# Excuses, excuses, I'm so sick of them



## shilohsmom (Jul 14, 2003)

I NEED to vent. I hope this is the right place. I can't put this on the Ugent/Non Urgent boards because it doesn't belong there but it does have to do with these boards.
I am sooooo sick of reading about people having to 'rehome' their dogs for this reason or that-all excuses! Such as I have to rehome him/her because he got too big (thats a current one) WTF did you think you were adopting???? A Yorkie???? YOU CHOSE a GSD, they get big. WTF did you think would happen when the dog grew???? Or did you think if you didn't feed him/her they would not grow??? Yes, he/she might knock over your child....if you didn't want a live animal around your child you should have got a robot!!!! Then theres I"m moving and can't take the dog...oh and by the way, this is Urgent because I'm moving tomarrow!!!! Don't you just HATE when you go home one day and find out you have to move the next???? Like that really happens alot







Oh, I nearly forgot, the old 'I want him/her to have a home where someone could spend more time with the dog'....Again, why do people get dogs and not realize that having a dog requires time!!!! 
I could go on and on and on but its so very frustrating to read these statements over and over. Why can't they just say I'm a lousy person who has no morals and I need to rehome my dog!!


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## Myamom (Oct 10, 2005)

...and oldie but a goodie...and oh so true...


Rescue Group Answering Machine 

Hello: You have reached Tender Hearts Rescue. Due to the high volume of calls we have been receiving, please listen closely to the following options and choose the one that best describes you or your situation: 

Press 1 if you think we are veterinarians and want free medical advice. 

Press 2 if you know we are a rescue organization but want to save money and have us give you free, untrained medical advice anyway. 

Press 3 if you make $200,000 a year but still want us to pay to spay the "stray" in your yard (house). 

Press 4 if you have a 10-year-old dog or cat and your 15-year-old son has suddenly become allergic and you need to find the dog a new home right away. 

Press 5 if you have dogs or cats, had a baby and want to get rid of your dogs/cats because you are the only person in the world to have a baby and dogs or cat at the same time. 


Press 6 if your dog or cat is sick and needs a vet but you need the money for your vacation. 

Press 7 if you just got a brand new puppy or kitten and your old dog or cat is having problems adjusting so you want to get rid of the old one right away. 

Press 8 if your little puppy or kitten has grown up and is no longer small and cute and you want to trade it in for a new model. 

Press 9 if you are elderly and want to adopt a cute puppy or kitten who is not active and is going to outlive you. 

Press 10 if your relative has died and you don't want to care for their elderly dog or cat because it doesn't fit your lifestyle. 

Press 11 if you are moving today and need to immediately place your 150-pound, 8-year-old dog or 10-year-old declawed, never-seen-a- vet cat with dental problems.


Press 12 if you want an unpaid volunteer to come to your home today and pick up the dog or cat you no longer want. 

Press 13 if you have been feeding and caring for a "stray" for the last three years, are moving and suddenly determine it's not your dog or cat. 

Press 14 if you are calling at 6 a.m. to make sure you wake me up before I have to go to work so you can drop a dog or cat off on your way to work. 

Press 15 to leave us an anonymous garbled message, letting us know you have left a dog/cat in our yard in the middle of January, which is in fact, better than just leaving the dog/cat with no message. 

Press 16 if you are going to get angry because we are not going to take your dog or cat that you have had for fifteen years, because it is not our responsibility. 

Press 17 if you are going to threaten to take your ten year old dog or cat to be euthanized because we won't take it. 

Press 18 if you're going to get angry because the staff had the audacity to go on vacation and leave the rescue in care of a trusted volunteer who is not authorized to take your personal pet. 
> 
Press 19 if you want one of our perfectly trained, housebroken, kid- and cat-friendly purebred tiny dogs that we have an abundance of. 

Press 20 if you want us to take your dog that has a slight aggression problem, i.e. has only bitten a few people and killed your neighbor's cats. 

Press 21 if you have already called once and been told we don't take personal surrenders but thought you would get a different person this time with a different answer. 

Press 22 if you want us to use space that would go to a stray to board your personal dog while you are on a vacation - free of charge, of course. 

> > Press 23 if it is Christmas Eve or Easter morning and you want me to deliver an eight-week old puppy or kitten to your house by 6:30 am before your kids wake up. 

Press 24 if you have bought your children a duckling, chick or baby bunny for Easter and it is now Christmas and they are no longer cute. 

Press 25 if you want us to take your female dog or cat whoaalready had ten litters, but you can't spay her because she is pregnant again and it is against your religion. 

Press 26 if you're trying to make one of our younger volunteers feel bad and take your personal pet off your hands.


Press 27 if your cat is biting and not using the litter box because it is declawed, but are not willing to accept the responsibility that the cat's behavior is altered because of your nice furniture. 

Press 28 if your two-year-old male dog is marking all over your house but you just haven't gotten around to having him neutered. 

Press 29 if you previously had an outdoor-only dog or cat and are calling because she is suddenly pregnant. 

Press 30 if you have done "everything" to housebreak your dog and have had no success but you don't want to crate the dog because it is cruel. 

Press 31 if you didn't listen to the message asking for an evening phone number and you left your work number when all volunteers are also working and you are angry because no one called you back. 

Press 32 if you need a puppy or kitten immediately and cannot wait because today is your daughter's birthday and you forgot when she was born. 

Press 33 if your dog's or cat's coat doesn't match your new furniture and you need a different color or breed. 

Press 34 if your new love doesn't like your dog or cat and you are too stupid to get rid of the new friend (who will dump you in the next month anyway). 

Press 35 if you went through all these 'presses' and didn't hear enough. 

This will connect you to the sounds of tears being shed by one of our volunteers who is holding a discarded old dog or cat while the vet mercifully frees him from the grief of missing his family.


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## Jazy's mom (Jan 5, 2004)

> Originally Posted By: shilohsmomWhy can't they just say I'm a lousy person who has no morals and I need to rehome my dog!!


If someone actually said this I would first have to pick my jaw up off the floor and stop laughing. Then I would probably be more willing to help them, becuase they are being honest and I don't have to spend hours trying to fish through all the BS to get to the truth about whether the dog has any issues.

I got Liesel off of Petfinder because her previous owner did not feel that she had enough time to spend with her, but she was very honest and I completely agreed with her. She did not plan on getting another GSD after her other GSD passed away, but she saved Liesel from a relative that had no business owning a GSD. She spent a lot of time and effort correcting all of her bad behaviors that she had due to lack of training and socialization. Then her job changed and she was having to work very long hours and Liesel had to stay crated due to her high prey drive and her desire to chase the cat around the house 24 hours a day. She really cared about what was best for Liesel and decided that rehoming would be the right thing to do. She also did not dump her on a rescue put placed an ad herself on petfinder and did all the reference checks and home visit herself.


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## scannergirl (Feb 17, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: myamom...
> 
> This will connect you to the sounds of tears being shed by one of our volunteers who is holding a discarded old dog or cat while the vet mercifully frees him from the grief of missing his family.


Old maybe, but I never heard it. Thanks for posting it.


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## AnnaRiley (Feb 14, 2008)

You know I'm sick of the same thing no matter what kind of dog it is. However, I think alot about the fact that anything can happen in an instant to change circumtances in people's lives. I have 4 dogs that I love very much. I often think of what would happen if suddenly something happened to me and my family was left to take care of my dogs. In an instant, they would be taken to the pound. 

If I lost my job, and that could happen as our firm is making alot of changes, and I am sure they hate paying the health insurance for a considered "senior" person and someone who has been working at this firm long enough that the salary is higher than they want to pay, I would be in a mess. And if I do get asked to leave, then getting another job at this salary is not going to happen. Another strain on keeping things going.

So, if this happened to you, what have you done to keep your dogs, and what have to decided to do if you cannot in anyway keep them?


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## dd (Jun 10, 2003)

There are times when something serious happens and people have no choice, but so often it's the easy way out - "We're having a baby, now we're not interested in the dog any more" or "We got a new puppy and it doesn't get along with our old dog so the old dog has to go." 

The newest one I've seen is a woman whose mother offered the family a loan to buy a new home, but only if they got rid of the dog







.  Guess who's being rehomed this week???

dd


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## bdanise1 (Jan 25, 2008)

Great post!!! I will keep this one and next time someone calls me with an excuse as to why they have to give up their loved family member. I will show them this.

I agree things happen in an instant sometimes.
Short story, I like many people. Divorced lost my house, business everything I had.
Took on a crappie job, couldn't even pay my bills.
Could not rent an apartment with a GSD and two cats.
Found an old house trailer in park that let you have dogs.
Paid 2000.00 for ( Rent with option to buy)it. Was a mess but my GSD and cats were my life. Did all that in under one week.
I felt with out my kids (animals) I was nothing.


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## dd (Jun 10, 2003)

Kudos to you, Brigiette. A lot of people don't want to make the effort to look at alternate solutions. 

I think the thing the ones who look at rehoming as the FIRST option don't seem to realise is the emotional toll it takes on the animals. My first rescue was a basket case when I got him, and every time he passed a playground, he scanned it for "his" children. It was heartbreaking.

dd


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## Guest (Jun 6, 2008)

I can certainly understand your feelings. I just thought I'd offer the positive side of it. Of course for far, far too many dogs there is no happy ending, but without such people I wouldn't have my dogs.

Odin is the finest dog I've ever had with only one equal (Max). He is not only the most highly trained I've ever been able to train and I've been doing this for decades but he has a heart and soul beyond description. His connection to me and my wife is so vibrant and real it surprises even me and I've known GSDs all the 46 years of my life. He was a breeder re-home. His original owners were as empty headed as you described in your post. At least they brought him back to his breeder even if they did screw him up emotionally and leave him with terrible seperation anxiety it took me a year to overcome. Thankfully, his breeder and I have known each other for decades and she knew I both wanted him and could help him. It was the match of a lifetime - literally. I would be dead now probably without him. He saved me when there seemed to be no hope except him.

Frigga too is a breeder re-home. She was very dominant, aggressive, and fearful of men when I got her. It took months to get her past her fears, a year to get her past her aggression and dominance and a year and half to fully train her but she too is something magical. The happiness she has in knowing her place with us is infectious. No matter how tough the day, how hard the blows life can throw at us it is very hard indeed to be blue for long when we see her happy face and sparkly eyes and know the gratitude she feels in her home with us. 

So I say "thank you, re-home folks, you've given us two dogs beyond measure and more happiness than you ever imagined you gave up."


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## AnnaRiley (Feb 14, 2008)

Believe me all of you, I would go to whatever means it took to keep them and if I had to rehome all means to see that they were safe. But, I have 2 dogs with issues and if they were to get in the wrong hands, they would not survive, so it is better to go to your vet and have then humanely pts because you fear them getting in the wrong hands.


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## Sashmom (Jun 5, 2002)

GSDad, yours is a nice story, you got 2 nice dogs

I saw a lady on TV last week who lost her job, then her home, did get an $8.00 an hr job but the thing that amazed me was she was living in her SUV with her 2 dogs!! I give her credit for not rehoming her dogs! Did anyone else see this story?


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## AnnaRiley (Feb 14, 2008)

Actually, I was asking a ? was it better to do that?


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## AnnaRiley (Feb 14, 2008)

What meant about the above is if I died -not is I was alive - I would fight like crazy to keep them.


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## CertainlySpoiled (Dec 2, 2007)

Great post...I don't understand people either...I can't even begin to imagine sending my girls somewhere else...they're here until the end (hopefully a long long long time)


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## shilohsmom (Jul 14, 2003)

Thanks for the replys. I especially enjoyed reading the positive ones that have worked out for some of our members. What would I do? Believe you me I have thought about that and without question my dogs will be with me. We may or may not be too comfortable for awhile while I re-coop but we will be together. I know some of you know this about me, but its worth repeating here. When Shiloh was a pup one night my ex-boyfriend came over and attacked me-he cut my throat. After he left I grabbed my purse, a towel and my dog!!!! Its a long story but it wasn't safe to come back to my house and EVERYONE wanted me to go to a shelter where I would be safe and have Shiloh taken to the shelter. There was no way in **** that I would do that. For over a month we lived in my car with occassional nights at a motel (when I could afford it). The bottom line is there wasn't any way I was going to be seperated from my dog! Was it hard? You bet your bootie it was hard, but Shiloh is my dog and my responsiblity and besides that I LOVE HIM!!! I have three dogs now and if it were to happen again I would do the exact same thing. There isn't anyone big enough in this world that could seperate me from my dogs. 
As far as what happens to them if something happens to me, I have plans for that as well. In front of my drivers license is a card that reads IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY PLEASE SAVE MY DOGS!!! In the back is complete instuctions on what do to if something happens to me. Taped to my front door is instructions on what to do and who to contact in the event something happens to me. In the event of my death, three people have agreed to be part of the team that will ensure my dogs are delivered safely to my friend in North Dakota-who has assured me she will care for them for the rest of their lives. Money has been put aside for their care and there is instuctions in my Will about prepayment of their health insurance so this will be covered as well. 
Having said all this I do understand there are cases where a dog needs to be rehomed but its my guess that this represents only a small percentage of the dogs on Petfinder/Craigslist at any given time.


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## shilohsmom (Jul 14, 2003)

> Originally Posted By: AnnaRileyYou know I'm sick of the same thing no matter what kind of dog it is. However, I think alot about the fact that anything can happen in an instant to change circumtances in people's lives. I have 4 dogs that I love very much. I often think of what would happen if suddenly something happened to me and my family was left to take care of my dogs. In an instant, they would be taken to the pound.


This is one reason why is so important that we take actions NOW to make sure if something happens to us this doesn't happen to them. If someone doesn't have friends/family that are willing to do this there are sancuarys out there that will pre-arrainge this service.


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## Timber1 (May 19, 2007)

The last two rescues I have taken as a foster were well cared for. 

The former, a dog named Paris whom I adopted. Paris was well cared for for three years, the Med records were up to date, and two women got her as a pup. For whatever reason the dog was placed in a shelter at three years old, and then moved around until I adopted her almost two years later. I would love to call the original owners and ask them why they gave Paris up.

The last, a dog named Otto was adopted from a rescue group as a pup. The folks that adopted Otto took very good care of the dog based on Med records, their subsequent concern for the dog, etc.
Nonetheless, Otto ended up in my rescue group and at nine months we took the dog and I housed him. When Otto was dropped off he came with 13 bags of treats, and at 80 pounds was a bit over weight. Otto is very strong, but the most friendly dog I have ever served as a rescue for. The folks that dumped the dog said they could no longer control him. My response to my rescue group was if those folks would have spend as much or even less on training then they did on treats, Otto would have been a great dog for them. He has now been placed in a good home.

MY POINT IS SIMPLE; how mamy of you involved in rescue take a dog in that is fine and wonder why on earth anyone would give up the dog.

As for your vent, if I got those excuses, which are mostly BS, I would probably ask my forever European GSD to evaluate those people, and Timber, being a good judge of character might raise the hair a bit.


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## shilohsmom (Jul 14, 2003)

Exactly Timber! The dogs should not be considered the throw aways...its the people I'd like to throw away!!!


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## Myamom (Oct 10, 2005)

Timber......I have two laying at my feet right now......


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## Timber1 (May 19, 2007)

Thanks, I am a bit of a newbie, but have never had a bad experience with a rescue dog.


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## pupresq (Dec 2, 2005)

> Quote: MY POINT IS SIMPLE; how mamy of you involved in rescue take a dog in that is fine and wonder why on earth anyone would give up the dog.


I don't even ask myself that question any more. Sometimes GSDs are given up because they are too much dog, too big, too unruly. Sometimes it's because they're smarter than their owners. Occasionally it's a genuine catastrophe where a caring owner gives up a pet. I see that very rarely though. 

Mostly it's just that people aren't commited to pets, don't care that much what happens because they're entirely self-absorbed, and just can't be bothered anymore. In most cases there's not a thing wrong with the dog that a caring and dog savvy home can't fix - if and when the dog is lucky enough to get that chance.


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## Guest (Jun 8, 2008)

Why do they give up wonderful GSDs? My view is that GSDs are closer to being human (and the requisite amount of involvement) than the vast majority of dogs. This is an age when people give up on their own children, their parents, and their grandparents so why should it be surprising that they would get a dog they have no ability to share themselves with when so many can't even do so with their own family? As has been said so many times now that it has almost become a cliche - it's a throw away society. Small wonder America's number one pet now is the cat (surpassing dogs sometime in the last decade or so). You can ignore a cat, put a bowl of food down now and then and you're done. For the majority of pet owners now it seems that's all they can manage - if that. There are far too many feral cats now that have also been thrown away.


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## Timber1 (May 19, 2007)

However, if a rescue or not, the GSD bonds more closely with family then any other animal I know.

As for me, you give a little, and take lot of positives from the GSD.


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## tsarnick (Mar 17, 2007)

I have long since given up trying to figure out why people dump their GSDs. I have pulled so many wonderful, loving dogs out of the shelter and heard just about every excuse in the book as to why somebody can't keep their dog anymore. I think the worst was when we were going to take a dog out of a shelter who was so sick we knew we were going to have to put her to sleep. The volunteer at the shelter saw a lost poster of Lady the dog at the shelter. Called her owners to come get her and they came, saw how sick she was and left her in the shelter. Said we (the rescue) were her "angels" they couldn't afford vet care. We took her out of the shelter and had to have her euthanized immediately. That made me sick. My dog I found tied to a rope, in a sand pile with a kid throwing sand in his face. He had heartworms, hookworms and such a bad ear infection I thought he was deaf. He was all of 18 months old. There are days I can't stand people.


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

There's one on Craigslist in my area right now-- getting rid of their 10 week old puppy which they got at 7 weeks because they can't pay their pet deposit.


Uuuuhhh, you couldn't ask about pet deposits BEFORE you got a puppy?


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## tsarnick (Mar 17, 2007)

That's as good as when they say the dog "got too big". What do they think German Shepherds do???


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