The Replacements

It fails at least as often as it works, and I find myself wondering why so many people try it.

A chance conversation this past weekend at an agility trial got me thinking: am I the weird one, or is she? Laura has a new dog, not her usual breed, that she freely admits was an impulse acquisition coming on the heels of the death of one of her dogs. Laura said this new dog's eyes reminded her of her dead dog's expression, so she got the new dog. But they're both unhappy, it's a bad fit.

I asked her if she'd considered returning the bitch, and she said no, it was a rescue and not going anywhere. But Laura loves to compete in agility, travels widely doing it, and enjoys doing well. All her dogs are expected to do agility and some obedience; it's her house, those are her expectations. The dog hates it, is very stressed, complies out of... something, but shows no sign of having a good time. And needless to say, doesn't do particularly well. So, is that really being rescued?

A lot of training organizations give discount to people that get rescue dogs, and on the face of it, that seems like a great idea. There are too many dogs in shelters, one way of encouraging people to adopt them is to help reduce expenses where we can. But, if it's the wrong dog for your situation (or, the wrong situation for a given dog), saving money won't make it any better.

What to do? I haven't the foggiest. But then, I've never tried to replace a dog.

Years ago - heck, DECADES ago, I had the world's greatest Labrador Retriever. Her name was Polar Bear, "Bear" for short, feet the size of dinner plates and more coat than a beauty salon's dumpster. She would retrieve anything, for endless hours, in any kind of water. And she would work for anybody. Hunters would come by the house and borrow her, and return Bear with a couple of ducks at the end of the weekend. We ate well on those; nothing is better than fresh fowl. I don't think I'll ever have another Lab, but if I did, it wouldn't be to try and replace a dog that was so perfect.

A few years ago I was involved in rescuing a dog for a directed adoption; the dog was ideal for them, and the family acknowledged that. But the new dog wasn't their previous dog, so the new one was returned. He's still here - Boomerang, "Boomer" for short, and will never leave - proving once again that no good deed going unpunished. My husband and sister love Boomer, his health issues make him unsuitable for adopting out again, so there we are.

Currently I have a client with a rescue, I'm helping them place the dog. They called a little while ago; they are falling in love with the rescue and need her to go to a new home quickly, before they bond too much. One of the risks of doing fostering. Hopefully they keep their eye focused on the unsuitability of this particular dog for their lifestyle, and not her charms, letting her go to a better home when one is found.