"Surrendering" a Lab

Last night, I received an application from a man who wished to "surrender" his 8-year-old Lab to our rescue. The dog has no behavior issues, according to the application. Reason for surrender: The man and his wife have two toddlers and lack "enough time to give (him) the attention or love that he deserves."

I have dealt with about eight owner surrenders so far in Florida. I would say six were from people just like this guy. He got the dog as a puppy, probably when his wife and him first got together, and for a while things were great. Then kids came along, and suddenly no one cares about the dog anymore.

I wrote back to this man and told me to send me pictures (I always need pictures to make sure the dog is as represented) and that I would see if anyone in rescue would be willing to take in his dog. But, I said, I had to be honest. Dogs his age were difficult to find fosters and homes for, because most people want young dogs. This dog would likely be in a foster home for months.

I said to him, I'm surprised that you'd want to give up what sounds like an amazing dog. Is there something you're not telling me? I told him many people feel overwhelmed when they have small children, and wasn't it possible that in a year or two, when the kids are a little older, you won't feel quite so overwhelmed?

If the dog could voice his opinion, I told him, he would say he would rather stay with the family he has been with all his life, even if it means a little less attention than before, even if he gets one walk a day instead of two.

I've decided that whether a person keeps his/her dog its whole life has nothing to do with the quality of the dog and everything to do with the quality of the person. A relationship with a dog, like a relationship with spouses or children or anyone else, is a commitment -- of time, money, effort. As with human relationships, there are times when things aren't going well, and times when more time, money and effort are needed. Commitment.

I hope this person will reconsider his decision.

Charlotte's long road

I tell everyone that I will never again get a dog from a breeder, now that I've seen the kind of dogs that come into rescue. My three personal dogs have all been from breeders, and the only difference I see between them and the dogs I foster is that the foster dogs are more loving, more appreciative, because they have glimpsed the dark side of life and don't want to go back.

My new foster Charlotte is a case in point. She is a beautiful, obviously purebred chocolate Lab, two or three years old, who was found as a stray in a rural area. Some purebreds are closer to the breed standard than others, and Charlotte is quite close. She's only 60 pounds, nicely proportioned, with a sweet, loving disposition. The kind of dog you might pay around $1,000 for from a breeder when she was eight weeks old and irresistibly adorable.

Yet, just a few years from her puppyhood, Charlotte turns up in rescue heartworm positive, loaded with fleas and ticks and hookworms, unspayed and probably pregnant. Her heartworm is pretty bad. Usually you don't see symptoms like a cough until heartworm is advanced, and Charlotte coughs when she is stressed. Today was her spay date, and the doctor was really worried about it, given her heartworm and her cough. He was afraid she might have respiratory problems during surgery. But we had to take the chance.

It is nearly impossible to find the heartworm drug she needs right now because of an extreme shortage, but I did find some nearby. She has an appointment for Nov. 26 to get injected with this drug. However, she can't be pregnant and undergo treatment, and she can't be a nursing mother and undergo treatment. The vet and I talked, and we decided the spay had to go on. Turns out she was around three weeks pregnant (the human equivalent of three months), so not very far along. She made it through surgery. But she has had a rough night. She was extremely nauseated and extremely thirsty, so she gulped a bunch of water, then violently heaved it all out, twice. The anesthesia makes some dogs sick to their stomachs and she had it bad.

She is sleeping now, so hopefully the worst is over.

I am determined to make this dog well and give her to a doting family that will spoil her for the rest of her life.