This is our dog Georgie – we rescued her a few months after we gave our first dog away.
If you’re thinking about surrendering your dog, here are several things to consider. We sadly gave our dog away yesterday; it was the right decision for us, but we’ve been crying ever since.
The following tips will help you decide if you need to give your dog away.
But first, here’s something to consider:
“There are things that we don’t want to happen but have to accept, things we don’t want to know but have to learn, and people [and dogs] we can’t live without but have to let go.” ~ Author Unknown.
And that’s exactly how I feel: I can’t live without my dog, but I had to let her go. One of my regrets is not learning more about dogs from books such as Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know.
The more you understand your dog, the better equipped you’ll be to make the seemingly impossible decision of whether you should give her away.
Should You Give Your Dog Away?
Here are my tips, based on our recent experience with adopting and surrendering a dog.
Separate emotion from the reasons you need to give your dog away
We adopted Jazz, a 75-pound one-year old black lab German Shepherd “puppy” from the West Vancouver SPCA just over a month ago. We fell in love with her almost immediately, which is why we couldn’t stop crying when we surrendered her back to the SPCA yesterday.
However, as heartbroken and guilty as we feel, we couldn’t ignore the practical reasons that compelled us to give our dog away. We are not the best family for this dog.
If you’re trying to decide if you should give your dog away, try to separate your love from what’s best for everyone…including your dog.
Make a list of pros and cons for keeping versus giving your dog away
When you make your list of reasons for keeping or not keeping your dog, assign each reason a number. For instance, one of the reasons we gave our dog away (a “con”) is that she is the size of a small pony and has the energy of seven dogs combined. Our house and yard isn’t big enough for her – and neither are our energy levels! So, this con rates a 10 on a scale of 1-10 (10 being “very important reason” and 1 being “hardly important at all”).
When you finish making your list, add up the numbers. If the cons for keeping her outweigh the pros, then maybe you should give your dog away.
Listen to your heart and head – not other people’s opinions
My husband and I were your typical confused dog owners! We didn’t know if we should keep trying to train and bond with our dog, or if we should just give her away after one month. Everyone we talked to had a different opinion: some said to give the dog away because it’s not worth the time and hassle to train her, while others said it just takes time (up to two years!) for her to mature and learn how to be obedient and part of our “pack.”
Ultimately, though, we had to make our own decision, regardless of what other dog owners or obedience trainers said.
Do what’s best for you and your family
I’m a full-time writer and blogger; you’d think I’d be the perfect owner for a big energetic dog who needs lots of time and attention! But, she was so restless and needy, I couldn’t do my job properly. Having this young black lab around all day was emotionally draining; I was constantly worried that she might need to pee, that she was bored, that she was lonely without her SPCA dog friends.
Additionally, it was physically exhausting and time consuming to take her on four walks a day, which the dog obedience trainer recommended. As painful as it was to give our dog away, it really was the best decision for us.
Find ways to cope with guilt after finding a new home for your dog
Both my husband and I feel terrible that we took Jazz back…but it helps to know that we did the best we could. Our dog will be better off in a different home with a family who can give her what she needs. We’re struggling with seriously guilty feelings after giving our dog away – and the sooner we find ways to cope with our pain, the better off we’ll be. One way to cope is to talk about it with people who understand, and to write about it.
UPDATE: we adopted a different dog (Georgie, pictured above) six months after giving Jazz away, and can’t imagine life without her! We always wanted a dog, but didn’t find the right one…until now. I describe how it all happened in Are You Ready to Get Another Dog?
Are you struggling to decide if you should give your dog away? Comments welcome below.
If have no idea what to do about your dog, read Smart Choices: A Practical Guide to Making Better Decisions. It’s not about dogs, it’s about making serious and important life decisions.
And if you hate yourself for giving your dog away, read my article on forgiving yourself for the “bad” things you did.
A reader suggested these articles, for people who are struggling with this decision:
Thank you for those links, Karen!
Dear Amber,
Thank you for stepping in and caring for this dog! It’s not easy to do the right thing, but I’m glad you are. Your friend is going through a really hard time, and you’re doing what you can to help both her and her creatures.
Regarding your questions: I would not expect her to pay you back for the shelter fees. It doesn’t sound like she’s in any position to do that, and I believe your expectation is unrealistic. It just sets you up to be disappointed and angry. If I were in your shoes, I might mention the shelter fees and even invite her to repay me if she can (but I probably would just eat the loss). I wouldn’t expect her to come through.
I don’t know what the legal ramifications are of you giving back the dog when you legally own him. If he escapes, or gets injured while in her care, or causes damage to another dog or person or property, can you be sued? That’s a very, very serious consideration. If you give the dog back to her, you need something in writing that states that you do not own him.
Another way to get around the legality is to surrender the dog back to the shelter. If she really wants him back, she’ll have to come up with the money. I actually think this is a better option than giving him back directly to her…but this may damage your friendship.
I also think that you may have to damage your relationship in order to do what’s best for the dog. I don’t think it’s in the dog’s best interests to go back to her, and I think that if your friendship is healthy and true, then she’ll forgive you for doing what you think is best for the dog. If you decide to go this route, you might write her a letter explaining that you love her and you only want what’s best for her, the dog, and your family in the long run…and that involves surrendering the dog to a shelter who can find a good home for her.
One final thought: don’t expect her to find a dog sitter! She has so much going on, how can she do this as well? Honestly, I think you should keep your expectations of her as low as possible. She’s obviously a caring person who wants to take care of her family (including her dogs!), but she can’t do it all.
I hope this helps, and I’m sorry there aren’t any easy answers. I wish you all the best as you move forward with this…I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers!
Blessings,
Laurie
I’m afraid that I’m not in a position to give away my “own” dog, but to try to convince a friend to give up one of hers that she cannot take care of.
My friend has 5 children, ages 13 to 2, 2 big dogs, and had several cats at the time that her husband abandoned her and effectively kicked them to the curb. Months later, she remains homeless, jobless, vehicle-less, and completely unsupported by her husband.
I have been doing what I can to help her, and one of these things was dogsitting her more rambunctious dog. He was practically a crazy dog with her, being kept in the back yard all day every day, constantly trying to get out to run free, etc. Since we’ve taken him in, we’ve been able to calm him down and teach him a couple of things, such as sit and stay, but we are not a good fit for him: he needs regular training and attention and lots of exercise (he’s a big, powerful, intelligent and high-energy dog); and we have several small children, with the dad in the military and with a new baby on the way. When the dog busted out of the fence and got caught by animal services and we found him in the animal shelter, we bought him back, making him legally ours.
Now baby is almost here, and my friend still has no other place for “her” dog. We had asked her a couple of months ago to try and find another dog sitter, but she had not. She is in no better position to take the dog in than she was when we first got him, and she even had to ask us for help to feed her other dog. I see her dog going back to him as a disaster in the making, because he would once again be in a too-small of a place with too much chaos, with people who cannot take care of him. She needs to find a job, to find a home, to otherwise spend her energy on moving on with her life, but she wants to keep “her” dog.
I am torn. The dog is legally ours, and we feel responsible for him. We don’t want him to go back to her, fearing that such an act would do great harm to both her family and to the dog. But we cannot keep him any longer because baby will come any day, and we need to focus on our own needs; and I feel that the dog will be more stable and better cared for in another family that actively wants a dog like him.
I respect her decisions, but I don’t know the legal ramifications of giving him to a homeless family when we’re legally responsible for him. Should we expect her to pay the amount we paid to get him out of the shelter? Do we need to draw up legal-looking papers blatantly stating that the dog is hers if none of my reasons convince her to give him up? I don’t know. I don’t want to damage my friendship with her.
Dear Ken,
Thank you so much for coming back, and updating us! I’m glad you decided to keep Blackie, and very much appreciate your honesty here.
I’m also impressed at how much you’ve learned about Blackie in the past several weeks. My dog Georgie tends to lunge and growl at other dogs on-leash in our neighborhood, too. I didn’t realize it could be a territorial thing. That’s good to think about, and test later today when I take her to a new neighborhood.
I still feel guilty and sad about giving our dog Jazz away – and that was almost 3 years ago! I talked to a woman yesterday who gave her dog away. She said all she felt was relief when she took him back to the shelter. I, on the other hand, was crying like a baby. It was awful, but we made the best decision we could at the time, so I am trying not to beat myself up. I pray that she’s happy in a good home — I’m sure she is. It was meant to be this way.
But if I had to make the same decision today, I’d do what you did. I’d take more obedience training courses. I’d also know better than to take the advice that we got — I now know things I didn’t know then, because of Georgie.
That said, however, sometimes the best solution is to surrender your dog.
Anyway — Ken, it sounds like you made the best decision for you and Blackie. Thanks again for the update!
Blessings,
Laurie
Hello again. Just want to comment on my situation again and thank you Laurie for the article.
I need to start out by saying these are just my feelings about me and my situation.
I have decided to keep Blackie. It has helped me immensely to write down my honest feelings about my situation. I have reread my post about 50 times. Every time I read it I tear up, thinking I was about to give this guy away. I get emails when someone posts here too. It helps me to see I am not the only one in this situation. Rereading it over and over again helped me realize what I needed to do to make this work. He didn’t chose to be with me. I chose him to be with me.
I am still gone 10-12 hours M-F for work, but I have learned different exercises to tire him out. Just walking is not good enough for him. I could walk him to the moon and back and he will still want to go. I mix up the things we do now. I’ll take him to the dog park, when only his friends are there, so he can run full steam ahead and play. Walk for 20 minutes or longer if I can. Don’t get me wrong we still moments that I hate, but they are becoming fewer. Maybe it’s because he is getting older. I don’t know.
Patience is my biggest problem. Now, when his behavior gets where I don’t like it, I realize that I need to keep my patience in check. Sometimes it doesn’t work, but for the most time I can, stop, think about how I am going to handle the situation and move on with this guy. As opposed to blowing my top.
I have learned that he is only aggressive towards dogs in my neighborhood. I’m guessing it’s a territorial thing. I took him to a town 20 miles from here and walked the downtown area and dogs would be 15 feet from him and he would just look and smell, not bark and lunge. These are things that take time to see and learn about your dog.
A good trainer is key. PetSmart was good training for my dog (I recommend it to anybody), but I felt Blackie and I needed something different in our training to get to where I wanted us to be. Some training requires a choke collar & some say that it’s cruel. My new trainer put a prong collar on my dog, much to his and my dismay (in the beginning), but in 5 minutes Blackie was used to it and he learned quickly. You would be surprised how little pressure I need to use to get a response out of my dog. I can walk with him now. To me it’s just like how some kids can learn in a certain environment and some can’t. Change up the tools and the trainer for the kids who couldn’t learn before and now they can. You need to find the right teacher and tools for you and your dog.
Sorry to babble on here, but I hope this may help someone else. Or encourage them to write out their feelings if they are in a similar situation. As I said before it has helped me a ton. The furry S.O.B. is laying at my feet still. Unconditional love from a dog is amazing.
Dear Rich,
I’m sorry you’re having such a hard time taking care of your dog. You obviously love her very much! She’s a huge part of your life, and giving her away is painful and heartbreaking.
Have you considered a dog walker or doggy day care? When I have to leave my dog alone for more than 6 hours, I have a dog walker come in and take her for a group romp. I’ve also tried doggy daycare, but find that Georgie isn’t as happy there.
I also do everything I can to include Georgie on my socializing. I’ve left her in the car if I can’t take her into restaurants or friends’ homes, so at least she gets to be out and about. I’m learning which friends welcome her into their homes with both arms, and which are kind but stand-offish. I’m also inviting friends to do dog-friendly social activities, such as walking or hiking.
Having given a dog away, I now think it’s better to make sacrifices and do everything you can to keep your dog. I’m not telling you that you should keep Sai — I’m saying that if I had to make the same choice, I wouldn’t have given Jazz away. The pain and guilt doesn’t go away — it actually gets worse as time goes by, because we tend to remember all the good things and forget the bad.
I think it’s a good idea to give a dog away when there are safety issues with children, dog obedience or behavioral issues that are not resolvable, or other issues that can’t be worked out.
The most important thing is that you make the decision that allows you to go to sleep at night in good conscience.
I hope this helps – I know it’s such a difficult decision! Feel free to talk it through here.
Blessings,
Laurie
Hey, im struggling with a decision to give away my dog and i have no clue what to do. Every time i think about it i break down into tears and can barely think. My dog Sai is 2 years old, ive had her since she was old enough to be away from her mother. When i got her i was living with someone and I had more time on my hands. In the past few months ive started living on my own and working more. I work 12 hour shifts and barely have time to take her for a short walk sleep eat and shower before its back to work. My days off i spend more time with her but i also spend time with friends leaving my dog alone for hours. I feel guilty about it but i also know id loose it if i didn’t socialize. I really dont know If i can continue with the guilty feeling i have every time i leave the house, but i also dont know if i could live that alone. Im stuck between a rock and a hard place and really just need an outside oppinion.
What have you decided to do — did it help to write out your thoughts here? I don’t have any answers for you, but hope that something has happened to make the decision more clear for you….
Hello Everyone,
I have thought to give Lola away for the last 4 months, I still cannot decide what to do. Lola was the only left from a bunch of puppies in a shelter, no one wanted her because of her look and ways, she doesn’t really look like a breed in particular, she was the one on top of everyone, biting them, steeping on them and she definitely had a not submissive attitude, but it broke my heart seeing that every puppy was leaving except her. Then, I convinced my husband to adopt her. He was not happy about it, but since we didn’t have children, he agreed with me. I got pregnant in December last year, and I have been dealing with her with all sort of things she does; she destroys everything, from underwear to her own bed, she eats all sorts of bugs, she doesn’t listen and she tries every way to get what she wants. She is very, very smart, too smart for her own good, I try to follow a routine, and play with her twice a day, taking hikes, even now that I’m almost 6 months. I have to take care of everything at home, my husband works long hours and I am the only one dealing with everything. Lola is not helping the cause, she gives me a lot of work, and as much as I would like to wait for her to grow and give her that space I cannot see it possible with a baby coming. I have another dog, he is very sweet, he is my husband’s and he is 12 years, so he is trained and very submissive, Lola doesn’t stop busting his chops. My main concern is that, when she does things I get very frustrated, for a second I cannot breath, I get dizzy, I feel my heart bumping so rapidly that my chest hurts. This is unfair for both of us, there is no need for her to feel miserable in this house, I don’t want to go through a health problem and specially with a baby coming. I am so sad and confused.
We’re still trying to decide. What should we do with this dog (mutt?} We’ve spent oodles of $$ on him, & so many hours of research (mine-Laurie), and many, many hours steam-cleaning our carpets.
Night before last- he woke me up by throwing up something beside the bed and then eating it. I was so tired I didn’t even care. Yesterday evening I had my book-club over, and he knocked a glass out of my friend’s hand, & then ate my cake. Mind you- all while on a gentle leader in my hand. His food obsession is extreme, but since he came to us so emaciated (to the point of death) I tend to give him a lot of lattitude. (He’s pulled a roasted chicken off the table and porkchops off a platter-not to mention the plates he’s knocked out of our hands and stuff he’s stolen out of our hands.)
But the question is- can a dog like this be saved? Are there some dogs that just should be put down? The manners I’ve taught him are forgotten when food is the question.
Our older lab has been very tolerant-with the food aggression etc, and he has the scars on his face to prove it. We are not new at this DOG-THING. But I try to take in every animal that shows up at our farm…cat dog, deer, turtle, bird…
This dog, I can’t figure out. I’ve never seen anything like him-and as the grand-daughter of a game warden, I’ve seen my share of animals…But i have to tell you that i love him.
I’m afraid he might bite others, but that’s only his scared/abused-self reacting.
I’ve started hand-feeding him his food & only on signal allowing him to eat… trying to break his food-aggression and make him realize all his food comes from me.
I home-cook all his feed- (getting away from his bowel-troubles and the dog-food industry) this week it’s Pork roast with rice, cottage cheese and broccoli. Every week is different. My family (husband and 2 teenage sons) are not as committed as I am, so when I’m busy with say my book-club, and I ask them to take care of the boys…and they just let them outside to run wild, I end up with explosive diarrhea on my bedroom carpet at 6:30 in the morning. An hour later, I was able to get in the shower to get ready for an 11 hour day at work. (and no- the dogs aren’t left alone that long (my sons get home at 3 and take care of them.)
After I led the boys downstairs this morning, I started crying and i couldn’t stop. The dogs were worried. The Boys were too. I’d had enough.
This is I guess an essay. Modern life… Mom takes care , and when Mom breaks down…?
I’m done, i can’t clean up any more messes- Giardia is cured, food allergies are cured, obsessive humping-cured.
He ate my half-grown baby chicks out from underneath my hen. He chewed the weather stripping off our garage door. He destroyed a Wii controller. He broke his crate.
He ate my kids Easter baskets -shit tin foil for a week.
When I’ve tried to tie him, he chewed the leash to get free- many, many times.
Is this a dog who should be put down, or can he be re-adopted?
We have the space for him…the energy…what is it we’re lacking? If we don’t have it- who would?
It’s the whole food thing. Can a dog who was so starved…eating road-kill to survive, can he be rehabilitated?
Brittany, bless you- you’ve tried so hard. Don’t feel guilt- you’ll adopt another dog when it’s the right time and the right dog.
Its an extremely hard decision to make and other peoples opinions are harder to cope with. I adopted a kelpie x german shep over a year age and have struggled with keeping up with her energy needs she destroys everuthing digs everywhere and barks all the time. We have everything in our power but I think I have to realise that this is just not the right home for her. I know its the right decision not only for me but for my dog. But how do you deal with the guilt? Its heartbreaking to think im giving up on her and I hate myself for it…
Hi Ken,
Thank you for your comments. It’s a very, very difficult decision that you’re facing! I really respect the fact that you feel like you made this commitment, and should stick to it.
Have you thought about a dog walker to come in and take him for a walk in the middle of the day? When I have to be gone for more than 7 hours, my dog walker takes Georgie for a romp for 2-3 hours mid-day. This leaves Georgie tired when I get home, which relieves me of a long after-work walk.
About your question about giving him away to this family, and then watching him while they’re on vacation. It may be best if you could stay at their place if you take care of him, so he learns where his “real” home is. I think that may help with all the transitions. I’m not a veterinarian or dog expert, though. It may be worthwhile to call a shelter or vet and ask what they think.
Having a dog is a huge sacrifice, even when things are “perfect.” I love Georgie and would never give her away (like I did Jazz), but I almost daily get irritated with her. She wipes her bum on the carpet, costs me lots of money in medications and vet bills, and really restricts my activities. But, she gives me that unconditional love you mentioned! And I love having her in my life. I can’t imagine life without her, and I know someday I will have to.
I hope you’re able to make a decision that you know in your heart is the right thing to do. Remember that the right decision isn’t always the easiest one. Sometimes it hurts more to do the right thing.
Blessings,
Laurie
Thank you for this article.
I have been hemming and hawing about giving away my dog that I have had since June 29th, 2012. I was his 3rd owner in his first 6 months of life.
He was a nervous wreck when I got him. The poor guy didn’t know what was going on. Now, he is my shadow in the house.
It’s just me and him. I am at out of the house 10-12 hours Monday thru Friday (sometimes Saturday) for work. He is a Hound/Husky mix who has a ton of energy. I would walk him a mile in the morning and more than that in the afternoon. Also visiting the dog park in the evening and he was still going.
I have don’t have much patience to begin with. Put that on top of working construction all day, coming home tired and crabby, and having to go on a 2 mile walk as soon as you get home. If he doesn’t get his exercise he gets whiny and fidgety, which makes me more crabby.
I have had him for over nine months and there are weeks I love him and weeks I can’t stand him. There are days I just don’t want to deal with the responsibility I have decided to put upon myself. I feel he would be better with an active family. But, I feel bad being gone for up to 12 hours or getting frustrated at him when I am tired and he needs to go on a walk or when he gets a little out of line. You know you blow things up when you are tired and crabby. I don’t beat him, but I have yelled and scared the crap out of him by doing so. Yet this guy is still my shadow in the house. It is true of the unconditional love a dog gives you.
I have been trying to rationalize this in my head by saying that he would be better off with someone else than me, but the argument in my head keeps coming up with the conclusion that I am selfish and only thinking of myself. It was me who decided to take on this responsibility of owning a dog. It was me who kept saying I was going to make this work when I just wanted to let go of the leash when he was pissing me off. And now I feel like I am giving up on him. Why, because I want to go out after work and can’t? Because I don’t want the responsibility that I chose to take?
I won’t take him to a shelter. So I have been asking friends and family if they know of a family that would want a energetic dog. I have found one family that are very interested in getting a dog. They came over to meet the dog and were very nice. They wanted to pick him up and take him to their house tomorrow for a few hours, but I said only if I could come with. I want this to be so much less stressful on him then the stress he had when I took him. I told them if they were in a hurry or if they had a problem if this process took about a month or so then this won’t work . I want them to come over a lot so he gets used to them so the transition is seamless. And if they decided they didn’t want him, they better bring him back to me. I don’t want him going to a shelter.
After reading a few dog books, the one thing I can’t stress enough, and I wish I did when I got this dog, is research the breed or the breeds in the dog you are thinking about getting. Had I known what I know now, I probably wouldn’t have taken him.
Sorry if this is incoherent or doesn’t make sense. I am having a hard time with this whole process and I am just scatter brained right now.
One question I have is if this transition worked out and they took my dog, they asked me if I would watch him if they go out of town on vacation. Is that good for the dogs mental state to have an old owner watch it for a week or so?
Dear Kevin,
You have been through a lot with your dog! I was diagnosed with Giardia 4 days ago, and am currently taking the exact same antibiotics as your dog is.
Have you had the dog for 3 months? Sometimes it takes a long time to get a dog adjusted to the routine. It took my current dog, Georgie, almost 2 years to really settle in with us. She finally doesn’t wreck things in the house when we leave her alone for a few hours.
Having a dog is a sacrifice, and it’s possible that the worst sacrifices come at the beginning of the relationship. That is, it takes both dog and owner time to adjust to each other. If you’ve never had a dog before, it’ll take you time to figure out how to be a leader.
Have you taken dog obedience courses? That may be a good first step. What do you think?
Dear Jon,
Have you tried obedience training? We hired a dog obedience trainer, and she came in to our home for 2 hours and gave us tips on how to handle the dog. It didn’t work with Jazz, but I think it’s a good idea to at least try that route before giving the dogs up. Your dogs are still puppies, and need to learn what is and is not theirs.
What do you think?
Hi Eileen,
I’m glad to hear you got your dog back, and things are going great! Enjoy your new relationship with your dog
Laurie
He’s a stray= first came to our house the first of December. He was totally emaciated, but he had a collar on, so I thought maybe someone was missing him and would get a Christmas present. After 2 months, when no one had claimed him, my family paid $100 to take him home.
He was covered in his own excrement, still emaciated, and after his baths was humping our old lab. Next was his neutering. Stitches removed.. still having diarrhea, but no longer compulsively humping. Next tried improving his food, feeding him $6/lb food, still diarrhrea. I’m determined to end this cycle.
I started cooking all his food-chicken/salmon, + rice + vegetables. I’ve tried everything. Every combination.
His diarrhea wouldn’t quit so I looked into the causes of such rampant diarrhea, and found out it was Giardia. Metronidazole for 1 week cured that . So now, I’ve been through humping=neutering, diarrhea=home-made food, anti-biotics, still loving him, but my home-life is crumbling. He’s still food-agressive-biting,-not-house-trained. My life revolves around him. Help Me.
My family has two 6-months old Schnauzers, they love them and I have gotten quite attached to them, but they bite everything they can find. They ripped out the phone line, tore a whole in the hose in the yard, destroyed two bowls where we put their food, and tore some electrical cables from my truck (quite pricey I might add). We have tried to fix and replace these objects but they just keep trying to go at them as if they were toys, which they have – tons of them. We have tried to teach them not to keep destroying our possessions but it hasn’t worked. My question is, should we keep trying or just give up and get rid of them?
Laurie,
I’ve written to you back in June of last year with my situation about giving my dog up. He was with my friends for a few months and I’m so happy to tell you I have him back. I’ve had him back for awhile and I’m so happy and everything is going great.
Dear Terri,
I’m sorry for what you’re going through. It sounds so frustrating and heartbreaking, that you’ve tried everything to stop your dog from guarding you so fiercely. It’s a terrible stress for you, your marriage, and even your friendships.
I don’t have any easy solutions. I’m not a dog trainer, so I can’t offer tips.
You have to protect your grandchildren – I think that’s more important than keeping your dog. If anything happened to them, you would never be able to forgive yourself – and your kids wouldn’t either. So, you need to prioritize your human family above your dog family.
You need to decide if you want to keep your dog and organize your life in a way that protects her from other people. Unfortunately, that means she’ll never come into contact with others, which may escalate her behaviour when she eventually does interact with humans.
For your grandchildren’s visit — maybe they need to stay somewhere else?
Or, perhaps your dog could stay with your friend (the one who might take her), and you could test that out while your grandchildren are visiting?
What do you think of these two options?
we rescued an abuse maltese 2 years ago and she resource guards me, meaning when some people come near me or in same room she attacks, including my husband. Once she attacks she is all love on that person. We’ve tried everything to break this, even hired a trainer, nothing has worked. the fear of her attacking our young grandkids is forcing me to find her another home, but it’s killing me & hubby is not happy about getting “rid” of her. I might have a friend interested but wary of giving her to someone I know (even though it will be good home). People say Im giving up on her, bad dog owners, etc. Im so torn I cannot sleep. My grkids are coming in June and Im scared. I dont know what to do. I love her so much, but we cant help her. Its getting worse. please help me.