How do I convince myself re-homing is best for everyone?

[likelikelike]

My lovely 4 year old dog may be going to live elsewhere. My daughter is showing signs of allergies and is majorly worse when around the dog. We have spoken to a family who are happy to take our dog on. They seem perfect and can give the dog everything we can't give now. We feel so guilty and like we've failed him. Has anyone any experience of re-homing?

@likelikelike 💐for you. I only have experience as the receiver of a beautiful bitch whose family couldn’t keep her. They were heartbroken, and we don’t keep in touch.
If we did I would hope they would see the lovely , happy playful girl that lives with us now. She is snuggled up by me on the sofa now, having had a fab walk with her ball.
It will hurt like hell but you may be doing a good thing.

Can they give him things you can't OP?

Never rehome privately -it is not fair on the dog.

Rehome through a reputable rescue who will give the dog backup for life

I would need to be very sure that the reaction in your daughter is caused by the dog before taking action though

Our dog was a private rehome from a family that was struggling and it's worked out really well, we love him to bits and I I have kept in touch the woman to ask questions and send her occasional photographs. Saying that, it all could have gone very wrong, we went into dog ownership rather naively and would not have coped if there had been any serious issues.

How well do you know this family? I ask because my dog was privately rehomed at about 12 months old to someone who dumped him 6 weeks later onto someone else who lasted 6 months... I'm his fourth owner, and it's only purely by chance that he's ended up settled with me - I wasn't even looking to get a dog at that point in my life - I was in my mid 20s and working long hours in a professional job in central London, while living in a flat with "no pets" written into the tenancy agreement...! I'm sure his first owners have no idea at all what happened to him.

Have you had any allergy testing done on your daughter? Could there be something else that's causing the reaction - for instance, if she's mainly around your dog when she's in the home, could there be something in the home that's causing the allergic reactions?

Some people find that the levels of allergic reaction reduce if they can vacuum daily, keep the dog off the soft furnishings and out of DD's bedroom, brush the dog daily, wash the dog's bed frequently etc. etc.. I appreciate that this may not be possible with a small child, but I'm allergic to cats, but I find that I can be around them and even touch them so long as I don't absent-mindedly touch my eyes.