Thinking of getting rid of your pet?

[Melissa Henchen, Vice President]

We hate to say it but there are "good" and "bad" reasons to get rid of your pet!

Going To The Dogs has been inundated with requests to take animals from their previous living situation and while we would LOVE to help everyone unfortunately we cannot. We do not operate a shelter, we operate out of homes serving as fosters. So we always encourage those who are needing our service that they be willing to serve as fosters for their current dog at least until the dog is current on vaccinations, spayed/neutered, and assessed to fit with a family or more permanent foster.
How can we help you? Well that does depend on the dogs needs.
• We are not in a position as an organization to take aggressive dogs. This means if the dog has ever bitten a person, has ever lunged and been pulled away from a person before a bite, is unpredictable and growls at humans. You do have options available for these dogs...we can refer you to some great behaviorists that can assist in getting these issues resolved or you can have the dog humanely euthanized. Please do not give your aggressive dog away to someone that has no expertise to handle it as it could have a very dangerous outcome!
• We also cannot take your medically challenged dogs without full disclosure. If you find out that your dog needs thousands of dollars in a surgery, or has heartworm which can cost $500-700 to treat, please do not dump your dog at a shelter or rescue without disclosing this. You either need to explain why you are unable to treat your dog and we can try to help you by fundraisers, etc. or we suggest that you consider humane euthanasia if the condition is causing pain/suffering because you are unable to treat them. Unfortunately dogs are expensive and a part of owning one is very similar to owning a car. When they break down, you must repair…you don’t just leave it on the side of the road for someone else to deal with. We are able to help in many cases, we just need to be aware in the beginning of what we are dealing with.
• Your dog is not house broke or is chewing things up? This is NOT a reason to give up a family member! We can offer you solutions, tips, techniques, training, obedience classes, etc. to get rid of the “annoying” yet very typical behaviors of dogs when they are under-exercised, unattended, and not shown proper discipline as a puppy and growing up. GTTD has posted many tips and resources to help you with these behaviors and we can work with you to get these under control. In some severe cases we may be able to help you re-home your pet if it sounds like they are not in the ideal situation to receive the help or training they need to live a happy life. Many times people get puppies and then they grow beyond the scope of your lifestyle or apartment living…in these specific cases of highly energetic dogs they are in need of fenced yards and active families and we can help you to find a better fit.

So please consider what YOU can do for your dog before giving it up and make sure you are attempting to find solutions to the cause of your concern with your family member before surrendering them. Crate training, exercise, obedience classes, leash training, and behaviorists can fix the majority of issues you can face in owning a dog.
Thank You!

*If you are in need of surrendering your pet, we have a form on our website that must be filled in and submitted prior to us considering to take the dog into our rescue as it must be approved by the board. We then will contact you to make an appointment to assess the dog and move further into how we can help.

[Melissa Henchen, Vice President]

Can we help you keep your pet?
Please take a look at these links to some other common problems that you may face to determine if you can work out some of your concerns. Thanks to Wonderpuppy.net for supplying basic permissions on her great educational material!
BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS
HOUSETRAINING
CRATE TRAINING
MOVING/TRAVEL
NOISE/BARKING
NO TIME FOR PET
GETTING ALONG WITH OTHER ANIMALS
KIDS AND OTHER PEOPLE
ALLERGIES TO PET
PUPPY STUFF
PET HEALTH PROBLEMS
SHEDDING/GROOMING PROBLEMS