She lives 3 hours away , not possible. The dog had separation anxiety with her. I have not left the house yet but she is doing really well with me, sleeps with me, no whimpering, playing and eating very well, boundless energy. He is not jumpy with noises around here. After one day, while in the yard, I called him in and he responded immediately and came in. It will take a few months to really bond but we are doing very well, surprisingly. He is under all the furniture exploring, looking for items and went through two toy boxes already. I know that if we keep on having contact, the previous owner, I will, and am starting to feel like I am watching HER dog. She loves him but cannot keep him but part of that love is letting go for the dog's sake. There is a dog behaviorist and author in our neighborhood but I forgot her name. I will pay her to write a letter stating that it is best for the dog to just let her go, if indeed that is her professional opinion, whichThe rescue thinks it is fine, which is not helping. Their hearts see the woman grieving for the dog but the dog is #1. It tugs at my heart strings too but I have seen it with different species, upsets the animal. I certainly don't mind sending her updates and little stories and photos or video clips here and there. I think that is fair. The dog won;t suffer but she may find she has to let go as it may be making her hurt more.A dog, especially a German Shepherd, that is bonded to someone else that is trying to get back to its loved ones and home is a loyal dog, not one that has separation anxiety. It is expected breed behavior for this breed. They are not a dog to be handed off easily to the next stranger.
It will be hard on the dog whether his past owner visits or not. I probably would go with pictures and videos for now. Seeing his loved owner leave him again will be very hard on him. It probably would have been best for all if you had taken a week or so to spend time with the dog while he was still at his prior owners and then maybe spent some time having him at your house for a day and then overnight and built on that but too late for that now.
I would concentrate on bonding with him now. Do things he likes and enjoys. Take him to some new places, do some exploring. Remember that you are a stranger to him and bonding can take weeks or months or might not even happen at all.
She lives 3 hours away , not possible. The dog had separation anxiety with her. I have not left the house yet but she is doing really well with me, sleeps with me, no whimpering, playing and eating very well, boundless energy. He is not jumpy with noises around here. After one day, while in the yard, I called him in and he responded immediately and came in. It will take a few months to really bond but we are doing very well, surprisingly. He is under all the furniture exploring, looking for items and went through two toy boxes already. I know that if we keep on having contact, the previous owner, I will, and am starting to feel like I am watching HER dog. She loves him but cannot keep him but part of that love is letting go for the dog's sake. There is a dog behaviorist and author in our neighborhood but I forgot her name. I will pay her to write a letter stating that it is best for the dog to just let her go if indeed that is her professional opinion and I would send it. The rescue thinks it is fine, which is not helping. Their hearts see the woman grieving for the dog but the dog is #1. It tugs at my heart strings too but I have seen it with different species, upsets the animal. I think, maybe because he is still a pup at 11 months old.
I like the idea of visiting much, much later -- but do it in a neutral place (like a park). Once you bond, the dog will be able to see the former owner and walk away from her -- but not yet.
I have fostered dogs for many months, and they very much think they are "mine" after so much time. Then they get adopted, and I don't plan to see them -- but we do run into each other from time to time. One of the cutest moments I had in a dog park was when one of my foster-alums came running up, greeted me warmly and then danced back to his new family and pressed against them, looking back at me with a happy expression. He was telling me "these are my people now." It was as it should be and made me feel so very happy for him -- I'd done my job well for him, and he was living his happily-ever-after.
At dog festivals, when the rescue has a booth, our alumni often come by to visit the booth, and there are many happy reunions with foster volunteers. The dogs always remember the foster families. Yesterday, a five-year-old went nuts with delight when he recognized the guy who fostered him as a puppy! The dogs don't want to go home with the foster family though -- they're joyous about the greeting, and then they are content to continue on their way with their owners. They know their life isn't with us any longer.
You can get there eventually with this dog, but not yet.
Yes, I think that would be fair and a nice thing to do.Sending photos or even a few videos to former owner occurred to me also.
I replied to this somewhere below...don't know what happened. Essentially she lives 3 hours away so that would not have been possible but a good idea. The owner told me afterward that she has separation anxiety with her and she had to crate her during work hours.A dog, especially a German Shepherd, that is bonded to someone else that is trying to get back to its loved ones and home is a loyal dog, not one that has separation anxiety. It is expected breed behavior for this breed. They are not a dog to be handed off easily to the next stranger.
It will be hard on the dog whether his past owner visits or not. I probably would go with pictures and videos for now. Seeing his loved owner leave him again will be very hard on him. It probably would have been best for all if you had taken a week or so to spend time with the dog while he was still at his prior owners and then maybe spent some time having him at your house for a day and then overnight and built on that but too late for that now.
I would concentrate on bonding with him now. Do things he likes and enjoys. Take him to some new places, do some exploring. Remember that you are a stranger to him and bonding can take weeks or months or might not even happen at all.
I agree!Yep agree with everybody!
It's just confusing for the dog, and painful too -
he will think that she has come to pick him up from his "boarding" stay and will be upset when she leaves again without him.
Maybe you could take some videos of him at home with you, walking with you, etc and share those instead,
explaining that it will be too traumatic and confusing for him to see her again so soon...?
No, I was going to use it because the original owner used it to burn off his excess energy and watched him on a CAM app. I will watch the entire time and if I see any tussles or anything as you say, I will not use them, simple as that. It is a highly rated facility and some friends I know use it and are thrilled. My boarding kennel, on the other hand does not have one so while I am away I always use them so I don't have to worry. They never mix any dogs together and don't intend to. I drive 2 hrs to get there but it is on a farm, and staff stay on the property 24hs a day.I understand if it’s your only option, but I believe the OP stays at home and was wanting to use the daycare as an outlet for socialization. I may have misunderstood.
My husband is in hot water, He has such a good heart but feels terrible now that it has made a problem.
Not a good idea! Dog is your main priority. Don't confuse him! She will get over it! No visiting!!!Okay, We adopted a 1 year old pup a few days ago, brought to us by the owner that had to give him up for very valid reasons ( personal, family), a few days ago and the liason from the rescue org. I like them both but the woman was crying giving him up and my husband said to her , "You are welcome to visit anytime you want". She perked up and was so happy...BUT...the pup already ( just found this out) has separation anxiety. He went crazy and panicked trying to climb the fence right after she left and it took us a half hour to get her back into the house from the yard. I am going to try to leave the house tonight for a few minutes and have my husband home and work up gradually to being gone longer each time, then when noone is home. I am not crating her as her owner told me after the fact that he does pee in his crate and hates it when she goes to work. I am home and do not work so it's better for him but, visiting? She called me via facebook video chat last night and was talking to the dog . They dog recognized her voice and after she hung up, he kept bringing the ball to throw, not back to me but brought it to the PC speaker instead about 6 times! I like the woman and normally anyone can visit but I am really worried that he will get so excited to see her and will feel abandoned again when she leaves, backing up any progress I have made, I might hire a trainer if I have a problem. I just want what's best for the dog, it's nothing personal at all. The liason thinks it should be fine but I have seen baby primates raised by a human that gave him up and so many like that and when the previous owner came to visit the pet monkey in a sanctuary, the poor thing cried and reached out and was so upset for the whole day. I need you opinions. I told the woman after a few months she can try but if he reacts like he did before and is panicking that it will reinforce his separation issues. (I will be doing Doggy Day Care and some agility with him to build his confidence as he is fearful.) He and I bonded within 24 hours and he really is happy. playful, eating well, etc right after all that within a 24 hr period. I know the liason comes on here also. I really like her and don't want to hurt anyone's feelings but the dog is my main concern. I may hire a behaviorist or two to get their expert opinions.