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Rehoming your dog
Beware!
Be very careful of people responding to private advertising. If you have a
dog (or a cross) of a fighting breed, you may find that the prospective
purchaser is a front man for a dog fighter. These people can appear to be
very plausible. Also understand that in a private sale, you have no rights
after the dog is gone. If you find out that the new owner lied about their
circumstances, or even that they have sold the dog on, there isn't anything you
can do.
Some people buy up a pedigree dog from a genuine family very cheaply, and quickly sell it on to make a profit. There are even dealers who will buy your dog from you and sell it the next day. These can be the most normal and genuine looking people that you will ever see, even some experienced rescue staff have been fooled on occasions.
If you rehome your dog badly, or you have lied about its problems, it will come back very quickly. We get lots of calls from people who have tried to rehome their dog and found it tied to their gate one day.
Think about what you will charge for the dog and whether you are also selling the papers with it. A lot of current puppy farm breeding dogs were bought privately from pet homes. You wouldn't want that to happen to your dog. There is also a huge current market for dogs being sold abroad for fighting, fur farming and puppy farming. There is a big problem being highlighted by some of the pedigree sites of dealers buying up dogs and puppies and selling them immediately abroad. Some of these dogs are being sold as breeding dogs for meat. I won't go into some of the practices, it's revolting. One breeder is quoted as being totally dumbfounded at discovering that a young adult she sold was shipped immediately abroad. The couple who bought the dog were extremely nice and seemed totally genuine. They had in fact been paid a lot of money by a well known dealer to buy the dog on his behalf. This was a breeder of over 20 years experience and she was still fooled.................. still want to home your dog yourself?
Options:
Breed Rescue Clubs
If you have a dog of a pedigree breed, even if it hasn't got papers,
the best option is always through a Breed Rescue Club. Some of these
clubs will take crosses if they bear a good resemblance to the pure dog.
These are organisations specialising in their own breed, and can usually
provide a more experienced home than general rescue. However like all
rescues, there are good and bad rescue clubs, so ask questions. See
the questions on the "Rescue Kennels" piece further down for a starting
point. These clubs frequently do not have premises, so usually you
will keep the dog until a home is found, or they may have a foster home.
The Kennel Club can help you to find the Rescue Club for your breed.
Call 0870 6066750.
Breeders
A good breeder will take back a dog they have bred at any point in its
life. Some breeders are excellent, some couldn't care less once they
have your money. There is a breeder in our county that makes it
perfectly clear when you buy a puppy that she will not take it back under
any circumstances and advises that you sell it if things don't work
out! If you think that you have bought from a reputable breeder, give
them a call and ask for help.
Private Advertising
You can of course advertise in lots of places, but see the first
paragraph of warnings. Our rehoming volunteers have 3 months training,
sometimes more before we allow them to rehome a dog. Do you have that
amount of experience and understanding? There are links to forums who can
help on our homepage.
Rescue Kennels
As already mentioned, there are good and bad ones. Ask the right
questions. You need to know if any home checking is done, before and
afterwards. What happens if a dog is unsuitable for its new
home? What basic adoption rules or criteria do they have? Do
they microchip? What areas do they rehome in and what do they do if a home
offered is out of the immediate area? Will you have to pay a donation
for them to rescue your dog? What is their policy on neutering? Do
they homecheck prospective owners and check after rehoming too?
Be careful: some rescues now make new owners sign a form that forbids them to
bring the dog back if there is a problem!
Don't Lie
It is selfish, dangerous and unfair to home a dog that is aggressive in any
way. Either you must get proper, professional help, or keep the dog, or
put it to sleep on the agreement of your vet.
I would guess that at least ten or more times a week we get calls from the
owners of aggressive dogs that simply want to rehome them, often they have
already been advised by their vet to put the dog to sleep and are too cowardly to
do the right thing. They use various excuses: "the dog needs a more
experienced home/more time than we can give/more training", or a very
common one "the dog needs to live somewhere without another dog/without
children/on a farm".
These places don't exist. It is your responsibility to deal with your dog's
problems, not someone else's. Rescue is unfunded work, run by dedicated
people. It is not a dumping ground for lazy owners.
If you have a dog with a problem, please try to solve the problems first. If it is a case of dogs not getting on then rehoming is probably your best option. Our sister organisation, SafePets UK has retrained and rehomed many dogs who initially could not be passed on because of the severity of their problems. Some owners have bought a training package which has gone with the dog to its new owners. If you would like to discuss that option, see our website and email us.
