What is the best way to find a new home for a dog?

[connorlevismom]

I am not looking for a debate on whether or not I am a horrible person for getting rid of my dog, I am looking for advice.

We have had our dog since he was 6 months old, he is now 9. He is a great dog but has become a little testy when it comes to taking orders. There are times when he is told to get off the furniture (which he knows he is not allowed on) or go to his kennel and he will show his teeth. He even snapped at my DH once when he walked towards him to get off the couch. So, he needs to find a new place to live. With a 6 year old and a 5 month old, I cannot take the chance of him turning on one of the kids for some reason.

I stuggle with how to do it though. I cannot take him to a shelter because at his age, I am afraid nobody will want him. My DH said he would rather put him to sleep than take him to a shelter. At least he would know what happene to him. I tried contacting his breeds rescue group and they were no help telling me to hire a trianer and that they would not take him.

So what is the best way to do this? I want to make sure he goes to a good home, but he needs to go.

Kristine

 

[jlewisinsyr]

The rescue groups are correct, you need a trainer.

 

[Jennasis]

You are going to throw away NINE YEARS with this dog...this family member...without first trying to get to the root of his change in demeanor????

Wow. I'm not speechless. There are a lot of things I'd like to say. But I will only say this: You owe it to him to take him to the vet first to see if there is a medical cause for his change in behavior, and then SECOND, to a trainer to try to fix it.

If you are unwilling to do both of those, then try putting an ad on craigslist, and never ever own a pet again.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Perhaps a trainer and then reconsider the rescue?

Is he injured or sick in any way?

Did his behavior change when your youngest was born?

I would not put an animal to sleep before knowing if what they have is correctable. There is no need to give him a death sentence. And a shelter will ask about behavioral issues and likely won't adopt him out on that alone.

 

[connorlevismom]

Whatever, this is why I was not going to post here. I thought someone might actually help me. I DID take him to a vet, there is nothing wrong with him. As for the trainer, we have gone that route as well. The vet says he is proably just getting old and ornary. Well, I cannot take the chance that my ORNARY pet will bite my baby!

Kristine

 

[monkeybug]

I am not looking for a debate on whether or not I am a horrible person for getting rid of my dog, I am looking for advice.

We have had our dog since he was 6 months old, he is now 9. He is a great dog but has become a little testy when it comes to taking orders. There are times when he is told to get off the furniture (which he knows he is not allowed on) or go to his kennel and he will show his teeth. He even snapped at my DH once when he walked towards him to get off the couch. So, he needs to find a new place to live. With a 6 year old and a 5 month old, I cannot take the chance of him turning on one of the kids for some reason.

I stuggle with how to do it though. I cannot take him to a shelter because at his age, I am afraid nobody will want him. My DH said he would rather put him to sleep than take him to a shelter. At least he would know what happene to him. I tried contacting his breeds rescue group and they were no help telling me to hire a trianer and that they would not take him.

So what is the best way to do this? I want to make sure he goes to a good home, but he needs to go.

Kristine

Have you tried Craigslist? I know some people don't like the idea of using Craigslist to re-home a dog, but I also know quite a few people who found their pets that way.
A trainer is a great idea, but if your dog is showing aggression, and you have a baby that will soon be crawling (and poking and pulling at the dog) I can understand why you want to find the dog a new home.
We have an older dog who has gotten a bit cranky in his old age, and he has growled at the kids, but never shown his teeth or come any where even close to biting them. If that happened though, it would be time to put him down (he is 13). Your children's safety has to be your first priority. Sometimes dog lovers (and rescue groups) overlook that it seems.

 

[JessicaR]

What kind of dog is he?

 

[Christine]

There is probably no rescue group that is going to take a 9 year old dog with known aggression. I'm sure that's not what you wanted to hear but if the dog doesn't have adoptable qualities, it puts the rescue group in a terrible position.

I understand your concerns but I think there is more that your vet could do. One is to put the dog on a behaviorial medication to see if that tames his aggression.

The other is get advice from another trainer.

We have a facility where I live that works specifically with aggression issues. Your dog may well be ornery; however, this can be dealt with if there is no medical reason (tumor) causing it.

To me, it sounds as if, through the chaos of having young children, the dog has not been consistently disciplined and is trying to assert himself as alpha in the household (hence the growling/teeth when you reprimand him). Reinforcement of who is the boss and some training techniques that show him he is the submissive animal in your household can stop it.

 

[lillygator]

craigslist or petfinder.com

 

[AlleyKat]

He may be stressed due to your new addition, wondering what happened to his "me" time.

Animals are pretty good at hiding ills. Irregardless of what your vet told you, he may have health issues that are not yet detectable...arthritis may be settling in, he may have an absessed tooth, etc.

I'd give him an occasional couch day but I also don't mind pets on furniture!

 

[connorlevismom]

What kind of dog is he?

He is a purebred Springer Spaniel.

Kristine

 

[Christine]

I'd give him an occasional couch day but I also don't mind pets on furniture!

This is a problem if you have a dog that tends toward aggressive behavior.

I've never minded my pets on the furniture either but, with my current dog, I cannot allow it. If allow her on the couch and we come into the room and tell her to get down (for whatever reason) she gets mad (mainly at my husband). It is worse if we let her on the bed. If she is on the bed and my husband walks in the room, she immediately growls at him. She doesn't do that it ANY other situation. Then she starts getting to be "pushy." So, we've determined that allowing her on the furniture makes her think she's just too big for her britches!! She is much less domineering if we keep her in a submissive role--and for her that means not allowing her on the furniture. Weird, I know.

 

[lovin diz]

We had a litter of puppies back in 2008. We kept 2, and have a poodle...That is 3 dogs. (2 indoors, and 1 outdoors) We were going to keep all 3 unitl we decided to sell our house and move on a lake that has alligators. Some of the neighbors dogs have "disappeared", and i didnt want anything bad to happen to the dog that i loved so much...We had her for 2 years since the day she was born. But i knew it was best to get rid of her. I put her on craigslist, and 2 days later, i got an email. They are going to keep her inside, and i speak with them by email frequently about her...She is well taken care of...Goodluck

 

[monkeybug]

You are going to throw away NINE YEARS with this dog...this family member...without first trying to get to the root of his change in demeanor????

Wow. I'm not speechless. There are a lot of things I'd like to say. But I will only say this: You owe it to him to take him to the vet first to see if there is a medical cause for his change in behavior, and then SECOND, to a trainer to try to fix it.

If you are unwilling to do both of those, then try putting an ad on craigslist, and never ever own a pet again.

A dog's behavior is not always something that can be trained away. When dogs get older, sometimes (just like older people) they lose their patience, and just don't display the same demeanor they used to.
My Golden is an OUTSTANDING dog! GREAT with children, but as the years creep up on him, he just doesn't tolerate what he used to. I am fortunate that for right now my kids are old enough to understand that Tucker doesn't want to play the way he used to, and we have to be more careful with him. He just wants to cuddle and nap, maybe catch a ball from time to time.
A baby can't be taught (at 6 or 7 months) that they can't crawl too close to the dog, or grab a handful of fur. Sometimes it's more fair for the dog to go to a quiet, less chaotic home. People who have to give up a pet are not all heartless or "throwing away" their dog, sometimes they are trying to do what's best for the dog and the family.

 

[disney1990]

Whatever, this is why I was not going to post here. I thought someone might actually help me. I DID take him to a vet, there is nothing wrong with him. As for the trainer, we have gone that route as well. The vet says he is proably just getting old and ornary. Well, I cannot take the chance that my ORNARY pet will bite my baby!

Kristine

Even aggressive dogs can be helped with proper training. Michael Vicks dogs were trained and most are now in homes.

I am sorry for this situation that you find yourself in and I hope you find a good solution.

 

[Octoberbride03]

If you don't want to go the trainer route, then i suggest putting your dog on Pet finder. Be VERY honest about his issues when you write the ad. I wouldn't put the dog on Craigslist and I would never look for 1 there. But when I was looking for a dog last summer I did check Petfinder quite a lot. They take private ads as well as shelter ads.

I'm sorry he has issues, and since i haven't had a dog for 9yrs I can't tell you what to do with him. But I can say my dog and 5yo niece had issues the last time they were together and he corrected her a few times. Since then I've learned a few things we can try the next time they see each other. I'm not giving up on him because he's not perfect.

 

[tiggger1]

Whatever, this is why I was not going to post here. I thought someone might actually help me. I DID take him to a vet, there is nothing wrong with him. As for the trainer, we have gone that route as well. The vet says he is proably just getting old and ornary. Well, I cannot take the chance that my ORNARY pet will bite my baby!

Kristine

But did you say this? No..if you did you probably would have not gotten that response.But I agree a rescue is not going to take a older dog with aggression issues. I would try another vet and have them check him out. It sound like he is just old and sore..

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Whatever, this is why I was not going to post here. I thought someone might actually help me. I DID take him to a vet, there is nothing wrong with him. As for the trainer, we have gone that route as well. The vet says he is proably just getting old and ornary. Well, I cannot take the chance that my ORNARY pet will bite my baby!

Kristine

I've gotten rid of THREE dogs. I am not condemning you.

Two returned to the shelter and one a pet rescue where I got them. The last one was after a dog we adopted and had for only four months viciously went after one of our elder cats. Up to that point, the dog never batted an eye at my infant son...BUT...she was definitely thinking she was higher up in the hierarchy than he was. I returned her to the shelter on the spot. I couldn't chance something happening. B/c of that attack and b/c of her health condition (they gave me a dog with an undiagnosed heart defect )--she likely would be unadoptable.

I appreciate your concerns and I would be scared as well.

Dogs don't suddenly become vicious b/c they are old and ornery. And at her age--to start giving her away to strangers, her behavior will likely get worse and she'll be turned into a shelter at that point.

No need to get upset with people.

But unless you lie about his demeaner to people--how will you know if THEY will handle his problems properly.

If the dog is a danger--get rid of it immediately to a shelter with full disclosure. If you think it is something that someone else can handle..then it is worth you trying to handle it yourself with professional help PRIOR to giving it away.

I can understand fear. But 9 years of owning a dog..something is up...and it ain't her age!

And I'm sure people will judge what we did--but I'm sharing it anyway.

 

[Octoberbride03]

Even aggressive dogs can be helped with proper training. Michael Vicks dogs were trained and most are now in homes.

I am sorry for this situation that you find yourself in and I hope you find a good solution.

I've heard about that, but i still think they should all have been put down. They were in a fighting ring which is much different then what the OP has going on. I really don't think the fighting can be trained out of them. But I also don't believe that all Pit bulls are bad either.

 

[AlleyKat]

This is a problem if you have a dog that tends toward aggressive behavior.

I've never minded my pets on the furniture either but, with my current dog, I cannot allow it. If allow her on the couch and we come into the room and tell her to get down (for whatever reason) she gets mad (mainly at my husband). It is worse if we let her on the bed. If she is on the bed and my husband walks in the room, she immediately growls at him. She doesn't do that it ANY other situation. Then she starts getting to be "pushy." So, we've determined that allowing her on the furniture makes her think she's just too big for her britches!! She is much less domineering if we keep her in a submissive role--and for her that means not allowing her on the furniture. Weird, I know.

She's probably thinking, "Shoot, there goes my nap"!