Surrendering Your Dog – We have No Time for It

This is a second in a three-part series for people who are thinking of surrendering, giving up their puppy, getting rid of their dog.  Whatever terminology you want to use. 

Surrendering a dog is a personal and difficult subject for me, because I’ve rehomed two dogs in my life, a female and male Doberman.  And thankfully both ended up in homes better than mine, at least from a space and financial standpoint. 

But I digress.  Back to your situation.  You’re seriously thinking about surrendering your dog because you no longer have the time to spend with it or care for it.  My first question to you is, what is it about the dog that is causing you to feel this way?  Is the dog more work than you expected?  Did you have a picture in your mind of how great it would be to own a pup, courtesy of the bazillion YouTube videos that are out there.  You know, the ones that only show you the happy, fun side of dog ownership, but not the work of yard pickup, running the vacuum every day, laundering the chair covers, cleaning the dog bowls, and yes, training the dog to be a canine good citizen, which requires daily practice and reinforcement.

If you answered yes to the pretty picture … you probably didn’t ask yourself this question before you adopted the puppy or the dog.  And that is:  Are you ready for a baby?  Are you ready for a child?  Followed by, Does EVERYONE want a dog?  Because if you answered no to these questions, then you probably should NOT have adopted that puppy/that dog.  And equally important, you might have adopted the WRONG puppy, the WRONG dog.

If you adopted a puppy, now that the puppy has grown, is the cute little fluff ball now larger than you expected and can handle, i.e., you were expecting a 25 lb dog and instead it’s closer to 150.  Is your landlord or condo assn. advising you the dog exceeds the allowable weight and size?  

Further, we have all these other reasons.  Your dog is now older, a senior, who sleeps more and can’t play non-stop, 7 days a week;  it’s developed aches and pains, and needs to be seen by a vet more frequently, and that equals $$$. You like to travel or must travel; you’re going out more where you can’t take the dog with you or you don’t want to; your children are involved in school and after-school activities; after a long day at work, everyone’s tired and the last thing anyone wants to do is walk the dog, practice training the dog. So generally, that means there’s one person predominantly left to care for the dog and resentment builds.  And yes, you have a problem.  And the dog has a problem.  Dogs are a lot of work.

Should You Surrender the Dog?

That is and should be a very tough decision.  Dogs have emotions just like people. They know when they’re loved and when they’re not. They are social beings who love being with their families.  Dogs are not meant to spend almost all their waking hours in a crate, or in the basement or backyard, alone, or ignored. So, if that situation applies to you (and your partner/family), where you find yourself resenting the dog more than loving it, and you’re unwilling to change your everyday routine, then you should seriously investigate rehoming the pup.

If you got your dog from a reputable breeder, contact the breeder.  Most breeders, because of their love for their pups, will work with you to rehome the dog.  Will it be instantaneously, it may, or it may not, depending upon the breeder’s network.  Breeders will not rehome a dog unless they believe it will be to a loving family, not just someone who wants a dog.

If you got the dog from a rescue, most rescues specify in their adoption contracts that the dog must be returned to them, not to a shelter.  Even some privately owned/run shelters also have that clause in their adoption contract. 

Now will the breeder or rescue return the money you paid for the dog?  Absolutely not.  In fact, some shelters/rescues may charge you a fee for taking the dog, so that they can begin to cover the cost of the pup during its stay.

But know this.  When you send surrender your dog to a shelter, it’s going to be traumatic for the dog, no matter what its age.  And if the shelter is a county or city animal care and control (ACC) shelter – those are “kill” shelters, because that is the only way for these facilities to control their intake population.  Also, don’t assume that because your dog is “cute” or “well-behaved”, it will be snapped up by another adopter or rescue right away. The chances of your dog being outright adopted or being reserved by a rescue group are less than 1 in 10. 

Please think long and carefully about surrendering your pup because once you sign those papers, there’s no going back.  And realize that the reasons you note in the paperwork for surrender will follow that dog and either enhance his chances for adoption or sign its death warrant. 

You’ll have to live with your decision.  Can you?