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Published On: Sep 01, 2007 03:49 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Sep 01, 2007 03:49 PM
Ok, now I'm really mad.....
There are days in the life of a dog breeder that
are quite glorious: the ones where you are curled up with a precious dog, the
ones where you get to see your dogs achieve something you've worked hard at, the
ones where you hear from the owner of one of your dogs about their stellar
accomplishments, the ones when they call just to say how much they love their
dogs. Those are the days that warm your
heart.
Sometimes though, the "balancing days" are almost impossible to bear. It's not enough that we worry about the health of the dogs, the breeding choices we make, and the new homes they go to. But we do our best and hope doing all the hard work will pay off. And expecting twists and turns in our plans, we put in all sorts of controls to help ward off problems in the future.
I'm not the only breeder that's had to handle the heartbreak of finding out the home you'd chosen for a dog didn't turn out and I'm not the only one that's gone to great lengths to get a dog back from an unfortunate situation. It shouldn't happen but circumstances and people change (and sometimes we just plain misjudged people).
So why am I raging on about this today? Well, my good friend, Heidi Moon of Moonsetter Gordons, just got a dog back. He was from her first litter and was a red Gordon (for those of you that don't know, the breed has a recessive gene that can produce this colour). He'd been sold into what had seemed like a loving, appreciative home. His name was Clifford and Heidi received updates at Christmases from his family that indicated everything was great. He'd been placed with them with the normal contracts that stated that he was to be returned to Heidi (at her cost) if a situation ever arose where he had to be given up.
When Heidi heard from North Country gordon rescue people that Clifford was in a humane shelter, it's no wonder she couldn't believe it was him. But it was. His registration papers had been left with the shelter. With the help of people in the area, Heidi was able to get Clifford out, paying for the shelter release fee. Wonderful people got him out and transported him back to her. Matted and grossly under weight, Clifford is now being nursed back to health before his next home will be found.
If you're thinking "well, unfortunately, sometimes people's circumstances change and they probably didn't want to give him up", you'd be wrong. There's a lot more wrong with this situation that simply isn't understandable. Here's just a few of my concerns:
1. She was never notified that there was a problem.
2. They had a contract with her requiring that he be returned if they couldn't keep him. Obviously, that would have been a better solution for all involved.
3. They brought the whole family along to the shelter when they surrendered him. Why? Oh, so they could pick out another dog. Grrrrr. Really a good way to teach your kids about the meaning of love and commitment.
4. And this sweet dog was given up because.....yep....here's what they said...."he's dumb". Hard to guess why he deserved that assessment since everything so far points to a loving dog that enjoys the world and, at one time, had been taught all the normal doggy obedience that most people teach: just a normal, albeit different-coloured, Gordon.
Here's a pic of Clifford when he was still appreciated by his family:
Here's two pics of Clifford on his arrival back at Moonsetter:
Grrrrrrr. Sometimes people make me so mad I could spit.
Sometimes though, the "balancing days" are almost impossible to bear. It's not enough that we worry about the health of the dogs, the breeding choices we make, and the new homes they go to. But we do our best and hope doing all the hard work will pay off. And expecting twists and turns in our plans, we put in all sorts of controls to help ward off problems in the future.
I'm not the only breeder that's had to handle the heartbreak of finding out the home you'd chosen for a dog didn't turn out and I'm not the only one that's gone to great lengths to get a dog back from an unfortunate situation. It shouldn't happen but circumstances and people change (and sometimes we just plain misjudged people).
So why am I raging on about this today? Well, my good friend, Heidi Moon of Moonsetter Gordons, just got a dog back. He was from her first litter and was a red Gordon (for those of you that don't know, the breed has a recessive gene that can produce this colour). He'd been sold into what had seemed like a loving, appreciative home. His name was Clifford and Heidi received updates at Christmases from his family that indicated everything was great. He'd been placed with them with the normal contracts that stated that he was to be returned to Heidi (at her cost) if a situation ever arose where he had to be given up.
When Heidi heard from North Country gordon rescue people that Clifford was in a humane shelter, it's no wonder she couldn't believe it was him. But it was. His registration papers had been left with the shelter. With the help of people in the area, Heidi was able to get Clifford out, paying for the shelter release fee. Wonderful people got him out and transported him back to her. Matted and grossly under weight, Clifford is now being nursed back to health before his next home will be found.
If you're thinking "well, unfortunately, sometimes people's circumstances change and they probably didn't want to give him up", you'd be wrong. There's a lot more wrong with this situation that simply isn't understandable. Here's just a few of my concerns:
1. She was never notified that there was a problem.
2. They had a contract with her requiring that he be returned if they couldn't keep him. Obviously, that would have been a better solution for all involved.
3. They brought the whole family along to the shelter when they surrendered him. Why? Oh, so they could pick out another dog. Grrrrr. Really a good way to teach your kids about the meaning of love and commitment.
4. And this sweet dog was given up because.....yep....here's what they said...."he's dumb". Hard to guess why he deserved that assessment since everything so far points to a loving dog that enjoys the world and, at one time, had been taught all the normal doggy obedience that most people teach: just a normal, albeit different-coloured, Gordon.
Here's a pic of Clifford when he was still appreciated by his family:
Here's two pics of Clifford on his arrival back at Moonsetter:
Grrrrrrr. Sometimes people make me so mad I could spit.
Posted: Wednesday - July 20, 2005 at 08:29 PM