Why is it bad to rehome dogs?

It's not always bad to rehome dogs - my stance on it, is people who decide to rehome for ridiculous reasons. Like "we're moving to a rented house that doesn't allow dogs." Uh, you have a dog, you didn't keep looking until you could find one that allows you to take him/her with you?

Or worse still: "they're uncontrollable and destroy everything!" Um, yeah...because you failed to train him/her and they're either disobedient, or BORED.

To me, dogs are like children. Scientifically, they have the mind process of a 5-year-old human child. They have emotional attachments that other animals do not - because they were bred to be social animals and companions to humans and so they have adapted to a social lifestyle. When you constantly re-home a child, he/she going to get confused. I used to be in the foster care field, and I've seen what happens to a young child thrown into a new home - it's horribly unsettling for that child when there's a dysfunction they can't understand. When you turn a child out because it's having behavior issues or you're moving to a house that doesn't allow children on the lease, or you're about to have a baby - well....you're an a-hole.

I think the same way about dogs, personally. You brought a dog into your home, you made a commitment and you have a responsibility to care for that dog as much as you can. It is a living, learning, *thinking* creature that has emotions. Yes, circumstances happen that we can't always control - but pregnancies happen, moving houses can be rectified, TRAINING can make for a happy, healthy home and dog. If a person in the household gets terminally ill - that's a decent reason. If you get a new job and won't be able to spend time with the dog to care for it - that's sad, but it's a good enough reason. If you've LOST your job and there's not enough income coming into the household to be able to care adequately for the dog

But rehoming them because you're "sick" of them, can't "control" them, assume that they're too much around a new baby before the baby even arrives, or even that your new boyfriend/girlfriend doesn't like dogs and other silly excuses - nope, you don't get a pass of decency in my book. Maybe harsh, but it's just the way I see it.

Having a dog is not a right, it is a privilege and it shouldn't be underappreciated. It should be taken on seriously...and with the awareness that crap happens in life and you don't just "give up" something like that because it's "easier" to deal with so you can get on with yours...

I'm using "you" in general here, by the way. I'm not aiming any of it at you, asker. :)

Hi there, I understand the association you are trying to make, however, I don't agree. Any animal including horses will notice and feel the change and not always for the better. Animals can take a long time to trust a human and when that animal is given up or passed on it can and I'm sure will be very unsettling. The animal has to begin the whole process again, complete with the stress and sometimes fear. Why get a dog or any animal if you are not prepared to provide, care for and keep until there last days? I understand some situations are unavoidable but people should think before they commit themselves (or not in a lot of cases). Should getting a license to have an animal be enforced? I think so.

It's not always bad to re-home a dog if one has a legitimate reason to do so. Some people make up every excuse in the book to dump a dog.......expecting a baby, dog pees in the house, sheds too much, etc. I even heard a story one time that someone got rid of their dog because it didn't match the new sofa they bought. That IS ridiculous. If something comes up where you can no longer care for the dog properly, and you feel it would be in the DOG'S best interest if it lived with someone else, than to me, that would be a legitimate reason. Some people even use the excuse that no dogs are allowed where they're moving to. WHAT? Well, why don't they find somewhere to live where the dog IS allowed? Another legitimate reason would be if the owner of the dog died, and nobody in the family could take care of it properly either. So, there are good reasons to re-home a dog, but some of the excuses that people come up with are NOT good reasons.

I think most people view dogs as part of the family and build up a close relationship with them because they live in the house with you. Horses are different because they live outside but I know many people with horses and they love them to bits.

Dogs are survivors and if they are rehomed it can take them time but providing they are fed, get companionship and looked after they will thrive.