Comments on: Weekly question: Have you ever given up a dog?

By: Lindsay Stordahl

Lindsay Stordahl — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 23:02:39 +0000

Hi Ty. Yeah, lack of commitment is the biggest problem in my opinion. Not that commitment can prevent all problems, just most.

By: Ty Brown

Ty Brown — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 02:52:29 +0000

Good post. This speaks a lot to the education that should be happening from a young age with regards to animals. As a dog trainer for a living I come across a ton of people who should have never got a dog in the first place. Perhaps they don’t have the time, the space, or the level of commitment that one should have when bringing a living creature into their home. If people understood commitment and responsibility many would never get the dog in the first place and then no need to re-home.

By: Lindsay Stordahl

Lindsay Stordahl — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 20:15:20 +0000

I know what you mean, Casto. I can’t imagine giving up my pets, not even my boyfriend’s annoying cat. They are our responsibility.

By: castocreations hzk

castocreations hzk — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:54:42 +0000

I cannot imagine giving up a pet for any reason other than death of my spouse or some other horrible life changing event. And even then I’d be loathe to let them go. My dogs are my family!!!

Then again, I did give my cats to my mother in law but I felt much less attachment to them as I do for my dogs. I love my cats, don’t get me wrong. But my dogs are my babies. My companions. My friends. My partner in agility in the case of Trooper.

By: Marie

Marie — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:37:15 +0000

When I got started in rescue I could never have understood someone giving up their pet. In the last 8 years, I have softened that opinion. I think that there are cases where the pet is not in a home that is the best fit for either the people or the pet. In that case I do understand re-homing a pet, but not ever by means of a “free to a good home” type ad.

That having been said, I still feel like most pets that are given up by their families are given up for stupid reasons.

Maries last blog post..Wordless Wednesday 09-24-08

By: Jen

Jen — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:47:02 +0000

You have a wonderful blog!

By: Abz & Chels

Abz & Chels — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:18:24 +0000

I remember when my house had been sold and there were hardly any houses to rent and even fewer that would let me take our Cocker Spaniel Mozart, we had decided on putting her in a kennel and trying to manage seeing him as often as we could.

Around the same time my mothers friend (2hrs from us) lost her dog to old age and mum suggested Mozart went with her…it was a bloody hard decision.Moz was 6 at the time and we’d had him from a pup.

In school holidays my son got to see Mozart as often as he wanted and he was living the life of a spoilt lap dog… in reflection it was the best decision, but at the time it was gut wrenching for us all…

Mozart has since died of old age, happy content and loved.

Abz & Chelss last blog post..Our Pup

By: Biggie-Z

Biggie-Z — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:12:40 +0000

Hi Lindsay, you bring up a really important issue. I agree with Cynthia. Sometimes all the wanting and commitment in the world cannot overcome a bad fit. Or, for example, a family where one of the caretakers has a chronic illness or finds that they are traveling for work much more than they’d anticipated. After 9/11 my husband was deployed indefinitely (turns out he was gone for 3 months) and I was traveling coast-to-coast weekly for my job. My dog at the time was 12 and manageable with lots of kennel time – it was ok even though it was ridiculously expensive. But if my job didn’t pay enough for me to do this, or if he was having issues at the kennel, or was hard to handle … who knows?

I don’t say this lightly, because I am totally with you that there are too many irresponsible pet owners who don’t fully realize the commitment when they decide to get that cute puppy “for the kids” and then don’t socialize it or manage it properly.

But I did want to point out that sometimes all the commitment in the world can’t overcome certain issues. For example, Biggie is GREAT with babies and small children. He is super sweet and protective and gentle with them and we’ve taken pains to introduce him to lots and lots of kids since we’re thinking of having kids ourselves. We have every reason to believe he’d be great with our own kids. But what if he isn’t? I’m not saying that re-homing would be the first “answer” but I could definitely imagine situations where it would be better for the dog and the people if the dog were rehomed.

Which brings me to my last point – and then I’ll stop with all this long-windedness! – most *reputable* breeders of purebred dogs will promise that they will take their pups back, no questions asked, if it ever comes to that. They would rather take their furbabies back than risk them getting euthanized or put up on craigslist or end up at the shelter.

By: Cynthia

Cynthia — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:10:03 +0000

Well, years ago I could never have imagined rehoming an animal. And the six dogs I have now, I have bonded with so much that there’s no way I’d give any of them up.

However, I had a greyhound for a while, when I was doing greyhound rescue… and we didn’t really fit together so I placed him in a home. And the cats, well, I’m not sure I’ll ever really bond with our cats, because I do so much with the dogs, so I could probably rehome them if I absolutely had to.

I used to be really down on people who had to rehome their animals, but I’m not so much anymore. I have seen dogs go from a home that wasn’t a good fit, to one that’s a great fit, and I’m so glad the dog was rehomed. So it really does depend on the situation.

By: jan

jan — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 19:04:27 +0000

When I went away to college I had to leave my beagle that I had had all summer with my family. They didn’t have time for her and found another family with children and other dogs to take care of her. I was heartbroken, but I know the dog was happier, the other family was happier, my family was happier and I was just selfish.

jans last blog post..Interview with Laurie aka Andrew’s mom from “Greatest American Dog”