I see pet ownership as a lifelong commitment to the animal. I can’t imagine giving up my mutt, or my cat. I believe it is my responsibility to care for them and make sure they are happy. But, what if I can’t make them happy? Would it really be so terrible to find them new homes? This is a question pet owners face every day.
I’ll use my mutt as an example. Ace’s first owner, Karen, felt obligated to adopt Ace as a puppy because she knew the person who owned the mother dog. Karen already owned a dog and a cat and had her hands full raising a teenage daughter. In nine months, Ace grew to be 60 pounds. He was spending all his life in a kennel or tied in the yard, and therefore he was full of energy at all times and out of control. Karen’s daughter had nothing to do with Ace. No one took the time to train him, let alone walk him or play with him. It was less than a year before Karen put Ace up for adoption through www.adoptapetfm.org.
Karen made the same mistake thousands of people make every year, the mistake of adopting an animal without being prepared and committed. But finding Ace a new home was the best thing Karen did for him, her family and maybe even me. Ace was not mistreated in Karen’s home. He probably had a better life than 90 percent of the animals in this country. But Karen knew Ace could be happier. Plus, he was causing added stress to her life. It is not worth it to burden yourself and keep an animal if it is making your life miserable. You have to put yourself and family members before your pets.
When I adopted Ace from Karen, he did not know how to walk on a leash. He had been walked one time. He did not know any commands. He had experienced very little in a year. Next month marks the one-year anniversary of when I adopted Ace. Since then, he has completed two levels of obedience classes, three agility classes, gone on two backpacking trips, swam, taken road trips and trained for a marathon. He is the perfect dog for my lifestyle. He is athletic and built for endurance, yet he is perfectly happy sleeping all day while I am at work.
Ace is just one example of a dog who was living an unfulfilled life, and his story turned out OK. Across the country, there are thousands of dogs living in less than perfect homes or in homes that just aren’t right for them. Maybe the dog has no room to run. Maybe it needs a job to do. Maybe it fears children. Or maybe its owner is just unwilling or unable to spend time with it. Dogs that are not trained or exercised are often the dogs that cause problems. They can become frustrated, aggressive and unpredictable.
It’s rarely the dog’s fault, and it’s not always the owner’s fault either. It’s just that some dogs are not compatible with certain people. In these situations, looking for a new home for the dog is often the best solution.
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Hi Lindsay. I’m enjoying this blog! I’m personally very codogpendent and couldn’t live without my Pepper. But, as you have succinctly explored, sometimes people are moved to do the wrong thing and quickly take on more than they can handle, usually out of guilt or impulse shopping, or to fill up a hole, mistakenly, in a life lacking meaning.
My best suggestion to people thinking that they will need to re-home an animal is to SPAY or NEUTER it well in advance!!!
Often I see, mainly on Craigslist, folks saying this: “Come and rescue our Fido. We are moving. He has had no training, is shy and skittish, nips at our kid, has had no shots and is not fixed. We want $500 to make sure he goes to a good home…” well, in the real world that dog is going to cost somebody way more than that by the time it’s neutered, vaccinated, groomed, provisioned, etc – so if people could at LEAST get the neuter done, it makes it more feasible for all.
Plus, of course, neutering can help minimize some of the behaviors that may be causing the need for re-home, and also it makes sure the dog can’t be bred later, adding to the overpopulation problem.
Not every home needs a pet… That seems cold and contrary to what many Americans think. Especially young boyfriend/girlfriend lovebirds, they just have to have a Chihuahua or pit bull…? Since these trendy overpopulated breeds can be had for a song now, it’s so easy to pick one up and push all the “let’s play house” buttons. We have all seen it… then a year later the dogs can be easily dumped off at the pound when the couple breaks up and “dogs aren’t allowed” and Mom and Dad can’t or won’t take over pet care.
I sound so cynical! I think working in an animal shelter for so many years ruined me.
But I have my Pepper now and she’s going to be a very happy dog for as long as she lives, like Ace!!
Thanks for reading this looooong comment! Bonnie
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Very interesting article. I have a blog with funny dogs, maybe you want to visit, too! Thanks!
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I have actually been in this situation, and would encourage pet owners to be honest with themselves when adopting. In our case, we already had one basset hound, and wanted to adopt a friend for her. After making sure that we really wanted to take on the added responsibility, we adopted another wonderful basset named Reggie.
Reggie did not have much history available. All we knew was that he had been neglected by his previous owner. He came to us extremely underweight and needed quite a bit of training. We spent a lot of money on good old Reggie – there were a lot of vet bills to take care of his medical needs at the time, and we spent quite a lot on food just to get him to a healthy weight. We spent a lot of time giving Reggie what he needed even more – love. We were eventually successful at getting him trained to walk on a leash and to house-train him.
Despite all of our efforts, it became apparent after we adopted him that Reggie had been an outside dog. We had a small yard, and it just wasn’t enough for poor Reggie (our other dog was content spending hours outside basking in the sun). Multiple walks weren’t enough either. Every time he was in the house (which is small), Reggie would just pace around and around – it became obvious to us that he needed more.
Luckily for us, our neighbor had taken quite a liking to Reggie. He and his family ended up moving to a farm, and he really wanted a hunting dog. He knew of our trials and tribulations with Reggie, and after some discussion they decided that they would like to take him in. We already knew that he got along with their other dog, and it turned out to be a great decision.
We still talk to our old neighbors, and Reggie now leaves their farm in the morning and returns at dinner time. He’s as happy as can be. I still think that Reggie was meant to come into our lives – we really got him on his feet in terms of health and training. I like to think that we were his “halfway house”.
I guess I just wanted to share my story to make the point that despite having the best intentions, things don’t always work out as planned. We love Reggie, but he was not meant to be a house dog. Knowing that we did what we could and made the best decision for him was part of our lifelong commitment to him, even though he isn’t with us anymore.
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You touched on an important point most first time pet owners completely miss. The dog you choose should match your life style, environment and temperment. Look how many big working dogs are owned by execs who live in small apartments in the city with no space for the dog to run and pratically nowhere to exercise.
I’ve seen many people choose a dog they think looks cute in a photograph without considering the dogs characteristics, tempermant or activity level and how that fits theirs.
2G’s Mom
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Thanks everyone for sharing your dog stories! I’m glad Pepper and Reggie have good homes.