[Sadowner]

Hi, my dog is 7 years old. We had him since he was puppy. My husband and I work full time and our small dog is alone 11 hours a day. When we are not home he has the lower floor kitchen to himself and when we get home we let him out and he is attached to us for the remainder of the evening until it is time to turn in. We shared our sadness of leaving our dog alone with our dog's dental hygienist and she just informed us of a nice elderly who just lost her dog (old age) and is very interested in adopting an adult small dog. We are driving out to her location to interview her on site and see how we feel about her offer. She, unlike us, is home everyday, has a park right next to her house, has a back yard, and a neighbor who has the same breed of dog as a potential friend for our little guy. The thought of not having him around after 7 years is breaking my heart every minute I look at him today and am almost convinced to call the lady and tell her that we will not give him up. On the other hand, I might be selfish and not thinking about my little guy's best interest. The new home sounds nice and inviting, but I cannot stop my tears when I look into my little guy's eyes and the thought of coming home and not having him on my lap. Am I being selfish? Shouldn't our dog be used to this format of life by now? Should we change his life style? Or is it best for him to go to a full time watch environment?:( :(

[N0help4u]

I don't have the answer for what is best for your dog, but one thing I do know is that sometimes a pet doesn't adjust to the new family and sometimes will even have bad behavior in protest. I started telling people if they had any problems where they felt they needed to give the pet away to please give it back to me. I have had two cats given back. I have only given one dog away because a friend gave me a german shepard and he didn't adjust.
It is also good to let them know your are open to having the pet back to because if they don't know you would like having it back and they can't keep it the new owner will sometimes give the pet away or to the pound.

[labman]

It is a tough decision. I hate to see a dog go more than 4-5 hours by itself. I also hate to see an older dog rehomed if it doesn't have to be. The older a dog gets, the more important his routine and familiar people become. Yes, I would like to see him have more company during the day. You might find a neighbor or professional dog walker to give him a mid day walk. The deluxe solution would be doggy daycare for him. There are tons of older dogs needing homes the lady could adopt. One of the best sources for dogs with a predictable personality is the rescue dogs. These are dogs that lost their home, but were taken into a foster home
To be retrained as necessary and placed in the right home for them. You may
Find a rescue near you starting at American Kennel Club - Breed Rescue The rescues charge a fee to help cover their expenses, but is much less than the price of a puppy plus all its medical expenses the first year. www.petfinders.org has even more dogs.

[Fr_Chuck]

Any chance of a shared dog, sort of like a doggy day care, you drop the doggie off in the morning, pick them up most evenings.

[Sadowner]

We have explored that in our neighborhood but we did not have such luck. Thanks for the thought though.

[Sadowner]

Thank you all for your input. My husband and I just called the lady who was interested in our little guy to tell her that we are fully committed in changing our life style to accommodate our little dog better i.e. we are keeping him and will make sure he is valued as an important part of our family. We are very happy with our decision:) Thank you all