Jump to content

Menu

A wwyd for dog lovers


AimeeM
 Share

Recommended Posts

This has nothing to do with me directly. Our beloved trainer lost her alert dog about a year ago; he was a rescued GSD, a wild man that "nobody could tame", who happened to have the innate ability to sense Trainer's seizures before they happened. Pure dumb luck. What wasn't luck is the time and effort Trainer put into making him an ideal service dog. She was devastated when he passed prematurely. 

She has another service dog, but this dog (a lab who happens to be staying with us today - yay!) is response only - he doesn't have the ability to sense her seizures.

Trainer has been hospitalized a TON since she lost her alert dog - seizure activity in the shower, etc, means that she hasn't had the warning before a seizure to get in a safe place.

Trainer is currently training a very young, very wild lab for a man who recently lost his life partner. He admittedly cannot handle the dog on his own (especially in the midst of his own grief), but confided in Trainer that he feels obligated to care for the dog, which is, of course, admirable and generally accurate.

Thing is, Trainer has had the dog now for weeks (he hasn't abandoned the dog - this is part of the training while boarding service that she offers)... and the dog has the perfect "working temperament"... and is able to sense Trainer's seizures, and alert her prior.

Trainer has tried to lightly get the man to understand that she would love to adopt the dog for herself, but he insists that she (the pup) is *his responsibility*, and he can't just "give up on her". 

Trainer could never afford to pay him what he paid for the pup (champion bloodlines; a few thousand according to the papers), but does have the resources through the training/breeding facilities she works with to potentially replace the pup for him with a dog with a more suitable "companion personality". I can't imagine what the poor man is going through - new dog, then his partner passes away, etc.

 

All of that to ask this:

If you had a dog, young or old, who you found out had the ability to do something like sense seizures, and had a temperament suitable to a service dog, would you give him up? 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, I would give him up. If he is not attached to the dog, but thinks it is his responsibility, maybe he will see the benefit in looking at other breeds that match his situation better. I think she should just be frank with him and let him know that his dog could save her life.

Yeah, I would too - even if it were a dog that I loved and had been with me for years (like our Luke). I would probably ask that we could see the pup.

I think our trainer is more than willing to replace the dog, and even train it for free for him... but I think this particular situation is complicated by that he had picked out the pup with his now late life partner... so he may feel some connection to his partner with the dog?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would have an incredibly hard time giving a dog up to a non family member, even if I knew it could save a person's life. But I own dogs in order to relieve my own anxieties and depression so the bond I form with them is deeper than just owner/pet. I'd be more inclined to lend the dog to the person while they continue to look for another dog that had the same ability. If it were a family member I'd happily give the dog to them knowing that I'd still be a part of that dogs life and would still see and care for it regularly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would have an incredibly hard time giving a dog up to a non family member, even if I knew it could save a person's life. But I own dogs in order to relieve my own anxieties and depression so the bond I form with them is deeper than just owner/pet. I'd be more inclined to lend the dog to the person while they continue to look for another dog that had the same ability. If it were a family member I'd happily give the dog to them knowing that I'd still be a part of that dogs life and would still see and care for it regularly.

Yeah... I guess my perspective is skewed a bit knowing that our trainer is also a friend, and she would be more than happy to let us see the dog as frequently as we wanted, and knowing that she would still be in our life training subsequent pets.

Lending the dog isn't really an option - in order for the dog to travel with her and work with her, she would need to undergo serious training, and become a certified service dog.

I do understand the man's attachment to the dog, though, especially considering him and his partner had purchased and picked out the dog together prior to his death.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I do understand the man's attachment to the dog, though, especially considering him and his partner had purchased and picked out the dog together prior to his death.

 

Especially because of this, I think it would be inappropriate for the trainer to ask for the dog. She is a paid professional who works with dogs. It would make me uncomfortable to work with her if I thought she might decide she had more use for MY dog. She will need to put out feelers to find an available dog to assess for seizure prediction. Asking for a client's dog would be very unprofessional IMHO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know whether I'd give up a dog I'd bonded to, but this owner doesn't sound like he's bonded. So given that, I'd tell him the situation. If he simply "feels the obligation" to keep the dog but can't deal with it himself, it doesn't sound like the best situation for the dog (to be owned just as a reminder of the  partner.) Once the grief is resolving, if he's not a "dog person" on his own, the dog may end up rehomed anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Especially because of this, I think it would be inappropriate for the trainer to ask for the dog. She is a paid professional who works with dogs. It would make me uncomfortable to work with her if I thought she might decide she had more use for MY dog. She will need to put out feelers to find an available dog to assess for seizure prediction. Asking for a client's dog would be very unprofessional IMHO.

I don't think she would ever, ever ask such a thing. I think she is trying to help him understand that there is another placement available - he said he can't handle the dog, but feels obligated to care for it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How young is the " very young, very wild" lab that the man and his partner paid thousands of dollars for?

I'd ask exactly what he feels obligated about before talking about exchanging puppies.

Six months old. Trainer has him for a couple/few weeks here and there for the boarding/training service she offers. When I say "wild" I only mean a hyper lab puppy, with working dog bloodlines, who appears bored. She isn't wild in the sense that she's mean or unable to be handled. She likes to chew, as I witnessed today, lol, enjoys jumping, mouthing, etc but that's pretty par for course with most pups I know (including my own) :) She responds very, very well to commands, but has a puppy attention span.

 

He just states that he feels obligated to keep and care for the dog, since he adopted/purchased her. I'm not sure where a lab runs a few thousand dollars, and part of me feels he was bamboozled there, as the well known breeders around our immediate area charge nowhere near that much for labs, but...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know a couple people for whom showering is a seizure trigger, especially if their threshold is low due to fatigue, hunger, illness, etc.

 

Whatever she does about the dog, she might have to think about other bathing options, like sponge baths and sink hair-washing. It absolutely sucks but seizures in the shower and head injuries suck worse.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know a couple people for whom showering is a seizure trigger, especially if their threshold is low due to fatigue, hunger, illness, etc.

 

Whatever she does about the dog, she might have to think about other bathing options, like sponge baths and sink hair-washing. It absolutely sucks but seizures in the shower and head injuries suck worse.

It may be for her. Unfortunately her epilepsy isn't able to be controlled very well by medications, so it's pretty necessary that her service dog(s) travel with her. It's pretty nifty to find out all the things that service dogs are allowed to do, vs companion pets/dogs; even in case of an emergency she has forms stating that her and her service dog(s) aren't to be separated. 

 

Currently her lab is enjoying a day of no work, all play :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I want to say that I would absolutely do this with any of my animals (as heartbroken as I would be), but I'm just not sure.

 

In this man's situation, I may be more likely to do it since it is a puppy, and the dog already wasn't living with me.

 

Once upon a time I had a dog.  My daughter was, maybe 5, and she LOVED this dog.  They grew up together, everything was perfect.  Then, near the 4th of July, I left my daughter for a nap with her father.  His friend came over, they were out front playing with fireworks, one spooked the dog and he ran and ran and ran D:

 

Signs up, neighborhood mostly canvassed, nothing.   Then, about a month later, we were walking down the alley and not 4 doors down from me was my dog!!  I ran to the front of the house, very upset.  The man that lived there let us in, and he was so sorry, he picked up what he thought was a stray dog, blah blah blah (yes, he was microchipped, but it wasn't the fanciest neighborhood, and it was ages ago).  He started gathering my dog's things, and then he started crying.  His wife had died a few months ago in a car accident, his mother had died the day before he found the dog, now he had nobody, and the dog was so loving and wonderful and he described it as the dog saving him.

 

So I left with a very confused little girl and without the dog.

 

However, when I now think of one of the animals I have had for 10, 15 or more years, I just... Don't even want to think about it. 

 

 

I hope things work out for this woman.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think she would ever, ever ask such a thing. I think she is trying to help him understand that there is another placement available - he said he can't handle the dog, but feels obligated to care for it.

 

When he says that the next time (or any complaint), she can respond, "If you ever decide to rehome him, I'd love to have him! My seizure detecting dog died recently and I've been looking for another, and it turns out Poochy can do that. So if you are just feeling obligated, think about it and let me know. Of course, I'll keep training him for you if that's what you prefer."

 

I actually think it does dogs a disservice when there is so much emphasis on keeping a dog no matter how unmatched the dog's needs and owner's desires/resources, etc. that people keep dogs out of guilt that could be loved in another home. ( I don't mean taking it to a shelter or giving it to a rescue group, but finding a new home for it.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No way. Trainer should not ask for this dog. At all. In any way. He is in a position of trust with a grieving man. No. No. No.

 

If the owner ASKS for help re-homing the dog, then the trainer could, possibly, maybe, at grave risk, offer to take the dog. But, it is a big risk even at that. 

There is a chance the owner would welcome or at least accept the opportunity to give the Trainer this dog. There is also a chance the owner would have a conniption fit, and that the owner would talk around town . . . and could totally destroy this trainer's livelihood with a few choice words. 

 

 

Dh is a vet, so I hear lots of stories about trainers, vets, breeders, etc . . . and let me assure you that there is at least a small chance that the trainer would face hellish talk if he even hinted at wanting this dog. Also, there is a good chance that if he DID get the dog, the ex-owner would change his mind weeks or months later, and then want the dog back . . . which would be the next opportunity for this person to ruin the trainer's reputation. It would be easy to spin this as a professional taking advantage of a grieving man, and people DO twist things, especially grieving people who aren't thinking straight -- or their friends/family who are feeling very protective . . .

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When he says that the next time (or any complaint), she can respond, "If you ever decide to rehome him, I'd love to have him! My seizure detecting dog died recently and I've been looking for another, and it turns out Poochy can do that. So if you are just feeling obligated, think about it and let me know. Of course, I'll keep training him for you if that's what you prefer."

)

This exactly.

 

I become deeply attached to my pets immediately. I would have a very hard time giving up my dog to someone, even for such a noble reason.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No way. Trainer should not ask for this dog. At all. In any way. He is in a position of trust with a grieving man. No. No. No.

 

If the owner ASKS for help re-homing the dog, then the trainer could, possibly, maybe, at grave risk, offer to take the dog. But, it is a big risk even at that. 

There is a chance the owner would welcome or at least accept the opportunity to give the Trainer this dog. There is also a chance the owner would have a conniption fit, and that the owner would talk around town . . . and could totally destroy this trainer's livelihood with a few choice words. 

 

 

Dh is a vet, so I hear lots of stories about trainers, vets, breeders, etc . . . and let me assure you that there is at least a small chance that the trainer would face hellish talk if he even hinted at wanting this dog. Also, there is a good chance that if he DID get the dog, the ex-owner would change his mind weeks or months later, and then want the dog back . . . which would be the next opportunity for this person to ruin the trainer's reputation. It would be easy to spin this as a professional taking advantage of a grieving man, and people DO twist things, especially grieving people who aren't thinking straight -- or their friends/family who are feeling very protective . . .

She would never ask... she simply wants him to know that if he sincerely cannot handle the dog, she would be happy to take on the dog. Trainer is very, very much aware that it's entirely possible that his inability to "handle" the dog may actually just be serious grief.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...