Interested in surrendering a dog to CFP?
Not that long ago, you were thrilled to have a new dog or puppy of your very own. You never dreamed you’d have to give him up someday. Even if you can’t keep him anymore, your dog still depends on you to do what’s best for him, just like he always has. Now, more than ever, he needs you to make the right choices for his future.
We are going to be direct and honest with you. Your dog is your responsibility. You made a commitment to that dog when you adopted or purchased him. He has no one else but you to look out for his best interest. It’ll take effort, patience and persistence to find him the right home because he deserves your best efforts.
Take responsibility, you committed to this dog, CFP feels dogs are part of the family.
If you adopted from CFP you stated that:
- You would care for this dog for its entire life
- You agreed to train this dog if needed
- Care for the dog medically
Please be sure you have completed your end of the adoption.
Finding a new home involves several steps. Before you start, there are some important things you should know…
……about Animal Shelters…..
Shelters and humane societies were created to care for stray and abused animals. They weren’t meant to be a drop-off for people who don’t want their pets anymore. Shelters, on average, take in 100 new animals or more each day. Let’s face it – there won’t be enough good homes for all of them. Even the best shelters can’t boast much more than a 50% adoption rate. Only the youngest, friendliest, cutest and best-behaved dogs are going to be adopted.
By law, stray pets must be kept for several days in case their owners decide to reclaim them. They may not be euthanized until that time period is up. Dogs given up by their owners aren’t protected by these laws. They may be euthanized at any time. Shelters don’t want to kill all these animals, but they don’t have a choice. There just isn’t enough room for all of them. Shelters today are so overcrowded that your dog could be killed the same day it arrives.
A shelter is your last resort only after all of your best efforts have failed.
……about Rescues and “No-Kill” shelters …..
Rescues have limited space, and most are foster based (which means dogs stay in someone’s home until adopted). This means they don’t HAVE to take your dog in and can ONLY take it in if space and/or foster home is open. Rescues devote most of their energy to the overcrowded shelters. Most don’t have the funds or means to take in a dog with behavioral issues.
True “no-kill” shelters are few and far between. Obviously, no one wants to see their pet killed so the demand for no-kill shelter services is high. So high that they’re forced to turn away many pets because they don’t have room for them all. Sometimes they must choose only the most adoptable dogs to work with.
Soul Searching
Do you really have to give up your dog? There’s a big difference between being forced to give up your dog and wanting to “get rid of him”. Search your heart for the real reason why your dog can’t live with you anymore. Be honest with yourself. Your answer will probably fall into one of two categories: People Problems or Dog Problems.
The Most Common People Problems:
“We’re moving – we can’t find a landlord who’ll let us keep our dog.”…….
Affordable rental homes that allow pets are out there if you work to find them. Most people give up too easily.
Take a look here, Wake County has already done the research for you! If you are in another county, many of your county shelter sites have similar lists: http://www.wakegov.com/pets/adoptions/Pages/guide.aspx
Apartments.com has a search tool to just look for places that are pet friendly: https://www.apartments.com/raleigh-nc/pet-friendly/
“We’re having a baby – we cant keep our dog with a new baby”
If you introduce the baby and the dog correctly then your child will have a best friend! Â
AKC offers some great tips: https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/how-to-introduce-babies-and-dogs/
Family Paws is a fantastic resource. They provide a wealth of knowledge on this issue, including an online course: https://www.familypaws.com/
Their YouTube channel offers wonderful videos about all things relating to babies/toddlers and dogs: https://www.youtube.com/user/familypaws
“We don’t have enough time for our dog.”…….Â
Life changes, we get it! But there are many ways you can keep your dog.
Doggy Daycare is a great option, there are so many to choose from! Find a mid-afternoon dog walker, a teenager in your neighborhood that wants to earn a few bucks or use one of the online places like wag.com.
Did you know a training session works better if it’s kept short? There is no need to carve out hours to work on your dog’s behavior! Work on a “sit and stay” while you are cooking. Work on “place” while you are drinking your coffee. Work on “crate time” while you are getting ready for work.
 The Most Common Dog Problems:
Behavior problems………If you got your dog as a puppy and he now has a behavior problem you can’t live with, you must accept the fact that you are at least partly responsible for the way your dog is now.
You have 4 options:
- You can continue to live with your dog the way he is.
- You can get help to correct the problem.
- You can try to give your problem to someone else.
- You can have the dog euthanized.
Obviously the first option is out, or you wouldn’t be reading this. You’re probably most interested in Option 3- so let’s talk frankly about that for a moment.
If you were looking for a dog and could select from all kinds of dogs and puppies, would you deliberately choose one with a behavior problem?
No, certainly not – and neither would anyone else. To make your dog desirable to other people or to keep your dog, you’re going to have to take some action to fix his problems.
Most behavior problems aren’t that hard to solve. We can help you with them if you’ll give it a try. Think hard about Option 2 before deciding it won’t work for you – because the only option you have left is number 4: Having the dog euthanized. That’s the bottom line. If you, who know and love the dog the most, won’t give him another chance, why should anyone else? Think about that.
Has your dog’s behavior changed recently? They could be in pain. Get them to the vet to talk about what could be causing this.
… IF YOUR DOG HAS EVER BITTEN ANYONE …
If your dog is aggressive with people or has ever bitten anyone purposefully, you can’t, in good conscience, give him to anyone else. Could you live with yourself if that dog hurt another person, especially a child? Can you deal with a lawsuit that could result from it? You stand to lose your home and everything else you own. Lawsuits from dog bites are settling for millions of dollars in damages.
Our society today has zero tolerance for a dog with a bite history, no matter how minor. A dog that has bitten – whether or not it was his fault – is considered by law to be a dangerous dog. In some states, it’s illegal to sell or give away a biting dog. No insurance company will cover a family with a biting dog. And to be perfectly honest, no responsible person in his right mind would want to adopt a biting dog.
Bites can happen for many reasons and not all dogs that bite are “aggressive”. Training is the best option. A trainer can get to the root of the bite and help you work it out. Sending a dog to the shelter with a bite history is not fair to the dog or the shelter. The dog will be scared and confused, and the shelter will most likely have to euthanize the dog. Take the dog to a trainer and find out why the bite happened.
Training
You may have already gone to a trainer and it didn’t work. That doesn’t mean your dog is not trainable or the trainer is bad, it may just mean that the trainer you went to is not the best for your dog. Just like people, we all learn differently, some are visual, some need to try something to learn and we all know the hard-headed people who you can’t tell anything to. Dogs are the same way, not all training is alike, there are several different training methods and you need to find the right one for your dog.
It also takes time. If your dog is an adult, they have probably exhibited this behavior (at least the start of it) for some time now so it’s going to take a bit of time to train them out of the bad behavior and teach them the new one.
Your dog’s behavior will most likely get worse if you try and re-home them now. Dogs need constancy and bouncing a dog to a rescue or shelter then to a new home is not constancy.
Click on our training resource link to find some of our favorite trainers in the area:Â https://cfp-nc.org/training/
Anxiety
Does your dog have separation anxiety? This is the most common type of anxiety we see for wanting to surrender a dog.
- Walks help! It could be pent-up energy. Playing in the back yard does not use the same energy as a walk- walking stimulates the brain.
- Use puzzle toys and Kong toys with frozen treats to keep their mind occupied.
- Use CBD oil and anxiety jackets to help while you’re gone.
- Go to your vet, there are many medications and combinations of medications your dog can take to help with this.
If you still think re-homing is the best option and you have tried everything else….
Call your dog’s breeder or rescue / shelter you got them from.
Before you do anything else, call the person you got your dog from and ask for help. Some have contracts in place that states that you must contact them first.
If you adopted from CFP-NC, we ask that you contact us. This is not a guarantee that we can take the dog back, but we are going to work with you to ensure that you have guidance on re-homing, trainer options and we will do our best to take them back into the rescue.
Still want to surrender your dog?
You can fill out the intake form for Cause for Paws of NC, a few things to note:
-
- We cannot take in dogs with major behavioral issues.
- Our priority is shelter dogs, dogs with medical issues, dogs that were adopted from CFP and last is well behaved owner surrenders.
- If time is short, we probably can’t help. Once you fill out the form, we then have to evaluate your dog’s intake form, we need to either meet the dog or see a video of your dog interacting with people and other dogs, our intakes team needs to approve the dog and only then can we start looking for a foster home. It’s not a quick process.
- If you have tried a trainer, we will need to speak with that trainer.
Fill out this form: https://form.jotform.com/92334167601150
- Look into re-homing your dog yourself:Â http://cfp-nc.org/rehoming/
Used with permission. Adapted by Cause for Paws of NC, from “When You Can’t Keep Your Chow Chow” written by Karen Privitello, Lisa Hrico & Barbara Malone, Chow Chow Welfare League of NPD, Inc. Reproduction other than for personal home use is prohibited without permission of the Chow Chow Club, Inc.’s Welfare Committee. For additional copies or permission to reprint, contact: The Chow Chow Club Inc.’s Welfare Committee 9828 E. County A Janesville, WI 53546 Chow Chow Welfare Hotline 608-756-2008