Rehoming our dogs

ladymarmalade1970

Person_one wrote: »

Its not at all.
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.

I actually agree with this. In particular give yourself a shake bit. It IS hard but do the best you can, research every avenue and then at least you will know you have done your best.

If you can't walk them - not sure this is true as haven't read background, get them spring poles, tyres, cow hooves, nina ottosson dogs toys etc. Anything to remove the energy. Boomer balls are excellent as they can't pick them up and just chase them.

Worst case scenario and you do have to rehome try the rescues for their breeds first. They will be more forgiving than say the RSPCA.

You could also try looking for their breed forums and see what others have to say on there.

Beetlemama

Person_one wrote: »

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.

It's not dressing it up, you find a home for your dog where it will be happy, at no point did I say go chuck it in the shelter, I said rehome it. She is not happy, her husband is not happy and the dogs sure as !!!! aren't happy. They need to be separated, they need new homes and they need to be only dogs or with a very carefully screened second dog. People have said she doesn't walk them and that they have tried to advise her before and she hasn't taken that advice, she's maybe not capable of doing the thing you assume would be easy, or maybe being attacked and intimidated makes her too afraid to try. The dogs have got to go, stop trying to put her off doing it because you think she hasn't tried hard enough, how unhappy do you think these animals have to be before you'll agree it's for the best?

And anyway, not all break ups are happy, my first husband was fine when I met him, even when I married him, if I was sitting here saying he'd started punching me in the face after 9 years, when he was 40, I double dare you to sit there and say I should stay with him because he's "old" now and no one's going to want him. She's getting hurt, the dogs got to go.

I am sure she'll do her best to find him/them a decent home, but the inescapable fact is that she's at least trying to think of a solution, she hasn't had him put down yet, but if he stays in this situation where is clearly not working, that'll be the next post, she's in hospital and he's dead.

ladymarmalade1970

I actually had to rehome a dog of mine 12 years ago. Was a jack russle cross and i had him for 7 years but as i was a single parent at the time and working LONG hours he was left home alone for sometimes 12 hours a day. It was very hard but luckily a friend had in laws who wanted a dog and took him in. He had also bitten SEVERAL people and was pretty destructive too but JRT's generally need to be worked and he wasn't so not his fault.

When he died at the grand old age of 14 i sent his new owners some flowers to say sorry for their loss and thanks so much for loving him and giving him a good life.

It can be done with a bit of luck.

I honestly believe my dog at that time had a better life with his new owners than he could have had with me at that point in time.

Saying that it was still very hard and broke my heart.

Person_one

I have rescue dogs, for many its a fantastic thing to happen to them and they end up in a much better home.

However, there's no getting away from the fact that 6000-7000 are killed every year. They don't all get a happy ending, and the older and more troubled they are the worse their chances are.

catkins

Beetlemama wrote: »

It's not dressing it up, you find a home for your dog where it will be happy, at no point did I say go chuck it in the shelter, I said rehome it. She is not happy, her husband is not happy and the dogs sure as !!!! aren't happy. They need to be separated, they need new homes and they need to be only dogs or with a very carefully screened second dog. People have said she doesn't walk them and that they have tried to advise her before and she hasn't taken that advice, she's maybe not capable of doing the thing you assume would be easy, or maybe being attacked and intimidated makes her too afraid to try. The dogs have got to go, stop trying to put her off doing it because you think she hasn't tried hard enough, how unhappy do you think these animals have to be before you'll agree it's for the best?

I am sure she'll do her best to find him/them a decent home, but the inescapable fact is that she's at least trying to think of a solution, she hasn't had him put down yet, but if he stays in this situation where is clearly not working, that'll be the next post, she's in hospital and he's dead.

But the chances are she will not be able to find another home for the dog. You say it (I have bolded your sentence) as though it is oh so easy to find another home but it's not. IF she can get a rescue to take him there is every chance he will end up pts. If she can live with that fine but if not then she should take note of the advice on here and act on it.


As I said, I know a lot of people involved in dog rescue and the majority of them are in greyhound/lurcher/greyhound cross rescue. These rescues are full to overflowing. Some of them are not able to take any more dogs in. I have a friend who fosters for one of the rescues who at present has 2 fosters plus her own dog. She herself has some health problems and ideally does not want 3 dogs plus one of the fosters is not cat friendly and her neighbour has a cat that likes to lay in my friend's garden. She is having to muzzle the dog every time it goes in the garden and watch her constantly.


Of course I realise that sometimes an owner has no choice but to give a dog to rescue but surely that should be a last resort? Far too many people give up far too easily.

thorsoak

Crisp_£_note wrote: »

We are considering rehoming one if not both of our 2 dogs. I am heartbroken by the idea but with the aggression becoming uncontrolable at mealtimes and not being able to afford behaviourist training (as advised by vet) we see no alternative. My husband has just begun his seasonal job for this year which will run until November. Meaning a lot of the time I am now home alone with the dogs.

He's only been out 2 days and on both occasions I have been confined to one room as the 1 of the dogs has been 'guarding' their food and the other just wants to eat it. Thank heaven there is a baby gate or a door in-between or fur would be flying and maybe worse.

I got bitten by one of the dogs last year which I do believe was partly my fault to blame as he wouldn't come out of the bathroom and I needed to use it.

Yesterday it was so bad my husband came and got the dog and took him back to work with him and it had to stay in the car. Not something either of us would agree with but there was little choice. It just so happend he rang me to say hello and sensed there was something wrong other than the fact he could hear a dog fight (through a baby gate) going on in the background. It just so happens he was working at a local event but a lot of the time he is away from home so this isnt at all the answer or practical. I worried he would lose his job over this yesterday but he reassured me his 'boss' was ok with allowing him to come to the rescue as it was obviously needed. He literaly came home gave me a reassuring hug got the dog and his suitcase (bowl and water) took him out back to work with him no time to stop. Leaving me distraught as to what to do.

I really dont know what to do. Even my mother in law feels it's got too much and for the dogs welfare and ours rehoming is the answer. Yes she is an animal lover. To me though always having dogs, cats etc myself and keeping them till their end of life this scenario really is unthinkable I feel a failure. I know I cannot cope I admit it and yet we simply cant afford the help we need with the situation either.

Asking me to choose between which dog goes and which dog stays is tearing me apart. I cant choose. In honestly I would prefer they both be rehomed separately (as its now evident they dont get along and need to be an only dog)

To put this into some kind of perspective our dogs are like our children as we are unable to conceive. Yes we know they are dogs and not humans and so that is how we see and treat them with the respect to be dogs. So asking us to choose who we 'throw out' and who 'stays with us' is almost unnacceptable behaviour.

We recognise its for the dogs best interests as well as ours but none the less we realise we worry about their future and our faillure to provide a happy old age for them (they are 8 - 9 now).

Is there anyone who can offer assistance at re-homing them with dog lovers who have the time to allow us to keep in touch with them? Or anywhere who maybe able to provide the much needed rehabilitation in behavioural issues we need free?

Thank you for understanding this is causing us (me in particular) much anxiety and stress right now we are devastated and distraughtly anxious.

You have had so much advice over the years - have you not followed it through? To be honest, you cannot expect any REPUTABLE rescue to take in dogs that show aggression and then place them in families - they need to go to specialist Rescues which can work with them. And specialist rescues are so full at the moment. It's a great pity that you didn't get a behavourist/trainer and then put in the work necessary to get both dogs behaving well for you.

Tiddlywinks

catkins wrote: »

But the chances are she will not be able to find another home for the dog. You say it (I have bolded your sentence) as though it is oh so easy to find another home but it's not. IF she can get a rescue to take him there is every chance he will end up pts. If she can live with that fine but if not then she should take note of the advice on here and act on it.


As I said, I know a lot of people involved in dog rescue and the majority of them are in greyhound/lurcher/greyhound cross rescue. These rescues are full to overflowing. Some of them are not able to take any more dogs in. I have a friend who fosters for one of the rescues who at present has 2 fosters plus her own dog. She herself has some health problems and ideally does not want 3 dogs plus one of the fosters is not cat friendly and her neighbour has a cat that likes to lay in my friend's garden. She is having to muzzle the dog every time it goes in the garden and watch her constantly.


Of course I realise that sometimes an owner has no choice but to give a dog to rescue but surely that should be a last resort? Far too many people give up far too easily.

Exactly... how many people would be falling over themselves to adopt an old dog (10 yo) with aggressive tendencies?

Let's not dress this up - the poor dog is likely to be PTS by a rescue as rehoming will be unlikely and it wouldn't be fair (or affordable) to keep him in the rescue for the rest of his life.

missindecisive

Op. Are the dogs spayed?

Feed them in separate rooms.

Walk them twice a day, rain or shine.

Do you play with them? Fetch. Etc....

Go back to basics. Do you praise them when they show good behaviour?

If you've made the decision to rehome, perhaps you could just rehome one rather than both.

krlyr

Beetlemama wrote: »

And anyway, not all break ups are happy, my first husband was fine when I met him, even when I married him, if I was sitting here saying he'd started punching me in the face after 9 years, when he was 40, I double dare you to sit there and say I should stay with him because he's "old" now and no one's going to want him. She's getting hurt, the dogs got to go.

I am sure she'll do her best to find him/them a decent home, but the inescapable fact is that she's at least trying to think of a solution, she hasn't had him put down yet, but if he stays in this situation where is clearly not working, that'll be the next post, she's in hospital and he's dead.

What on earth does leaving an abusive marriage have to do with choosing to rehome dogs rather than train them?

Katiehound

Sadly in this day and age old dogs are particularly hard to home- that's why there is an "Oldies Club." Add to that problems of aggression etc I think you are looking at dogs being pts. Rescues are full to bursting already.

I had an old boy who was aggressive with certain other dogs. He was pts in March at the age of 15+, I had had him 14 years and for many of those years attended dog training classes weekly. I worked really hard with him and would never have dreamed of rehoming him.
I have also had to take a dog into rescue due to extreme 'girlie' aggression which resulted in a fight during which I got bitten. I was heart broken taking girl no 2 into rescue, having worked so hard with her training for 14 months (she was a rescue) but she was a lovely dog aged 5 and got a good home.
My dogs have never eaten together- it's a recipe for disaster.
They also have had either lots of exercise or mental stimulation- eg foul weather day they have had their food in Buster cubes!

I can't see a happy ending to this tale, certainly not for the dogs concerned.