Summary
Rehoming your dog is a significant decision due to life changes or pet needs. Explore all alternatives first. To find the right home, prepare your dog (groomed, vaccinated, spayed/neutered), create an honest and compelling ad with photos, leverage your network and online resources, and thoroughly interview potential adopters with a home visit. Surrendering to a shelter should be a last resort; understand their policies. Dogs grieve separation, showing changes in appetite, behavior, and energy. With patience and love, they will heal and bond with a new owner. Prioritize finding a loving, suitable home for your dog to thrive.
How to Rehome a Dog?- How to Get Started with Rehoming Your Dog?
While advertising for new owners, you must put your pet’s best foot forward.
- Take a good color picture of your pet in its ‘element.’ You can take a photo you already have and make it available for use.
- Prepare a brief description/biography for your dog. This should include any training that your dog has had. Also, mention how your dog gets along with other animals, children, strangers, etc. You must list out their medical history and any medication they may be taking. Also, mention their favorite treats and their most miniature favorite food. Most importantly, what makes your dog special?
- Be honest about your pet when you look for someone to adopt it. Full disclosure will help you find the best home for your pet. If your pet requires medication or any other kind of special care, be sure to say so
- Make sure your pet is well-groomed and up-to-date on her vaccinations. Also, ensure that your precious pup is free from fleas and ticks.
- If you haven’t already, ensure your pet is spayed or neutered. Look for low-cost but standardized spay/ neuter clinics in your area.
Check with Friends and Family
First, check with your immediate circle if anybody wants a dog. With trusted family members, friends, co-workers, etc., you have better chances of finding a loving home for your pet. Speak to other pet owners, people from your pet’s veterinary clinic, pet store, etc.
Most nonprofit and humane societies and animal rescues accept courtesy listings for their websites.
Social networking sites can help you find people interested in your pet. Breed-specific Facebook pages can also help with the rehoming process.
When a prospective adopter gets in touch with you, interview the individual and conduct a home visit to ensure your pet’s owners-to-be are people who will take care of your pet well.
While interviewing, checking the following details about prospective pet owners is essential.
- Does the person have previous experience caring for pets?
- Check whether their home is big enough to accommodate your pet.
- Check if they have the financial means to care for your dog.
- Most importantly, check if they have realistic expectations of living with your pet.
Surrendering Your Dog to a Pet Shelter
Suppose, despite your best efforts, you cannot still look for a suitable home for your pet on your own. In that case, it is advisable to surrender your pet to an animal rescue or municipal animal shelter. Many adoption contracts specify that you return the pet to them rather than rehome it alone.
Every organization you approach makes sure that you review their surrender and adoption policies before giving up your pet. Find out what organizations they partner with that may increase the adoption potential of animals in their care.
The Horrible Myth of ‘No Kill’ Shelters
Most animal shelters take in all the animals that come to them. However, when they run out of space or funding, they euthanize animals to make room for new ones. It is the same with aggressive animals that cannot be quickly adopted.
Many animal welfare professionals are working to ensure that no innocent animal gets killed. These actions are usually done if the shelter has more animals in its care than what is considered safe and legal.
Shelters are also prohibited from adopting aggressive animals. Even genuinely no-kill shelters can euthanize when animals are deemed unadoptable due to some illness or history of aggression.
Will Your Dog Miss You?
For you, your pet dog might have just been a part of your life. However, for your dog, you are everything. It is normal and natural for dogs to grieve the absence of a person they have bonded with when they are no longer present.
Your dog might need help understanding the full extent of the human absence. However, your dog will understand the emotion of missing someone who is no longer a part of their daily life.
Signs Your Dog Is Grieving
No two dogs are alike in the way they grieve. To accurately decipher your dog’s emotional state, look for tell-tale signs. Your dog’s sadness can be expressed through behavioral changes. Your dog will express anxiety and stress through the following gestures.
- Panting
- Whining
- Barking
- Pacing
- Fidgeting
- Loss of appetite
- Weight loss
- Lack of energy
- Clinginess
- Lack of interest in physical activity
Experts say it is best to let a dog figure out its feelings of missing or grief. However, you can help by being sensitive to your dog’s needs during this time.
- Be completely aware of routines and ensure that you stick to them
- Comfort your new pet by spending more time together
- Show extra affection. It is proven that touch increases bonding
- Play their favorite game and increase physical activity.
Irrespective of how loving and caring you are, your dog may still take time to grieve its separation from its previous owner. This could be especially true when the dog shares a special bond with the previous owner. Just like humans, even dogs need time to heal from a profound emotional loss.
What could be reassuring to you is that just like human beings, your dog, if adequately cared for, will soon figure its way out of its grief and open its heart to accept love again. With time, your dog will bond with its existing owner like it did with its previous owner, provided the owner is loving and caring.
When you first got a dog, you probably did so with the idea of a life-long relationship. However, sometimes things go differently than planned.
Maybe your partner is allergic to dogs, and your work demands that you travel a lot; your dog has developed behavioral or medical problems. Irrespective of the reason, the responsible alternative to caring for your dog yourself is rehoming it.
Generally, it would help if you extolled other options before you resort to your dog in any situation. The bond you share with your pet is unique, and separation may mean some stress and anxiety for both of you.
- If your financial state bothers you, you could ask friends or family to help until your situation changes.
- Medical problems can also be quite overwhelming. But there might still be some way by which you could still keep your dog and get support while caring for it.
- If it’s a behavioral problem, the good news is that it can be solved or significantly reduced through training, conditioning, and behavior modification.
Remember, you will find a solution if you want to keep your dog. If you do, you will find excuses. Be aware of what you will be putting your dog through by leaving it in the care of someone else. Think about how your pet will process the grief of being separated from you.
If you still have to give your dog away, ensure you find a suitable new owner.
