Rehoming our dogs

krlyr

ladymarmalade1970 wrote: »

I agree free advice is not always the best but by the same token no one needs ANY qualifications to set themselves up as a dog trainer or behaviourist etc. I could set myself up tomorrow if i wanted.

And I would be very unlikely to consider using you, unless you had great reviews, were a member of something like the APDT or APBC, had qualifications relating to animal behaviour or practical experience behind you. Yes, anyone can become a trainer or behaviourist, which is why it's important to be just as picky about who you employ to help with your dog as you would a babysitter for your kids, for example. I did specify in my first post that OP use a "good" behaviourist, as opposed to just any behaviourist they find.

ladymarmalade1970

krlyr wrote: »

And I would be very unlikely to consider using you, unless you had great reviews, were a member of something like the APDT or APBC, had qualifications relating to animal behaviour or practical experience behind you. Yes, anyone can become a trainer or behaviourist, which is why it's important to be just as picky about who you employ to help with your dog as you would a babysitter for your kids, for example. I did specify in my first post that OP use a "good" behaviourist, as opposed to just any behaviourist they find.

Good is a subjective term. Given there are all manner of theories surrounding dogs behaviour and instinct etc it can be very hard and depends on if you believe in a certain theory for example, "pack theory". Jan Fennel method etc.

Personally I go with Victoria Stillwell but lots don't.

Tiddlywinks

BigJockKnew wrote: »

Does the OP actually walk her dogs?.......from her other posts she seems to just let them out in the garden, this is shockingly inadequate, dogs need to be walked, to explore.....

No such thing as a bad dog, only bad owners........seems like the dogs have no sort of life due to the OP's laziness.

ladymarmalade1970 wrote: »

Harsh! You could have worded that much more nicely.

Actually, I agree with Big Jock.

Over the last few years the OP has posted loads of threads about the dogs having problems - she has been given loads of advice.... given avenues to research, books to read... None of the advice seems to have been followed.

As to exercise, this has been discussed before... they don't seem to get enough exercise and are never allowed off a lead... not good for the breeds.

The time for 'there, there... the dogs are the problem' has surely now passed.

ladymarmalade1970

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

Actually, I agree with Big Jock.

Over the last few years the OP has posted loads of threads about the dogs having problems - she has been given loads of advice.... given avenues to research, books to read... None of the advice seems to have been followed.

As to exercise, this has been discussed before... they don't seem to get enough exercise and are never allowed off a lead... not good for the breeds.

The time for 'there, there... the dogs are the problem' has surely now passed.

Not knowing the background it's hard to comment but what i have seen is that this owner is in bits considering which one to rehome. It's never easy having to rehome a dog. Sometimes the people ARE at fault however calling her lazy is not very nice and only going to make her feel worse. Doesn't help the dogs either.

There must be a reason for her not letting her dogs off lead. Maybe they have no recall? As i said i don't know the history but as a responsible owner if your dog has no recall, it shouldn't be off lead so that fact in itself shows she is a responsible owner.

catkins

ladymarmalade1970 wrote: »

Not knowing the background it's hard to comment but what i have seen is that this owner is in bits considering which one to rehome. It's never easy having to rehome a dog. Sometimes the people ARE at fault however calling her lazy is not very nice and only going to make her feel worse. Doesn't help the dogs either.

There must be a reason for her not letting her dogs off lead. Maybe they have no recall? As i said i don't know the history but as a responsible owner if your dog has no recall, it shouldn't be off lead so that fact in itself shows she is a responsible owner.

I probably know over 30 greyhound or greyhound cross owners and quite a few of them have more than 1. I would say only about a third of them have dogs than can be let offlead (some of the people who have more than 1 dog can't let all of them off). Some of the others can only let their dogs offlead in a totally secure field and not everyone has one of those nearby. There are several reasons the dogs can't be let off - no recall, dogs will run off, dogs will chase and often try and kill other creatures (rabbits, cats, squirrels etc) or even just that some of the dogs will just run mindlessly and could run into something and injure or even kill themselves. I know of a couple of dogs who ran into trees at full pelt and died.

Spirit_2

catkins wrote: »

Well sorry but I think your husband is talking absolute rubbish.

I think this too black and white.

We have a dog that was rehomed to us. It was not passed on because of any 'badness' on the part of the original owners.

They were mid 70's had been very active, outdoorsy, him a career fisherman. They had always had large water loving dogs, he took them out on board. Infirmity came quite suddenly to him, and his wife was unable to meet his needs and fully meet the activity needs of their dog. Their dog was their 'child' who we could see they loved very much.

The dog is flat coated retriever, he came to us as a well behaved, healthy swims like a fish, five year old. He is now a less well behaved, healthy, fit 10 year old who is devoted to my husband.

The elderly couple did get another dog, a poodle, which they could manage. I think they made a very courageous decision to rehome, in the interests of the dog.

They used the breed society to match him to a new family, we visited them, they visited us before agreeing he could come to us. We kept in touch, however they asked us to stop as news was so emotional for them and no benefit to the dog.

My adult daughter also has half a dozen rescue bunnies. We have had many rabbits over the years, usually foundlings or rehomings to us. Five of the current six are from rescue centres. We give them a good life in terms of space to run, food, grazing, companionship and veterinary care. This morning Hunny Bunny has come home post op from the vet having had a mouth problem sorted, it cost £150. Our daughter has to provide for veterinary care within her own budget and with her always having a handful of rabbits, there are often bills.

I do not agree with the principle of people acquiring small animals and simply passing them on when boredom strikes or they want to exercise choice on how else to spend disposable income . I do however think if the wellfare of the animal is better served by rehoming then that should be considered.

I described some of our bunnies a 'foundlings' as we have currently a bunny I found near death after being dumped in woods near home a few years ago, its mate's remains were in a neighbours field. We have also found a litter of rabbit kittens dumped in the past, but on that occassion we only managed to capture and home one of them.

If society does not enable rehoming, making the case for it to be socially acceptable, I would expect more abandonment.

In recent weeks abandoned equines have been found near here - one being healthy but put down on the spot due to its injuries, others carcasses showing signs of lack of health care.

ladymarmalade1970

catkins wrote: »

I I know of a couple of dogs who ran into trees at full pelt and died.

That's scary!

I know someone that has 5 greyhounds. Contrary to popular belief they don't need lots of exercise. She does have to muzzle them though. Not quite sure why. She implied they are nervous and given my limited experience of greyhounds this seems to be fairly common.

Lovely dogs though i have to add!

Person_one

Spirit wrote: »

I think this too black and white.

Its not at all.

Somewhere between 6000 and 7000 dogs are destroyed every year in this country, just because there are no homes for them.

Trying to dress up ditching your dog as some sort of 'happy breakup' where you both move onto a nicer life is just whitewashing reality.

The cold hard truth is, these two old (for their breed) dogs with a history of aggression and one who has bitten, are very very unlikely to find a happy home. They'll either be killed or face the rest of their lives in kennels.

So the OP needs to have a word with herself, give herself a shake, remind herself of the commitment she made and adjust her priorities a bit in order to at least give them the best chance possible of staying in their home. If she does, and it still doesn't work out, at least she'll have done what she could.

marmitepotato

OP, have you considered a local dog training club? There are several near me, membership is only a couple of £'s and classes are held weekly and also only cost a couple of £'s. When I was Show Ring training my boxer pup, the class before was for basic obedience, but they always had problem dogs and these would receive one to one training as well as basic lessons. Quite a few problem dogs were sorted out by the club. It's worth a try, but would need daily/weekly commitment from you and your hubs. I would never ever ever give up my dogs unless I had explored every single possibility to help them and me out.

teddysmum

My two dogs could argue about food, so they are not allowed to by being fed, one in the kitchen (door closed ) and the other in a crate in the living room. One gobbles and the other likes to tease by saving his until the other has finished, with the chance he may look for more.


At dinner time, the one who is crate fed runs to the crate and pushes the door open, while the other waits in the kitchen, so they are happy with the setup.


If dogs have real problems, there are three options (I took the first , in the past);


1) Work with the problems.


Ask a rescue to take them ,( but rescues are at bursting point, so if they can takes yours, others will die.) and


2) Tell the rescue about the problems; They may say they can't help, as they have healthy problem free dogs waiting


3) Don't tell the rescue and have a future accident on your conscience or, at best, the dogs spend the rest of their lives in kennels.