rehoming a breeding bitch

[ACavalierDream]

hello, I was about to go ahead and add another puppy to keep our existing dog company. I had agreed on the sale but eventually there were several red flags that made me pull back. Basically it is a commercial breeder with some grey areas but not a puppy farm.

The breeder took it well and has instead offered one of the breeding bitches (who is not able to breed anymore after having lost a litter) for a rehoming fee similar to Battersea Dog's Home one. She is two and I have been to the home a couple of times. She has lived in the family home not in kennels. I have no issue with her living conditions but I guess she will have some issues.

Does anyone have any experience of this?

Because she is offering me a dog that no one wants and not a puppy. Surely the dogs in rescues come from the same type of breeders. Therefore I am wondering why not take that dog on to help it.

What? Read the rest of the post.

Out of interest are the dogs white shepherds?

No.

I’ve had two, not so much a failed breeding rehome, they were great at that. Both were failed showing, terrified of the ring. One is still here, one is actually now with my elderly uncle in a residential care set up. Own flat but communal lounge etc. she was moved from here after three years as her fear around guns intensified as fast as the land owners increased the pheasant shooting. I still see her about five days a week and she LOVES that quiet life.

apart from in the event of heavy gunshot, neither have given me anything other than love and happiness.

so I would go for it, for sure.

She's not offering you a dog. She's selling you one.
If she cared about the dog's welfare, she would give it to a carefully vetted home for free.

I understand and agree with what you are saying but it still leaves me in a position to do rehome. I know I can give her a good home perhaps not the next person she goes to. If she goes somewhere…

Op, I have two retired racers and I really feel for you.

Although we adopted our dogs from a rescue, if I was in your situation I'd have no choice but to take the poor mum or I'd never sleep again 😭
Her little face would haunt me.

You can't control how this heartless woman treats her dogs but you can control how this poor dog is living for the rest of her life...

Oh you have racers. I sometimes go and walk some greyhounds in a rescue centre just outside London. I walked one in May just after having lost my old dog and fell in love with her. I sat with her for a while before returning her to the shelter as she did not want to go back to her kennel. I really want her and think of her a lot but they are so big. My extended family would not want to have such a big dog when I stay with them. I think of her everyday.

You are right, this breeding bitch I am thinking about is haunting me just like that greyhound. She is another sighthound but smaller.

We aquired one of our dogs under similar circumstances. She'd had one healthy litter, but had been miserable as a mum and the breeder didn't want to put her through it again. They couldn't afford to keep her if she wasn't breeding. She was also a rare breed. She'd spent a lot of time in the breeder's home

She was a brilliant dog. No issues that I can remember at all. I'd do it again tbh.

Oh just ring up now and arrange to have the poor bitch. If you don’t buy her someone else will, the breeder won’t pass her to a rescue organisation when they have a rare breed that will be desirable to even a small cohort, and a lot of people don’t want to go through the puppy phase.

No reason not to take her but negotiate on the fee. She's no use to the breeder so worthless in commercial terms. Good luck with her as she'll have a far better life with you.

You made me check that racer’s entry on the rescue’s website and she is reserved! She is black so I know it’s harder for them. You have inadvertently made my day and have given me peace of mind. Thank you.

I volunteered for a breed rescue charity, assessing potential homes. We asked for £250 to adopt a dog, and about the same was suggested to hand one in (though that wasn't enforced). And yes, it was about the welfare of the dog.

Ok I understand she is not nice but whether she is or not still doesn’t help me decide if I should help that dog or not. Which is really what I am asking here.

The issue is that people who pay to take on dogs from people like this (puppy or discarded older dog) just feed into the cycle and allow them to keep on going.

Agree that is why I didn’t buy a puppy but this bitch, she won’t give it to a rescue. If I do, it is purely to help this poor mite. Unless someone can recommend a better way that loving her there…

It is a tough one OP
yes you can buy that bitch and improve her life but by doing so you make room for another dog to live under the same awful conditions.
I can see why you want to do this and I can't honestly say I wouldn't too

Op, 🙂so glad the black greyhound girl has found her family!

This is my beautiful girl, snoozing 😂

Yes exactly that. I do have some hope that she will stop soon. She is rather elderly. I am hoping perhaps naively that she is winding down.

There isn’t a perfect answer here Op. whatever you do there is harm - and good.

So stop trying to find the perfect solution and think about what you want. Do you want this dog? Not “what will make you feel the least guilty or worried” but “is this dog thd right one for you?”

In a situation where doing “the right thing” is impossible the best you can do is to be really selfish and do “the right thing for you”.

Thank you. That is very helpful indeed. I had not thought of that. I am struggling to see beyond the guilt. And you are right, ultimately it’s on me. It is very helpful.

I’ve already said I think you should get her, you’re dithering and I don’t know why!

I’ve been dog-sitting this afternoon for friends whose dog is an ex-breeder. They went to view a younger bitch, though not a puppy, and were offered its mother if they preferred. She was 3 and had had I think 3 litters on consecutive seasons. That was 4 years ago. They lived indoors, in an apparently rather chaotic multi-adult household, house trained but no other training and she had no idea how to walk on a lead (a gundog breed, though not being bred as working dogs). She was nervous with people and reactive with other dogs, though actually a gentle character. I love her dearly, but she is an escape artist, she still has zero recall and will never be able to go off-lead.

She was spayed soon after my friends got her but her dangling teats are a legacy of the litters she had before she was properly grown-up herself.

I am currently abroad on holiday without my husband and taking time to think it through. I won't get a dog on a whim. I also spent quite a lot speaking to the rescue of that breed that gathered details for me.

Thank you for your post. I think that bitch will be in a similar position as the one you talk about. I highly doubt she has been out much.

I wouldn't be able to sleep either, wondering what her life will be like if I didn't take her.

WRT the fee, I'd be tempted to "misunderstand" and say that I'd pay the fee to the breed rescue instead. Like, "oh, since you were going to rehome her through a rescue anyway I'll donate them the fee so they don't lose out" kind of thing.