Would You Give Your Dog Away In A Special Circumstance?

[jocoyn]

If it was "right"for the dog and the person, yes...but only if I was the forever home if something happened.

[LifeofRiley]

As others have said, if I felt I could not provide a quality of life that I would want any dog to have, then I may consider it. However, I can't imagine that ever being the case. And, I could never imagine Riley bonding with anyone more than he is bonded to me. He is my shadow.

When we are in large off-leash areas and playing fetch and I walk away from where he thought I was, I see him go into a search mode for me. If others try to call to him or pet him he wants nothing to do with it until he finds me.

When we are at home, he will only go to bed when I go to bed or leave the bedroom when I leave it. When he is confused, he looks to me for direction. When he wants to do something he knows I wouldn't like, he looks to me to confirm not to do it. He is an amazing dog. He has bonded with me.

I know, worst case scenario, he would probably bond to another. But, I highly doubt that as long as I am alive that we would find someone he was more strongly bonded to.

[Verivus]

Originally Posted by LifeofRiley

When we are in large off-leash areas and playing fetch and I walk away from where he thought I was, I see him go into a search mode for me. If others try to call to him or pet him he wants nothing to do with it until he finds me.

Reminds me of Kaiser. We were at the dog park and he was playing with another dog so I walked off with Pookie (she never does anything except follow me around). Well he suddenly realizes I'm not there anymore and he goes running around looking for me. The goof couldn't spot me right away so I hid until I finally felt sorry for him. Everybody was laughing and trying to help him, but he ignored them.

[Jo Ellen]

Originally Posted by llombardo

I can't even rehome my fish....I just get bigger tanks

[gsdlover91]

Originally Posted by Gharrissc

This question is kinda different.If you met someone who really bonded with your dog and would provide a good home,would you let that person have them?I'm not talking about someone who says 'oh your dog is beautiful',but someone who really emotionally connects with the dog maybe because of a past loss etc ,and the dog connects with them.

No, someone might 'emotionally' connect with my dog, but I dont believe my dog will connect with them back...

The love Berlin has for me is only for me, and even though my mom watches him for me while i'm at work and spends ALMOST as much time with him as me, the bond between me and him is very different. I train him, play with him, work his mind, etc...we have a strong bond. Our bond has been built because of all the work I have put into it, taking him to classes, spending every ounce of free time playing with him etc...no one could just walk up to him and get that same bond, they would have to physically take him away from me and spend all that time with him! But, when i'm at work, he looks for me...waits for me by the door, finds my hoodies/clothes and brings them into his crate...his love is only for me. And I would never ever ever have to give him up, ever. I bought him knowing no matter what I will always be able to give him a good home.

So no

[llombardo]

I guess the story of how I got my GSD kinda fits here. She was 12 weeks old and the couple that got rid of her claimed that she needed more room and was to much for them to handle. When I got there she was standing in front of the woman and wouldn't look at me...it didn't matter what I did, the dog completely ignored me(completely aloof). I remember wondering if she would ever be like that with me. She continued to cry loudly in the car all the way home..nothing I did would make her be quiet, I was quite stressed out by the time we got home. I had a hard time bonding with her. For the first week she cried, barked, and threw a fit in the cage. She had worms and an ear infection. I immediately started school with her and the bonding began. I'm so happy that I didn't give up on her. So I guess that even if the bond is not there, it can happen and it can be wonderful I know it worked for me. She is my shadow and doesn't leave my side..her trainer said that I could never lose her

[Syaoransbear]

Yep. I'd rehome him to my mom if she asked, because I know he likes her way better than me and he'd rather be with her. His loyalty is to food, so he doesn't like me as much because I try to keep him at a healthy weight whereas my mom will go to Tim Hortons specifically to buy donuts for Chrono. He'd be super fat, but I'm sure he'd be happier.

They also have identical personalities. Me and Chrono never really clicked because we have completely opposite personalities and I think we have trouble understanding each other and fulfilling each other's needs. He's a massive extrovert who loves everyone and wants to meet everyone he sees and I'm an introvert that really only likes spending time with one other person in the world. I can't really be the owner who takes him to large social gatherings so he can be fawned over like he wants and he can't really be the one-person orientated dog that I wanted that won't abandon me for strangers.

Him and my mom really do seem to have some sort of deeper bond, but it's hard to tell if it's just because of the food because his food drive is so insane. Lots of people think they have an instant bond with Chrono due to his unique friendliness and the reputation of the german shepherd for being aloof, but then I have to burst their bubble and tell them he's like that with everyone and they aren't special at all.

[Kyleigh]

I saw an episode on Animal Heroes of a little boy with Asperger's. The mother was trying desperately to find a service dog for him, but the wait list was too long, and she couldn't afford to buy a dog and have it trained. Her friend loaned her a 3-year old black lab for a week.

The change in the little boy was amazing; he went from being unfocused and chaotic to focused, attending school part time, and just being a "boy with his dog". After a week the woman took her dog back and the little boy spiralled back into his "previous" state of chaos. The woman felt bad for her friend, and the little boy so she gave them her dog.

When they aired the episode the dog was still alive and the boy had blossomed and his progress in life was simply amazing.

In this situation, I would gladly give Kyleigh to a child ... as long as I could stay in touch!

I've had some horrible things happen to me in my life - I've lost everything I owned three times ... and yet I've always managed to keep my pets ... there's just something about "them" that keeps me sane and moving, and wanting to get up each and every morning, especially on those mornings where you don't want to!

[Sunflowers]

Originally Posted by Jag

If it was my pug? I'd probably do it. My shepherd? You'd have to pry him out of my cold, dead hands!

.

[Dainerra]

We ended up giving away our pit mix. Our landlord at the time gave us 30 days to move out (last time we ever did a month-to-month lease!!) and the only apartment we could get into on such short notice was a 6 month lease and didn't allow pets. Our neighbor volunteered to board him for us.
We came out ever week to visit him and hang out. Bought all of his food, etc, but even with the visits he was super bonded to them at the end of the 6 months. He went off his food when we took him to the new apartment. A couple weeks later, she called to check how he was doing and say that she missed him. I didn't hesitate to ask if she wanted him to come back.
He was ecstatic when he got out of the car at her house.