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The rescue organizations in my area are understandably picky who they adopt to. I’ve noticed that on most rescue applications, there’s a question about rehoming past pets. And I’ve seen a surprising number of applicants that admit to giving away a dog only to apply for another in 2/3/4 years later.
Obviously unprovoked violence is a legitimate reason to say sayonara to a dog. But beyond that, are there other lreasons to give your dog away and then apply for another a few years later? What do you think?
Yes, of course. Unfortunately, those who have a legitimate reason for rehoming a pet sometimes get judged by some people who are adamant that once a pet is taken in, the owner is committed for life, regardless of any mitigating circumstances, and they are judged harshly and unfairly. Many people have been forced to give up deeply loved pets because of financial burden that hits suddenly, because of sudden illness, because the pet, as much as they may love them, are too much for them to handle, or other reasons. And those people often tend to suffer horrible pain over being forced into such a situation. I think we're all aware that there are those who will give up a pet at the very first sign of difficulty or inconvenience, and often will make little to no effort to find that animal a loving home, but the ones who do wind up having to surrender their pet - animals that are family to them - and have absolutely no other choice, are the ones who need our respect and understanding.
P.S. I agree with what someone else noted about 'unprovoked violence'. This, in a dog or cat, is extremely rare, happening when a neurological disorder appears. Aggression in an animal that appears 'out of nowhere' simply doesn't just appear suddenly; the animal will give signs, perhaps subtle, perhaps not so subtle, of stress or anxiety that can build to a point of aggression, and a great many people don't notice it until the animal reacts. Whatever human or humans were in the animal's life either didn't take the time to notice, or didn't have the know-how to recognize warning signs. And if a pet does develop aggressive tendencies, then re-homing is irresponsible if the animal is simply given to the first person wanting to take him...the onus is on the owner to find someone capable of handling and working with aggressive cases in order to give that animal the best chance at a new home. If that isn't possible, then sadly, euthanasia is the last resort, and whoever was involved with the animal failed him.
Last edited by bassetluv; 04-17-2019 at 09:49 AM..
Yes, of course. Unfortunately, those who have a legitimate reason for rehoming a pet sometimes get judged by some people who are adamant that once a pet is taken in, the owner is committed for life, regardless of any mitigating circumstances, and they are judged harshly and unfairly. Many people have been forced to give up deeply loved pets because of financial burden that hits suddenly, because of sudden illness, because the pet, as much as they may love them, are too much for them to handle, or other reasons. And those people often tend to suffer horrible pain over being forced into such a situation. I think we're all aware that there are those who will give up a pet at the very first sign of difficulty or inconvenience, and often will make little to no effort to find that animal a loving home, but the ones who do wind up having to surrender their pet - animals that are family to them - and have absolutely no other choice, are the ones who need our respect and understanding.
FWIW, I agree with you completely. Life happens and it's not always pretty.
I can think of a handful of "good ones" coming as a foster for a breed rescue.
The dog is dog aggressive and you have other dogs.
The dog has killed the neighbor's chickens and you need to get the dog out of Dodge because the neighbor is going to raise cain with Animal Control because she has elevated the chickens to personhood in her own mind and local laws enable that a dog that kills livestock is destroyed.
The dog has a health problem you simply can't handle.
You've had a sudden health change that's likely to be permanent.
Your wife is leaving you and you can't do it on your own due to your work schedule and she doesn't want the animal.
The dog has gotten snippy with your children.
And contrary to popular sentiment, some behavior issues are nearly impossible to train away or around.
I had to do it. The little guy had major separation anxiety. I worked and was able to get home for lunch but he couldn’t handle it. I found a homeschooling family and he had a long amazing life where he was rarely alone.
1. Most "unprovoked violence" perpetrated by dogs is anything but unprovoked.
2. But any dog that is human aggressive should never be re-homed unless it's to a very aware and skilled home.
I digress..
My answer to your question is "Yes, there is." If anything working with dogs (municipal shelter, non-profit humane society) has taught me is that there are so many possible explanations for situations that people might find themselves in. And while many people (the vast majority) have excuses and BS stories, there really are some legit reasons.
Some of those are like the previous post - when it benefits the dog to find a home that can give it what it needs for proper mental and physical health. Another one is when the health of the human is such that they are not able to care for the dog. We get quite a number of pets in my shelter from that sort of situation, and it's often heartbreaking because the people desperately want to keep their pet, but just can't.
I have some recent experience with this. My DIL's father just died, a few days ago. He leaves behind a wife who is very fragile at this point in time. Last October, when both of my DIL's parents were in better health,they had adopted a shelter dog, who's a total sweet heart, but he's grown to 50lbs, and his size and exuberance is too much for the wife to handle. THIS particular story has a happy ending, as they were able to find a good home for the pup.
Our friends rehomed their Weimaraner for reasons that my husband and I had seen coming miles away, but we hadn't been able to convince them not to get a dog.
This was a family with seven children ranging from older teens on down to a baby. The father and most of the younger kids (all boys) wanted a dog; the mother and oldest child (a girl) did not. Mom did not want a dog "in her space," so the deal was that the dog would be crated at all times while in the house. They did not have a fenced yard, so the dog had to be chained at all times while outside. The agreement was that the kids (!) would walk the dog every day.
Anyone who has had a dog, especially a big, active breed, could see that train wreck coming. The kids would walk the dog for 5 minutes and be done. The rest of the time, the dog was miserable and lonely while chained outside and miserable and bored while crated inside. It took about half a year, but finally both adults realized they needed to rehome this dog even though the kids cried about giving him up. He was a handsome, friendly purebred and was quickly matched with a younger couple without children who spent hours every day jogging and wanted a dog to run with them.
Should this family ever had gotten a dog, NO. Did they have good reasons for rehoming the dog, YES. And at least they realized that it was their responsibility to do so, and I am sure they will never get another dog.
We (a famiy toys of 2 adults and one 12 year old) adopted a dog (medium size mixed breed) from a shelter 3 months ago. We love dogs and thought about it for 3 years before deciding to make the commitment. My husband is home during the day and it was a good situation.
A week after we brought her home, she began showing a true personality - dog reactive (lunging, barking, growling whenever we see a dog on walks), human reactive (same reaction as seeing a dog) and instances of owner directed aggression.
For some reason or another, I can handle her (look at her teeth, touch her paws, take toys away) without the dog ever growling and snapping at me. My husband, on the other hand, the few instances he tried to pet her, she growled and snapped at him.
We love her and was attached, despite her issues. We went to training for 8 weeks and realized she needed more to help with her reactiveness. So we consulted with a certified behavior consultant and was recommended a 4 week board and train program which cost $$$$. She will get better with her reactiveness but of course there were no guarantee.
The last straw came when we were all on the couch watching TV, the dog was curled up on my side, and when my husband went to pet her, without warning, she turn around and bit my husband's hand. It did not break skin.
Was she protecting me? I don't think so as a day after the biting incident, she was resting my husband. My husband made sure her eyes are open and can see his hand trying to touch her, she snapped.
She also snapped at my 12 year old when the dog was laying across my daughter's lap and my daughter was stroking her under the chin. When my daughter stopped, she snapped.
It was a painful decision for us. We did not want to return her but my husband and daughter no longer feel comfortable. They don't know when they can touch her and it's not suppose to be this way.
I know a poster above said - There is no such thing as unprovoked aggression - yeeeahhh, there is as we experienced it.
I cried everyday after the decision was made and after she was returned to the shelter. I look at all the stuff I bought for her and cried again.
Does this mean we don't deserve another dog ever again? Down the road, we do want a dog in our lives again. A rescue might not want to adopt to us because of the 'history' and that would be too bad. I supposed we would have to go to a breeder.
We did it last year. It had been 3 years since our old dog passed away, and we had just bought a house so we were able to have a dog again. Everyone wanted a puppy. I said we should get an adult dog because they're harder to rehome. We took home a year-old mix (looked like shepherd/husky). He was a very energetic dog, but we thought we were ready.
Unfortunately, he was very mouthy with my kids, who were 6 & 7 at the time. They only had experience with an old dog. They were afraid and cried when he approached them. He also chewed EVERYTHING and had terrible separation anxiety. After 5 days, I began to see my life as a prison created by this dog. It wasn't his fault. He needed work. He needed more work than I had in me. I'd only owned 2 dogs in my life previously and didn't know how to train a dog and my children at the same time. My kids and I all cried over the decision. We called the rescue group and they were able to do a "trade." We got a tiny breed puppy and a young couple with more time and energy (and no kids) got the bigger dog.
It was a heart-wrenching decision. I felt like a failure. But knowing that the dog got a better home and we got a "starter" dog for my kids that has worked out beautifully for our family makes me feel a little better.
I think there could be lots of valid reasons for surrendering a dog. Nobody feels good about it. Ultimately, you have to do what's best for your family and for the dog. When I see pictures of the dog with his family now, I know we made the best decision. And my kids are absolutely in love with our tiny dog.
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