Help, We need to sell / get rid of our dog... (home, buy)

[teatime]

Since you paid a few hundred dollars for the puppy, I'm thinking it's a purebred. PLEASE don't put an ad in the paper and offer the pup cheaply. As someone else mentioned, some dogs are sold for medical research; others are used for much worse. The most responsible thing would be to surrender the puppy to a breed rescue. If you need help finding one, simply Google the particular breed name with the word "rescue." Texas is full of them.

I read the most heartbreaking story today on the Pets forum here. Please read the post by Sam I Am called "In Praise of Rescue." (not the exact title, but you get the idea) Most of us cannot fathom what truly sick individuals lurk out there but reading that thread will give you an idea.

You made a mistake and have to cut your losses but PLEASE let those in the field find a good home for your puppy. It's the least you can do for him as he deserves the best chance at a happy life and family who wants and loves him. They will take good care of the pup as long as it takes for the ideal home is found. Going it on your own could expose your family unwittingly to sickos, like the man described in Sam I Am's thread.

[jimmyjack]

Originally Posted by teatime

Since you paid a few hundred dollars for the puppy, I'm thinking it's a purebred. PLEASE don't put an ad in the paper and offer the pup cheaply. As someone else mentioned, some dogs are sold for medical research; others are used for much worse.

This is good advice. If you want to get top dollar for your dog, stay away from those research folks.

[Mike78613]

I had a cute lab as a puppy (PAPERED / Shots), when we got our pool installed, it was total havoc and I tried hard to train her not the chew on the pool equipment / toys.
I used even shock collar, tied her up when here not home but it was a huge commitment to own a dog that size. We paid well over 400.00 and plus shots.

I put her on craigslist and at the time she was just at about 1 yr old. Want to know how much I got for her? ZERO!!!!!!! Also it was kind of a PITA to get rid of her, even for free. I did interview the new owners before going. I just saw it a lesson learned. Our lab put us about $2k in pool / repairs. Not cool.

[Megan1967]

Originally Posted by teatime

Since you paid a few hundred dollars for the puppy, I'm thinking it's a purebred. PLEASE don't put an ad in the paper and offer the pup cheaply. As someone else mentioned, some dogs are sold for medical research; others are used for much worse.

I agree there should be an adoption fee, but what Jenbar suggested, $80-100, is more than sufficient. Rescues get more because they have greater expenses. They might get in 3 dogs with no medical issues (have their shots, neutered/spayed, healthy) who they "just" have to transport (gas and time) to and from foster homes, house and feed, but then they have many dogs that need major medical care:

• hit by cars
• injuries inflicted by the previous owner
• health problems stemming from neglect
• treatment for heartworm
• treatment parasites
• needing spaying/neutering
• Needing shots
• Have treatable, but costly (though not always extremely expensive) health issues that owners were not able/willing to pay for or have the time to treat. Diabetes, heart issues, allergies..
• Behavior issues

Bunchers, people who gather dogs from "random" sources" to sell to research facilities, won't pay any fee as they can get more than enough dogs for free. These people are scum and will even bring their children to make themselves look like legitimate adopters. Dog fighters are the same way. Again, why would they pay any fee when so many people are offering their pets for free.

Don't think dog fighters won't take your dog because it is a big breed or even because it is a small breed. They don't use the dogs they collect as fighters, they use them as "bait" dogs. They tape their muzzles shut and put them in a ring with their fighting dogs to rip apart. They'll attach cats to rotating clotheslines for the dogs to chase, finally to be "rewarded" with being allowed to rip the poor things to shreds.

[Legallyblondemel]

Quite frankly, I'm feeling a little ill reading this thread. This is a living being, not a car or other disposable item, we're discussing.

Please, please educate yourself about the dangers of giving away or selling pets online. I'm happy to help you find the appropriate rescue to best place your new pup; please PM me if you'd like help.

[jwb123]

Again, rescues (I am active in one) are OVER-LOADED. They have enough dumped animals to deal with that truly need their rescuing... they shouldn't have to deal with an educated and competent person's "oops, we made a mistake"... and frankly, they don't want to!! Rescue's are not just sitting there waiting to take in any animal out there, or just waiting to be of service.... they don't want to get that email, or phone call - and they have heard all the excuses before about how "it's the best thing for the pup" etc.

He can handle this on his own by putting in some effort, and doing the things a rescue would do (home visits, references, interviewing, etc).

[jwb123]

Ganks, no judgement about you and needing to rehome your dog. It happens... I understand. If you are still reading this thread, you can deal with rehoming your pup in a few days time by following some of the advice I have given. Done, dealt with - and you can move on, lesson learned. If you find a great home, your pup will rebound and have a nice life.

This poem is for everyone else who thinks that they can just call a rescue to make this sort of problem go away. Please understand that "rescues" are for rescuing animals that need it, not to rescue YOU from the responsibility you have taken on as a pet owner.

A Rescuer's Answering Machine Message

Hello, You have reached 123-4567, Tender Hearts Rescue. Due to the high volume of calls we have been receiving, please listen closely to the following options and choose the one that best describes you or your situation:

Press 1 if you think we are veterinarians and want free medical advice.

Press 2 if you know we are a rescue organization but want to save money and have us give you free, untrained medical advice anyway.

Press 3 if you make $200,000 a year but still want us to pay to spay the "stray" in your yard (house).

Press 4 if you have a 10-year-old dog and your 15-year-old son has suddenly become allergic and you need to find the dog a new home right away.

Press 5 if you have three dogs, had a baby and want to get rid of your dogs because you are the only person in the world to have a baby and dogs at the same time.

Press 6 if your dog is sick and needs a vet but you need the money for your vacation.

Press 7 if you just got a brand new puppy and your old dog is having problems adjusting so you want to get rid of the old one right away.

Press 8 if your little puppy has grown up and is no longer small and cute and you want to trade it in for a new model.

Press 9 if you are elderly and want to adopt a cute puppy who is not active and is going to outlive you.

Press 10 if your relative has died and you don't want to care for their elderly dog because it doesn't fit your lifestyle.

Press 11 if you are moving today and need to immediately place your 150 pound, 8-year-old, unneutured, aggressive dog.

Press 12 if you want an unpaid volunteer to come to your home today and pick up the dog you no longer want.

Press 13 if you have been feeding and caring for a "stray" for the last three years, are moving and suddenly determine it's not your dog.

Press 14 if you are calling at 6 a.m. to make sure you wake me up before I have to go to work so you can drop a dog off on your way to work.

Press 15 to leave us an anonymous garbled message, letting us know you have left a dog in our yard in the middle of January, which is in fact, better than just leaving the dog with no message.

Press 16 if you are going to get angry because we are not going to take your dog that you have had for fifteen years, because it is not our responsibility.

Press 17 if you are going to threaten to take your ten year old dog to be euthanized because we can't get to your house in the next hour.

Press 18 if you're going to get angry because the volunteers had the audacity to go on vacation and leave the dogs in care of a trusted volunteer who is not authorized to take your personal pet.

Press 19 if you want one of our perfectly trained, housebroken, kid and cat friendly purebred tiny dogs that we have an abundance of.

Press 20 if you want us to take your dog that has a slight aggression problem, i.e. has only bitten a few people and killed your neighbor's cats.

Press 21 if you have already called once and been told we don't take personal surrenders but thought you would get a different person this time with a different answer.

Press 22 if you want us to use space that would go to a stray to board your personal dog while you are on vacation, free of charge, of course.

Press 23 if it is Christmas Eve or Easter morning and you want me to deliver an eight week old puppy to your house by 6:30 am before your kids wake up.

Press 24 if you have bought your children a duckling, chick or baby bunny for Easter and it is now Christmas and no longer cute.

Press 25 if you want us to take your female dog who has already had ten litters, but we can't spay her because she is pregnant again and it is against your religion.

Press 26 if you're lying to make one of our younger volunteers feel bad and take your personal pet off your hands.

Press 27 if your cat is biting and not using the litter box because it is declawed, but are not willing to accept the responsibility that the cat's behavior is altered because of your nice furniture.

Press 28 if your two year old male dog is marking all over your house but you just haven't gotten around to having him neutered.

Press 29 if you previously had an outdoor only dog and are calling because she is suddenly pregnant.

Press 30 if you have done "everything" to housebreak your dog and have had no success but you don't want to crate the dog because it is cruel.

Press 31 if you didn't listen to the message asking for an evening phone number and you left your work number when all volunteers are also working and you are angry because no one called you back.

Press 32 if you need a puppy immediately and cannot wait because today is your daughter's birthday and you forgot when she was born.

Press 33 if your dog's coat doesn't match your new furniture and you need a different color or breed.

Press 34 if your new love doesn't like your dog and you are too stupid to get rid of the new friend (who will dump you in the next month anyway) instead of the dog.

Press 35 if you went through all these 'presses' and didn't hear enough. This press will connect you to the sounds of tears being shed by one of our volunteers who is holding a discarded old dog while the vet mercifully frees him from the grief of missing his family.

[starsweet]

Originally Posted by Mike78613

I had a cute lab as a puppy (PAPERED / Shots), when we got our pool installed, it was total havoc and I tried hard to train her not the chew on the pool equipment / toys.
I used even shock collar, tied her up when here not home but it was a huge commitment to own a dog that size. We paid well over 400.00 and plus shots.

I put her on craigslist and at the time she was just at about 1 yr old. Want to know how much I got for her? ZERO!!!!!!! Also it was kind of a PITA to get rid of her, even for free. I did interview the new owners before going. I just saw it a lesson learned. Our lab put us about $2k in pool / repairs. Not cool.

Don't you realize puppies go through a teething process like human babies do?? That only lasts a few months. Our golden did the same thing, as do ALL puppies. They stop chewing through everything once the teething process ends. If you'd kept your dog long enough you would have realized that.

I just can't stand when people who simply do not know how to take care of dogs buy them and then cast them off like garbage when they do something that is normal and inherent to the growing up process.

[jwb123]

This is timely. I was reading on Craigslist today and someone had posted this. This is a response to everyone thinking that rescues are just waiting to take owner surrenders.

Animal Owners - an open letter (http://austin.craigslist.org/pet/708996231.html - broken link)


Dear Mr. and Mrs. Average Pet Owner: Thank you for contacting us animal rescuers, shelter volunteers, and foster-homes about your inability to keep your pet. We receive an extremely high volume of inquiries and requests to accept surrendered animals (and none of us is getting paid, OK?). To help us expedite your problem as quickly as possible, please observe the following guidelines:

1. Do not say that you are "CONSIDERING finding a good home" for your pet, or that you "feel you MIGHT be forced to," or that you "really THINK it would be better if" you unloaded the poor beast. Ninety-five percent of you have already got your minds stone-cold made up that the animal WILL be out of your life by the weekend at the latest. Say so. If you don't, I'm going to waste a lot of time giving you common-sense, easy solutions for very fixable problems, and you're going to waste a lot of time coming up with fanciful reasons why the solution couldn't possibly work for you. For instance, you say the cat claws the furniture, and I tell you about nail-clipping and scratching posts and aversion training, and then you go into a long harangue about how your husband won't let you put a scratching post in the family room, and your ADHD daughter cries if you use a squirt bottle on the cat, and your congenital thumb abnormalities prevent you from using nail scissors and etc., etc. Just say you're getting rid of the cat.

2. Do not waste time trying to convince me how nice and humane you are. Your coworker recommended that you contact me because I am nice to animals, not because I am nice to people, and I don't like people who "get rid of" their animals. "Get rid of" is my least favorite phrase in any language. I hope someone "gets rid of" YOU someday. I am an animal advocate, not a people therapist. After all, for your ADHD daughter, you can get counselors, special teachers, doctors, social workers, etc. Your pet has only me, and people like me, to turn to in his or her need, and we are unpaid, overworked, stressed-out, and demoralized. So don't tell me this big long story about how, "We love this dog so much, and we even bought him a special bed that cost $50, and it is just KILLING us to part with him, but honestly, our maid is just awash in dog hair every time she cleans, and his breath sometimes just reeks of liver, so you can see how hard we've tried, and how dear he is to us, but we really just can't . . . ." You are not nice, and it is not killing you. It is, in all probability, literally killing your dog, but you're going to be just fine once the beast is out of your sight. Don't waste my time trying to make me like you or feel sorry for you in your plight.

3. Do not try to convince me that your pet is exceptional and deserves special treatment. I don't care if you taught him to sit. I don't care if she's a beautiful Persian. I have a waiting list of battered and/or whacked-out animals who need help, and I have no room to foster-house your pet. Do not send me long messages detailing how Fido just l-o-v-e-s blankies and carries his favorite blankie everywhere, and oh, when he gets all excited and happy, he spins around in circles, isn't that cute? He really is darling, so it wouldn't be any trouble at all for us to find him a good home. Listen, we can go down to the pound and count the darling, spinning, blankie-loving beasts on death row by the dozens, any day of the week. And, honey, Fido is a six-year-old Shepherd-Lab mix. I am not lying when I tell you that big, older, mixed-breed, garden-variety dogs are almost completely unadoptable, and I don't care if they can whistle Dixie or send semaphore signals with their blankies. What you don't realize is that, though you're trying to lie to me, you're actually telling the truth: Your pet is a special, wonderful, amazing creature. But this mean old world does not care. More importantly, YOU do not care, and I can't fix that problem. All I can do is grieve for all the exceptional animals who live short, brutal, loveless lives and die without anyone ever recognizing that they were indeed very, very special.

4. Finally, just, for God' s sake, for the animal's sake, tell the truth, and the whole truth. Do you think that if you just mumble that your cat is "high-strung," I will say, "Okey-doke! No prob!" and take it into foster care? No, I will start asking questions and uncover the truth, which is that your cat has not used a litter box in the last six months. Do not tell me that you "can't" crate your dog. I will ask what happens when you try to crate him, and you will either be forced to tell me the symptoms of full-blown, severe separation anxiety, or else you will resort to lying some more, wasting more of our time. And, if you succeed in placing your pet in a shelter or foster care, do not tell yourself the biggest lie of all: "Those nice people will take him and find him a good home, and everything will be fine." Those nice people will indeed give the animal every possible chance, but if we discover serious health or behavior problems, if we find that your misguided attempts to train or discipline him have driven him over the edge, we will do what you are too immoral and cowardly to do: We will hold the animal in our arms, telling him truthfully that he is a good dog or cat, telling him truthfully that we are sorry and we love him, while the vet ends his life. How can we be so heartless as to kill your pet, you ask? Do not ever dare to judge us. At least we tried. At least we stuck with him to the end. At least we never abandoned him to strangers, as you certainly did, didn't you?

In short, this little old rescuer/foster momma has reached the point where she would prefer you pet owners to tell her stories like this:

"We went to Wal-Mart and picked up a free pet in the parking lot a couple of years ago. Now we don't want it anymore. We're lazier than we thought. We've got no patience either. We're starting to suspect the animal is really smarter than we are, which is giving us self-esteem issues. Clearly, we can't possibly keep it. Plus, it might be getting sick; it's acting kind of funny. We would like you to take it in eagerly, enthusiastically, and immediately. We hope you'll realize what a deal you're getting and not ask us for a donation to help defray your costs. After all, this is an (almost) pure-bred animal, and we'll send the leftover food along with it. We get it at Wal-Mart too, and boy, it's a really good deal, price-wise. We are very irritated that you haven't shown pity on us in our great need and picked the animal up already. We thought you people were supposed to be humane! Come and get it today. No, we couldn't possibly bring it to you; the final episode of 'Survivor II' is on tonight."

Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Pet Owner, for your cooperation.

Author Unknown, but could be any shelter worker or rescuer

[mimimomx3]

Why not just put the dog down? I'm not in favor of killing animals, but if I'm repsonsible for a dog, and I don't want it...I'm not going to pawn it off on a rescue agency that's already overloaded or run the risk of someone abusing it.