# What do you do with a dog that doesn't work out



## ayoitzrimz (Apr 14, 2010)

Here's a sensitive topic, but it's one I'd like to hear about (not for me - I'm happy with what I got). For the people that compete a lot and get dogs specifically for SchH, what do you do if the dog doesn't pan out?

An example: someone I know bought a really nice puppy who ended up not working out (not enough drive, just didn't want to do the work). This is his 3rd or 4th dog so he has titled dogs before. He ended up returning the puppy to the breeder and got a slightly older dog.

What do you do with dogs that don't pan out?
a. Return them to the breeder
b. Give them up for adoption
c. Give them to friends / relatives
d. Keep them as pets
e. Other

I'm just curious - I feel that once I bonded with a dog, personally, I wouldn't be able to return it. Then again, I got a dog for companionship, Schutzhund is just something I do to satisfy his needs and because I enjoy it. I don't care too much about competing etc - but I do give it 100% and I will do what I can to make him a good representative of what a SchH dog should be like. With that said, if he didn't want to do the work I wouldn't force him, but I would still keep him around as a pet.

So, what do people do with these dogs that for some reason don't work out as competition dogs?


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## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

I wouldn't return any dog I don't think... too attached.

My female I very well may compete with. My male would be a better PPD and probably will train to that end after titling.


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## vomlittlehaus (Aug 24, 2010)

I know some will sell to police departments. Departments dont care about calm grips or if the dog doesnt have a full grip. Security company for patrol dog, or SAR groups are in need of good dogs. Most of these dogs will be old enough to start right into training too. There is a group that places dogs into police departments that cant afford to purchase and train dogs. Most people that are into competition are not going to keep a dog they have no use for. They concentrate on getting one or two top dogs trained.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

Well SAR often winds up being an attempted dumping ground. If a dog is not good enough for dogsport, I doubt it is good enough for SAR. Actually I think we raise the bar because flaws you can accept in a sport dog are not acceptible for SAR.

I would think a competitor with eyes on serious competion would not be buying a young puppy anyway. I won't for SAR and more and more people that I know are doing the same thing.....


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## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

jocoyn said:


> Well SAR often winds up being an attempted dumping ground. If a dog is not good enough for dogsport, I doubt it is good enough for SAR. Actually I think we raise the bar because flaws you can accept in a sport dog are not acceptible for SAR.
> 
> I would think a competitor with eyes on serious competion would not be buying a young puppy anyway. I won't for SAR and more and more people that I know are doing the same thing.....


Well, I certainly think dogs ideal for SAR could be crap sport, or PPD/working k9s, and the same for the others.. 

Don't know a bunch about SAR, but assume some of the ideal qualities in the others maybe counterproductive in SAR


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## gagsd (Apr 24, 2003)

a. Return them to the breeder
b. Give them up for adoption
c. Give them to friends / relatives
d. Keep them as pets

-I have given a dog back to the person from whom I bought her. I really, really did not like that dog. She was a screecher, unable to settle, and just a filthy nasty dog.
-I would adopt out or place with friend or family if the situation was appropriate.
-I have several washouts at home. Bad hips, autoimmune disease, injury. They are pets and couch hogs.


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## lovethebreed (Feb 13, 2011)

The first time I took my dog (puppy at the time) to a schutzhund club they started barking at me (pun intended) because he was a pet first and foremost. THey told me you cannot have both, it's either a pet or it's a working dog.

I get a 'working dog' lifestyle for police work (though I've seen some living in the house with the kids etc) and such but to keep a dog in a kennel with no life other then when it trains or competes for schutzhund? Thanks but no thanks. I ended up finding a different type club (not schutzhund) in which you can work your dog and have it as a pet/part of the family.

I felt so bad for those poor dogs in that club and the life they must lead. It made me think those people are into schutzhund for their glory and egos. I'm sure they would toss any dog that they couldn't title.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Sometimes a dog that is not right for me may very well be right for someone else. It is never a decision I make lightly since my dogs are pets/house dogs too. 

Over the years I have kept some and just found other things for them to do. I have also returned a few to their breeders (health issues, temperament issues, one breeder sent me a coat, and one the dog and I never fit well together) and sold one. Dogs that I bred I have kept, placed one and sold several others. All of the ones I sold were suitable for work, but were not the right dogs for me.


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## ayoitzrimz (Apr 14, 2010)

lovethebreed said:


> The first time I took my dog (puppy at the time) to a schutzhund club they started barking at me (pun intended) because he was a pet first and foremost. THey told me you cannot have both, it's either a pet or it's a working dog.
> 
> I get a 'working dog' lifestyle for police work (though I've seen some living in the house with the kids etc) and such but to keep a dog in a kennel with no life other then when it trains or competes for schutzhund? Thanks but no thanks. I ended up finding a different type club (not schutzhund) in which you can work your dog and have it as a pet/part of the family.
> 
> I felt so bad for those poor dogs in that club and the life they must lead. It made me think those people are into schutzhund for their glory and egos. I'm sure they would toss any dog that they couldn't title.


Must be some old-school club you went to 

In any schutzhund club I visited, you were not yelled at for keeping your dog as a pet. Given, some of the club members keep their dogs strictly as working dogs and only interact with them when training (otherwise they are in the kennel) but that is perfectly fine as well - I know someone who does this, but his mal gets worked every day and is very well taken care of. Myself, I bought a pet first and working dog second - so my dog is a house dog but my point is to each his/her own...


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## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

lovethebreed said:


> The first time I took my dog (puppy at the time) to a schutzhund club they started barking at me (pun intended) because he was a pet first and foremost. THey told me you cannot have both, it's either a pet or it's a working dog.
> 
> I get a 'working dog' lifestyle for police work (though I've seen some living in the house with the kids etc) and such but to keep a dog in a kennel with no life other then when it trains or competes for schutzhund? Thanks but no thanks. I ended up finding a different type club (not schutzhund) in which you can work your dog and have it as a pet/part of the family.
> 
> I felt so bad for those poor dogs in that club and the life they must lead. It made me think those people are into schutzhund for their glory and egos. I'm sure they would toss any dog that they couldn't title.


Schutzhund clubs do exist that aren't that way... ours isn't that way at all. Infact nearly all the dogs are pets at our club.


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## lovethebreed (Feb 13, 2011)

That is nice to know. I sure hoped they weren't all that way. It was strictly either or with them.


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## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

lovethebreed said:


> That is nice to know. I sure hoped they weren't all that way. It was strictly either or with them.


First one I went to was like that. They were old school. The club I'm at now is drastically different in tone, training methods, etc.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

So far I haven't had a dog not be what I expected them to be (but I've only had four dogs!). If/when I give a dog away it's more because of a lifestyle mismatch or having a much better home/environment come along than getting rid of a dog that won't work like I want. But I also don't have a kennel, I can only realistically keep 3-4 dogs at a time so if I don't bond with one or it has problems living happily in my environment or is much different than what I should have expected, I don't have a problem selling/rehoming a dog to the right person. I think dogs are very resilient and often it is the humans that think our dogs cannot function or "love" anyone but us.

I will say that I find what fosters a very strong bond between me and a dog are the same traits that I look for in a dog's work/SchH. So a dog that is totally different than the type of dog I like to train and work is probably a dog I'm not going to develop a strong bond with, if that makes sense...


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