Keep the dog, or get rid of him?

What to do?

  • Keep him

    Votes: 57 86.4%

  • Off to the village with him!

    Votes: 3 4.5%

  • Other

    Votes: 6 9.1%
  • Total voters
    66
K

Kiopa_Matt

Banned
May 13, 2011
5,216
52
0
Have a 9 month old lab, and we've taken care of him since he was a baby. His mom lives next door, so we took him in even a couple weeks before he was done weening, and brought him over a couple times a day for milk.

Nonetheless, not a cute baby anymore. Now he's large, strong, well fed, full of energy, and well, scares the shit out of basically everyone. He's a great dog, but very playful, and very defensive. Before he was allowed to go out on his own like many dogs around here do, and all was fine. He's too big now though, and scares everyone too much.

So now I have a decision -- keep him locked up in the house / front patio, and I take him for walks and play fetch 2 - 3 times a day. Or, I can send him off to the village, where he'll be able to run around like mad, catch all the mice he wants, make friends, have sex, etc.

Problem is, this is Thailand, so if he goes to the village, I already know nobody is going to care for him, he'll become skin and bones within a month, etc. He'll basically become a street dog, and show up at the house every once in a while hoping for a small portion of rice. Whereas here, this is MY dog, I love him, everyone knows it, all his food, treats & water is in my home office, and I take excellent care of him. However, obviously, he doesn't exactly like being couped up at home all day except for 2 - 3 supervised walks / games of fetch a day. It makes him quite sad and mopy, and it's simply not a natural environment for a lab to be in, so I feel bad for him.

What would you do? Keep him couped up in the house for the next 6 months until he gets older, or send him to the village where nobody will really care about him, but he'll have total freedom?
 


Kiopa_Matt said:
Problem is, this is Thailand, so if he goes to the village, I already know nobody is going to care for him, he'll become skin and bones within a month, etc. He'll basically become a street dog, and show up at the house every once in a while hoping for a small portion of rice. Whereas here, this is MY dog, I love him, everyone knows it, all his food, treats & water is in my home office, and I take excellent care of him.
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Sounds like you answered your own question.

As long as you give him lots of planned exercise I don't see why keeping him inside is a bad thing. In 5 or 6 years he'll be an awesome indoor dog, until then just give him tons of exercise when you have a chance.

My dog mopes during the day when I'm working because I won't throw his toy all day. But I make it up at night by playing 30-45 minutes with him.
 
Kiopa_Matt said:
...if he goes to the village, I already know nobody is going to care for him, he'll become skin and bones within a month, etc. He'll basically become a street dog, and show up at the house every once in a while hoping for a small portion of rice.
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There's your answer. Unless of course, you're a heartless fuck.
 
Can't you just pay someone to walk him sometimes also? Surely can't cost too much out there
 
Sounds like someone was blinded by that cute little puppy and failed to realize how much of a responsibility he will become, hurr durr. If you're gonna send him off do him a favor at least and just kill him. Enough unneeded dogs to go around.

Did you expect him to stay a puppy forever? I'm trying to understand the thought process here. Labs are generally high energy dogs, a simple Google search would have quickly reveled that before you got yourself into this mess.

Of course no way in hell I would kill him. I'm just trying to make you feel like shit lol

If you can't find him a real home just take care of the darn thing :(
 
Hmm, too bad you can't ask the dog directly if he would prefer a safe, climate controlled environment with a companion that feeds, plays and walks him or be turned loose to weather the elements and possibly starve. Seems like the question pretty much answers itself.

What happens to him in 6 months? If you're going turn him loose anyway give the poor bastard another 6 months of comfort.
 
Are you fucking mad? Keep the dog you idiot and look after it. How would you like it if someone just kicked you out onto the street, left you to fucking die.
 
All my animals are part of my family, and without them I don't feel it would be complete. It sounds like you feel this way as well to a certain extent.

What's the harm in keeping him, it's pretty awful in my opinion to just put any kind of animal out of the streets. It's kind of like a kid... your job is to guide him, he is too young and doesn't know what he doesn't know.

He may want to run around everywhere, but the just as you said he will return later for food, etc. Hopefully you will make the better judgement in this case. Do you have a backyard?
 
Wow, talk about tearing a strip off me. :) Let me explain a bit better...

justo_tx said:
What happens to him in 6 months?
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He'll be older like his mom, so when he goes outside on his own, he'll (hopefully) basically just wander around and sniff shit, without causing problems. Right now, he'll chase after everyone on a motorcycle, he'll run up to kids walking home from school and dance around them looking for a friend, and he does the same to 70yo ladies going for their morning walk. Let alone the various salesmen and others that come walking down the street everyday, who he doesn't recognize, so gets defensive and starts barking like mad at them to get off his street.

Needless to say, he scares the shit out of everyone, and everyone dislikes us because of it. That, and there's simply too many people coming in & out of the house all the time to ensure the dog always stays inside. I can scream and yell all I want, but I already know, he'll get out on his own at times. This also very much hampers my ability to train him, although I do my best. He's excellent inside, and I only need to raise my voice for him to correct himself, but outside he's a totally different animal.

What worries me is some time, he's going to scare a kid walking home from school, the kid will freak, making the dog freak, and the dog will bite him. Then I have a kid in the hospital getting a tetanus and stitches, plus the cops and screaming parents at my door. And if anyone knows Thailand, you'll know it's generally wise for a white guy to avoid attention from the cops.
 
God damn idiot. Why the fuck do people buy animals like they are some sort of toy and then when they realize they require work, they get rid of them like an object. You're a complete douche if you let that dog wander and starve. Get off your lazy fucking ass and take the dog out. BTW, dogs mope around, even the best cared for dogs you will ever see.
 
Kiopa_Matt said:
Wow, talk about tearing a strip off me. :) Let me explain a bit better...



He'll be older like his mom, so when he goes outside on his own, he'll (hopefully) basically just wander around and sniff shit, without causing problems. Right now, he'll chase after everyone on a motorcycle, he'll run up to kids walking home from school and dance around them looking for a friend, and he does the same to 70yo ladies going for their morning walk. Let alone the various salesmen and others that come walking down the street everyday, who he doesn't recognize, so gets defensive and starts barking like mad at them to get off his street.

Needless to say, he scares the shit out of everyone, and everyone dislikes us because of it. That, and there's simply too many people coming in & out of the house all the time to ensure the dog always stays inside. I can scream and yell all I want, but I already know, he'll get out on his own at times. This also very much hampers my ability to train him, although I do my best. He's excellent inside, and I only need to raise my voice for him to correct himself, but outside he's a totally different animal.

What worries me is some time, he's going to scare a kid walking home from school, the kid will freak, making the dog freak, and the dog will bite him. Then I have a kid in the hospital getting a tetanus and stitches, plus the cops and screaming parents at my door. And if anyone knows Thailand, you'll know it's generally wise for a white guy to avoid attention from the cops.
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Dogs, like kids, can be trained.
 
Moron. Train your dog, spend time with it, correct bad behaviors, make it a well behaved pet. You realize you can't just get a dog an expect it to be a well trained member of the family right? You realize they need attention right? You realize it's a living being right? People that get dogs because their "cute" and then dump them when they actually need attention piss me off. Hey fuck face, take a little responsibility.
 
I don't think you're a douche, just merely improperly educated/equipped to handle the situation. That said, you should be asking these questions and continue to care.

The problem is you, not the dog. You haven't worked with him enough to "normalize" his behavior defined by your constraints. If you really enjoy dogs, you won't know how much joy he adds to your life until he's not in it anymore.

The best suggestion I know of, is to sit back and ask, "how can I make this a win win"?

hint: make joint exercise a priority for both of you throughout the day so A, he will be happier, and B, so you won't become a fat fuck sitting behind a computer making internet monies. ;)
 
+1 in the your a douche camp here.

I hate when people get animals when they're young and then want to get rid of them as soon as they aren't cute anymore.

You'll feel like shit if you get rid of him, you won't be able to justify it with "well maybe he will do well on his own", because you know he won't.

Just keep him, train him, take it as an opportunity to better yourself at the same time. You and your dog are going to learn a lesson on self-discipline.
 
cheshire said:
Moron. Train your dog, spend time with it, correct bad behaviors, make it a well behaved pet.
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Easier said than done though. Again, he is actually a well trained dog, at least when he's inside. Simply raise my voice, he corrects himself. If he's in deep shit, I simply clap my hands, quickly yell, and he rushes upstairs to his time-out area, and waits for me to close the door on him.

Sure, I can take him for a walk on a leash, and discipline him when he acts up. BUT... I have probably 10 - 15 people coming in and out of the house at all times of the day, so it's impossible for me to ensure he stays inside. Then once he's outside on his own, it virtually makes everything I taught him null & void. Not completely, but definitely makes training him extremely difficult.

You end up with two versions of him. The polite dog who is well behaved while I'm on the street, and the rambunctious, no-holds-barred dog when he notices I'm not around. Then several times a day, I'm bolting from my upstairs office outside, because I hear him causing problems, because someone in the house left the gate open.

Anyway, when push comes to shove, of course I'll keep him. I just hope I don't end up with a kid or granny in the hospital, and the cops at my door sometime in the future.
 
Kiopa_Matt said:
Easier said than done though. Again, he is actually a well trained dog, at least when he's inside. Simply raise my voice, he corrects himself. If he's in deep shit, I simply clap my hands, quickly yell, and he rushes upstairs to his time-out area, and waits for me to close the door on him.

Sure, I can take him for a walk on a leash, and discipline him when he acts up. BUT... I have probably 10 - 15 people coming in and out of the house at all times of the day, so it's impossible for me to ensure he stays inside. Then once he's outside on his own, it virtually makes everything I taught him null & void. Not completely, but definitely makes training him extremely difficult.

You end up with two versions of him. The polite dog who is well behaved while I'm on the street, and the rambunctious, no-holds-barred dog when he notices I'm not around. Then several times a day, I'm bolting from my upstairs office outside, because I hear him causing problems, because someone in the house left the gate open.

Anyway, when push comes to shove, of course I'll keep him. I just hope I don't end up with a kid or granny in the hospital, and the cops at my door sometime in the future.
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The problem is you, not the dog. You haven't had the time or patience to fully train him yet. Labs are intelligent but wilful, but they can definitely become very obedient.

The reason he's behaving the way he is when not with you is because he's insecure... his alpha is not around to defend him, so he needs to do it himself.

It is possible to train him so he won't leave the house without your say-so, even if the door is left open. Do some research, and put some more effort in.

Also - if you're not walking him 2 or 3 times a day, he'll be bored and probably get fat. Pay somebody to walk him if you genuinely don't have time. But better off to take a break and walk him yourself - you'll be more productive for it.
 
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