been a delight - she is well behaved and eats almost nothing! (We have a pup who generally eats us out of house and home to compare with). She is insanely yappy but I am slowly training her to stop when asked.

I have had to register foster dog with our vet in order to worm and flee her - her owners couldn't remember when it was last done and our pup seemed to start itching - so I took foster dog for a free vet nurse check. After a full inspection she found that Foster Dog doesn't have a microchip and that she has a small nodule behind her jaw that the nurse feels should be checked by the vet.

I messaged family member suggesting that Dog legally needs a microchip and mentioned the suggestion for a vet check. Unfortunately family member has refused both on account of not wanting to spend any money at the vet on a healthy dog.

I can afford to pay for both and really don't mind doing it but I don't want to go against the owners wishes. I'm not sure if their objection is purely financial or if there is more to it. They are a very young couple and i really don't want them to feel patronised as I feel they have had a lot of that from other family members recently. What would you do?

I haven't read this through properly but here is a link to The Dogs' Trust website about the free microchipping they offer to some:

www.dogstrust.org.uk/help-advice/microchipping-neutering/

Could you perhaps afford one consultation with vet for advice re the lump (or is there a PDSA near you?)

I am afraid that if they won't accept their dog might need vet's help for a lump and won't microchip him/her, they don't sound as though they ought to be dogowners. I am hoping they will be so involved with their baby that they won't, in the end, want the dog back and also that you will keep it!

I agree that if they don't see any point in microchipping or getting a lump checked out by a vet then I doubt they are going to bother about the dog. Any chance you could take over ownership of the dog?

Its not that they don't love the dog (well she does anyway) its more that they are very young and what with post natal health problems and a tiny colicky baby their priorities are skewed somewhat. There is not much we can do about the baby apart from supervise from a distance and help out in every way we can.

Much as we find foster dog a pleasure to care for she is not really my sort of dog (She has had to learn to do 5 mile hikes but she is not particularly an enthusiastic participant, her legs are barely 2 inches long ). I am very happy fund the examination and microchip but if the vet finds anything we would find extensive treatment difficult to fund and foster dog is not insured.

Offering to pay for the microchipping at least makes the dog legal to take out. The issue is if you pay for the vet to look at the lump and it turns out to need further treatment? Although if it does need further treatment then doing nothing isn't going to help either. You are between a rock and a hard place unfortunately.

I know, and now the lump is found I don't think we can insure in retrospect either .
I'll offer to pay for the microchip and hope that I can gently encourage a full vet check soon. Foster dog is very healthy ATM and I'm not overly worried about her it's only following nurses advice.

Aside from the legal requirement for her to be microchipped, should she happen to escape or be stolen, the chances of getting her back without one are much, much lower than if she did have one.

Did you discuss how you'd deal with things like vet treatment when you agreed to look after her? And are you paying for everything like food, routine vet costs (worming, flea treatments, etc.)? Is she KC registered and do you know if her owners transferred that to their names? Is she registered at the vets under your name?

I'm asking as she could potentially be considered legally your dog depending on what the answers to those questions are. I'm not thinking along the lines of you should just keep her as your own, but more that the onus is on you to make sure she gets appropriate vet treatment.

Obviously it's a difficult situation as if you get the lump (which could be something or nothing) checked out now whilst she's uninsured then it (and potentially any other lumps and bumps she develops) won't be covered by any future policies. Would you be prepared to insure her? I'm not sure if you can insure a dog that isn't technically yours and doesn't have a chip but it would at least mean that if treatment is necessary it would be covered. As it hasn't been officially looked at it shouldn't be on her notes and so you shouldn't have problems with it being excluded but you would have to wait out the exclusion period on the new policy (usually two weeks I think) before getting it looked at for it to be covered.

We have paid for the routine stuff such as feed and paracite control. She isn't KC reg (I have a horrible feeling she was a puppy farm puppy) or at least her owner doesn't have any papers for her. She was booked, and paid for, microchip at same time as spay but owners forgot to take her so she never had either . Owner now says she is happy for the microchip but doesn't want to pay for vet treatment on what they perceive is a healthy dog.
Sorry for the drip feed, I'm getting more information by messages but it's slow progress.

They sound like totally irresponsible owners - how can they think they have a perfectly healthy dog when the vet nurse has found a lump that she thinks needs checking out?

i have no patience with people like that.

wolf I know you feel sorry for the owners but they aren't coming across very responsible. A lump may be nothing or it could be serious and thus the dog isn't healthy but then I know you know that but it doesn't sound like they understand or appreciate that because it's just money down the drain for them.

Shame they didn't insure when they got the dog but I guess that is seen by a lot of people as throwing money away but it's the people that don't have much money that I think need insurance as there is no backup plan.

Not sure what you can do other than take charge of the situation (pay yourself) or give the dog back and walk away which is very hard to do.

At what point would they be prepared to pay for treatment and do you think you can rely on them to do so?

I think you really need to look at getting her insured yourself if they won't do it. If the lump gets worse (or she needs treatment for anything else which can't wait) and they still won't pay up then you'll be scuppered as insurance cover won't then be an option.

I do realise that they are being irresponsible owners. No 18 year old should ever be able to buy a dog.

I will investigate the insurance and pay for the vet consultation and microchip. They do have the funds to pay which makes the whole situation even more irritating. It wouldn't be that hard to convince them to let me keep the dog but, as I've already said, she really isn't my kind of dog or a good match for our lifestyle.