Reasons for surrendering a dog.

[Ritz459]

I think the saddest two excuses I've ever seen were these two:

"Kids don't want it anymore...they don't play with it" said about a nine year old Chow that had probably been in the family for its whole life. And then them treating the dog like a toy that can be taken off of a shelf and played with is just disgusting.

"Digs holes in the backyard" said about a 10year old Great Dane who was kept outside. WTH!?! I mean, the dog is BORED people!

It just sickens me when people throw away their senior dog like yesterdays garbage. I coudln't imagine throwing out my pets just because they are old....they have that much more of a bond with you. I hope the people who did this, when they are old and in a nursin home, I hope their kids never come to see them or take care of them and that they think about the time they threw out the dog because it got old.

[britishbandit]

Originally Posted by Pearlulm

Well, I guess if people look hard enough they can find an excuse to justify their actions (to themselves)! We had a dog once, Rolf that we got at the shelter. He weighed 1 1/2 pounds. We were told that he would be no bigger than 20 lbs. That very night he came home, I knew something was wrong. The next morning we went to the vet. He had kennel cough, bacteria infection in his intestines ( the vet said that he wouldn't have lived two more days if I hadn't taken him in), ear mites, etc. We got him all better after many trips to the vets office. 3 months after we got him we found out that we were going to have to move from NC to a townhouse in Northern VA. He was part of the family so of course he came with us. When he was 6 months we had him neatured. The vet called and said that he was very aggresive and have severe bahaviorial problem. So he went to obiedence classes. Turns out that he ended up being 55 lbs! Classes helped some but he still had "issues". He lived until 2003 (13 years) and we never were able to completely housetrain him. He wouldn't go when you were in the room but he would lift his leg on the furniture and he loved to leave a pile in the dining room if given a chance. He also took a bite out of my dad, my step-father in law and even a 10 year old girl. (In his defense, he was on a leash and the girl ran into him) Anyway, we still loved our Rolf. I could have found many excuses along the way but I took the responsibilty to the end. I believe in karma and believe that he is the reason I have three extra sweet dogs now.

And that is wonderful! Even going into this you knew there could and likely would be problems, but you stuck through it and gave this dog 13 years that he probably wouldn't have gotten if he'd have been with someone else. And 1 1/2lbs.....OMG....he must have been close to death.

[Glitzie]

Here is one I worry about sometimes...
If ever, I had to move. DaKota. She is a German Shepherd(on a dangerous breed list here) Most home owners insurrance will not accept German Shepherds on thier premisses. Even ones that show no aggression & have a C.G.C. My sister had to sadly give away a very gentle pet Rottweiler because of this. I see many of these breeds in shelters here because of this. I even had a neighbor approach me & said they were dropped by their home owners insurance because they have a 9 year old German Shepherd & were afraid they might have to rehome him. Would that be a reasonable
excues to rid of a cherished family pet????

[Pearlulm]

I would say that if this happens then you should check around with other insurance companies. Maybe you could find one that wouldn't have these restrictions. We have our insurance with Geico/Travelers and they have never asked about our dogs. It is sad that some insurance companies do have a blacklist of certain breeds of dogs. I know when my daughter got her renters insurance they asked and had a list of "prohibited" dogs. As I said in a previous post, we had a dog that was very aggresive once and he wouldn't have been on a list because he was a benji looking ball of fur. It's very unfair!

[Beryl]

Originally Posted by Dogsareme

My new boyfriend/Girlfriend/husband/Wife doesn't like the dog

I heard about a woman who actually euthanized her cat because her new boyfriend didn't want it around. The person who told me about it is not an animal-lover (allergic) but she was appalled at the behavior and wrote the woman off as a friend as a result. She could have at least taken the cat to a shelter instead!

Turns out that the relationship didn't even last.

[Shelties]

I heard this excuse for giving up a cat when you are going to be a first time Mother " Im afraid my child is going to get smothered to death in the crib" ( which we all know that's a MYTH of an old wife tale it's not a FACT) also adding that this woman's cat has Lukemea (sp?) that the cat would be puking all over the place and didn't want the child stepping in it. SO she got rid of the Cat!

[PawNclaws]

I heard this excuse for giving up a cat when you are going to be a first time Mother " Im afraid my child is going to get smothered to death in the crib" ( which we all know that's a MYTH of an old wife tale it's not a FACT) also adding that this woman's cat has Lukemea (sp?) that the cat would be puking all over the place and didn't want the child stepping in it. SO she got rid of the Cat!

This is sad, but it actually happend to one of my grampas nefews( I was told of this story by my mom). They(grand-dads sister) had a cat and the cat was found sleeping on the babies face one morning. He hated cats after that but has a few now(it was a looooong time ago). I think he finally saw that cats don't really do that. That was a freak accident and people who actually think this(like that idiot who gave up her puppy, she thinks cats do this.. ugh) need to get a clue. We've had cats ever since I was born and I'm still alive. I feel for that kittie, so many things people do. It reallty hurts.

OMG!! A puppy pooping on the floor, who'd of thunk it!

Yup, I was shocked. Thankfully I don't have to work with her or her cat killing sister anymore- they both quite(one was going to get fired anyway) and are both moving to NY next week. I'm sooo happy !!

[D.Schäferhund]

Originally Posted by rmci

I agree that these are excuses, and sad ones at that, but I think you're being a bit harsh on this one:

What if the owners were laid off, lost their home, and were unable to find someone to take care of their dog? Most likely this is not the case with most that use this excuse but it can happen.

hi totally agree,
Kessy brought us to finacial exhaustion once, we still are recovering from that, luckly!!!
We were to the point that if there would have been comming more of it i would have to give her away or put her to sleep, because we simlply couldn't afford anymore costs.
It would have broke my heart but finacialwise nothing else to do.
I am glad we could work that out.
No it wasn't something that could happen everyday...
But I agree you have to have the basic money to keep a dog, and in rough times dogs go eith very little if needed.
what makes it so hard here is that vets want money up front or rarly work a payplan with you.
Giveing her up would have teared my heart out , but knowing she is alive but in a differnt place would have been better for me then putting her down.
Yes maybe this is an extremecase, but it can happen.
Iknow there are a lot of people out there that use these excuses, and it is just wrong,and you are probably right on the spot with your list.

what i know as beeing really popular for an excuse is:
Allergies.....

[kalija]

When I was pregnant with my now 2 yr old son, I was shocked that several people asked me if we were going to "get rid" of our GSD Dutchess. WTH? She guards that boy with her life.....
And years ago we found a cat living in our garage at our apartment complex, we heard later that his family just left him when they moved because they couldn't take him, mind you it was the dead of winter in an area where temps frequently dive below zero. He was the best cat, I used to tell him all the time it was their loss! We had him for 10 years and when he got bone cancer it was costing us mega-bucks every week to take him to the vet for his medicine. I'm still paying that off, a year later, but heck, I'd have taken out a second mortgage if it would have saved his life.
We got Dutchess from a guy who was going to take her to the shelter because she ate up his furniture. Duh, ever hear of a crate??? What chance would a 18 month old GSD with absolutely NO training have of being adopted? But he just got her on a whim, anyway, no big deal to him. I can't beleive how cruel people can be.
As for being worried about cats sleeping in the crib, uh, close the door! (Or install a screen door, cats can't get in but you can still see the baby!)

[mulroony]

Glitzie - W/ all the major homer owners insurance around (a few of them are "vicious dog" friendly) I find it hard to believe you could not find a company willing to cover you if you searched enough. (You might have to pay higher premiums, but that is part of ownership like being a 21 yr old male getting car insurance ) The key is keeping your record w/ the dog perfectly clean, and considering anything as important as home owners insurance before moving.

The truth is many of the reasons people give for getting rid of their pets are blatant lies. Usually they are covering for a behavior of the dogs (like aggression), that they cannot live with but do not want the dog PTS, or they do not want to seem incompetent so they look for a more reasonable excuse. (Heck Shelby was "un-trainable" according to her last owner)

[richnrissa]

Thats a good point about the insurance mulrooeny, and like car insurance where you can get discounts and credit for taking driving school lessons, etc, i'm sure w/ obedience classes, and a 'clean' record for the dog you'd have better chances of finding the homeowners too.
ppl w/ multiple DUI's, accidents, etc get car insurance every day, even those horrid 21 yrd old guys somehow get it

[rmci]

When I was 18 my mom passed away, my grandma sold her house, and I ended up homeless. All the money I had was being spent on food and hotels. I asked everyone I knew to look after my cat and no one would do it, so I ended up surrendering him to the shelter. To this day it still breaks my heart that I had to do that but I had no other choice.

[Beryl]

You did the responsible thing, IMO - rmci.

This is an interesting thread which has gotten me thinking.
Financial reasons - can be a good reason
Allergies - can be a good reason
True, people should do the research on what pet ownership can cost and if you have allergies. However but sometimes "life happens" and allergies can develop later by one or more family members. It is really sad when a baby develops a pet allergy.

I respect people who make those tough decisions after considerable thought. It is better to take a dog to a shelter or try to find someone to adopt than select alternatives which harm the animal. I've seen neglected and otherwise abused dogs which is far worse. (The same goes for those with children, IMO. )

It is particularly expensive to care for an animal at the beginning and end of their lives. After spending thousands of dollars keeping my GSD comfortable at the end of his life, I think of how most people who don't have the same resources would have handled it. Would they have put the senior dog down earlier? Would they have taken him to a shelter with the hopes that someone who could afford to give it a longer life would? I remember adopting a senior dog for my father to accompany him at the end of his life a few years ago so senior dogs still have value.

I'd hate to be in the position where I might have to give up my dog. Those poor pet-owners who were affected by Hurricane Katrina!

[britishbandit]

Originally Posted by rmci

When I was 18 my mom passed away, my grandma sold her house, and I ended up homeless. All the money I had was being spent on food and hotels. I asked everyone I knew to look after my cat and no one would do it, so I ended up surrendering him to the shelter. To this day it still breaks my heart that I had to do that but I had no other choice.

And you did have a legitimate reason for doing it.
This post wasn't meant to offend or target anyone. But there are very rare cases like yours that really were for the best interest of the people and animals involved.
I would never say in that instance, that you were making excuses or doing something that could've been avoided.

[richnrissa]

Yes, there can be legitimate reasons, even some that have been mentioned as illegitimate can in some cases be legitimate...
i think, however, its HOW its done as much as WHY its done.
You should put as much research and effort into keeping the animal, finding a good home, a respectible shelter/rescue, that you should have put into in getting the animal in the first place.
I can imagine many scenarios where i may not be able to properly care for my 2 kiddles, but i can imagine many more ways to accomodate the tragedy that would have to ensue to get to that point...