Monday's emails

I am going to dedicate a few posts this week to emails I receive from people wanting to re home their dogs. I will post the emails I receive and the outcome of the email/my response.


Email #1:

Amy, My name is XXXX and I am looking for a great home for a Jack Russell that I got from down in Kentucky from a family that wasn't taking care of it. If I did'nt take him, they were going to shoot him. I already have 4 dogs that I own. I really want to keep it but I can't. (My husband always tell me that I can't save them all) I would if I could. I was going to put an ad in the paper, But I don't feel right about that. His Name is Copper and He is about 3 years old and Not Fixed. Could you please contact me by e-mail : XXXXXX@yahoo.com or my cell phone number (XXX) xxx-xxx. I would really appeciate If you could some how help me.

My Response:

Hi XXX -

I should be able to help you but we will have to work together on this. You are about 4 hours from me and I only take in dogs that are at risk of being killed in shelters. However, like I said working together I should be able to help you. I just need a little more information from you.

Can you provide me with some pictures of the dog? Also, can you tell me a little more about him and why you can't keep him. Can you not keep him because he is aggressive/bad or is it because you simply have too many dogs already?

Status:
Waiting for a response from the person. Will update if I hear back.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Email #2:

I am looking for a foster and/or permanent home for a 6 yr old spayed female Jack Russell mix. Kay is a sweet little girl that likes to sit on your lap and lick your face when she wants to, but does not like to be picked up. She is very much an alpha dog and unfortunately did not have consistent training or discipline in her early years.

She belongs to my sister, who has been ill since October of 2008. My sister had a sudden respiratory arrest and was intubated and placed on a ventilator for a week in ICU, and because they were unable to wean her from the vent, had a tracheotomy done. Three months have passed and they still have been unable to wean her from the trach. She has many other medical problems and rehab has been extremely slow. I have real doubts that she will ever be able to care for Kay again.

Kay has spent the last three months with my husband and me. We have a German Shepherd who has been fairly patient with Kay but is "losing her cool." Kay has also bitten both my husband and myself. I work full time as an OB/GYN nurse and spend a great deal of time with my sister overseeing her care and finances. I truly don't have the time to work with Kay to provide the consistency that she needs.

I would love to find a caring household for Kay but she truly needs a home without children or other dogs. And she needs someone who is willing to work with her on a consistent basis. Could you help me place Kay or is she a dog that your organization can accept? I would love to hear from you as soon as possible as we need to resume some sense of normalcy in our own household, both for ourselves and our German Shepherd.

Thanks for your help!

Sincerely,
XXXXXX

My Email response:

Hi XXXX -

I am so sorry to hear about your sister. I am also sorry to hear about Kay. So, you know female JRT's (and mixes and really terriers in general) are very dominate and when it comes to other female dogs they are even more so. I am guessing your other dog is female and that could be why you are having problems. I don't know if you have had her around male dogs but she might less bossy with them.

Unfortunately, we are only able to take dogs in from shelters because of the large number of dogs in shelters that are risk of being killed. Also, since Kay has bitten we are unable to take her in and place her. A dog that has bitten is a liability risk and we will not adopt out a dog aggressive dog or a dog that has bitten a person.

With that said, I do not recommend you re homing her. If she is to bite someone or attack another dog you could be sued. I have seen it happen before. Also, you have a love / connection with the dog because she is your sister's dog. The next person isn't going to be so tolerant of her behavior and she will more then likely end up abused and possibly at a shelter where she will be killed or die from the abuse.

Your options are fairly limited due to the fact she has bitten.

You also have to understand that rescue groups that have fosters home.. the foster homes have children and other dogs. Any shelter kill or no kill will more then likely put her to sleep pretty quickly if she acts aggressive towards a person or a dog. Not to mention that dogs with behavioral problems act out even more in the stressful kennel environments so are put down much sooner then they would other wise.

You either need to hire a trainer to try to work out things, find a family member that is willing to help or put the dog to sleep. I know these are probably all choices you have already considered but for a dog that has bitten these are your only options.

Sorry I could not help you more,

Status:
Never heard anything back

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Email #3:

Hello ladies!
Hope all is well for you.

I got a call today from a guy who has a 3-4 year old JRT. He has to get rid of him because he is a truck driver and his girlfriend is going to jail.
He said the dog is NOT neutered but is UTD on all vacc. He said he would pay to have the dog neutered and any other expenses. The dog is OK around other dogs- does not start anything but can 'look' like he might. He said he is great with kids and all loves all people. 100% housebroken and can do tricks and even 'says' I love you????
I did not give him your info yet- I thought I would check and see if you were even able to take another one in and if this sounds like a dog you could take in.

My response:

He called me. Said he took the dog to Media Dog Pound and they gave him my number. I didn't answer but he left a message crying.

We are full right now. Not that we have a ton of dogs but I have 2 that aren't getting picked up until Feb 7th and anything not in a foster home has to be boarded at $15 a day. It is too cold out of dogs to be in my barn and I can't leave my elderly parents with a house full of dogs... Ok, well more of a house full of dogs then I already have. Plus my parent don't always remember to hook a dog up and I don't have a fence yard so it is just an "accident" waiting to happen if I leave them with foster dogs.

I feel bad for the guy. Are you going to talk to him again? Is he by you? If we can get the dog evaluated so I know it is ok with other dogs and if he gets it neutered that might buy us some time until I can make some room.

Status:
The person responded saying:
Yea, I feel bad for him too. I will talk to him and let you know.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Phone call:

A kind hearted person who is willing to help when needed found out about a 12 week old Pit Bull puppy that if a place for him isn't found by end of day tomorrow the owner will take him and put him to sleep. The owner was living with his parents, got the puppy and then decided to move out. He found a place to rent but the place won't allow dogs. The parents will not keep the dog so he is going to take it to put it to sleep. A 12 week old puppy!! The person was calling me to ask if I knew any rescues that would take in the puppy if she couldn't find another option for him. I do and she said she was working on a few other leads and would contact me if she needed to find a rescue.

My thoughts:

This person is a kind and loving person and realizes that rescues are last resort. Although this is not her dog she is trying every other option before turning to rescue. She too is annoyed that someone would get a puppy and THEN decide to move to a place that doesn't allow dogs. Hopefully she will be able to help and if she can't maybe some of the people I know can.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------