SO mad/sad right now...

[bckrazy]

I was at my sisters today helping her paint her kitchen (big light/dark yellow stripes, it looks awesome btw :D)... she got a call from her best friend and bridesmaid who now lives in San Diego. I've known her since I was little, and her husband for 4 years. They're nice people, but I cannot stand them right now. When we went down to visit my sister last, we also saw this couple... they were then considering buying a Labrador puppy. Right after they had their first baby. I had to lecture them (many times, over and over) about the huge responsibilities and costs of puppies, time spent on them with the demanding baby also, the husbands hectic work hours, bad breeders out there, the demanding needs of a large dog, the activity of Labs, the number of Labs in shelters that need rescuing etc. I even printed out 50 articles on raising a puppy.

Then (suprise!) they got a puppy, about a month later... from an AD in the PAPER! He was an adorable (though not at all correct, and probably mixed) Chocolate Lab boy, they named him Bosco. The breeder sold him to them when he was 6 weeks old. He had behavioral issues from the start. Tons of nipping/biting/and rough play, and they didn't try hardly at all to properly correct it. They didn't trust him with the baby, so the poor active bouncy pup was kept in a crate for much of the day as punishment. My sisters friend began to call me a lot for advice, it seemed like she genuinely wanted this to work. The puppy was improving and they were providing him with lots of chew toys and more play time. I even sent them a huge basket of chewies/toys/bones and a 'Puppies for Dummies' book. Then, as her son got older she didn't have time for Bosco, and her husband was still at work too much to train the pup. Soon, he was excluded to their small yard all day. I talked to her, and she decided to find him a better home. I encouraged her to neuter him first, and screen the new home and seek help from a local rescue. She said she would. Her husband gave him to a friend, unneutered!!! :mad:... anyway, I was still hopeful that the new home would be better, and I just let it rest... that was about a year ago.

Today, I just found out that the home they found for Bosco had three other dogs who constantly picked on him, so they sold him to some one else. Supposedly this next home bred him (he was under a year old then), then lost interest and just let him go!! My sisters friend just found out that Bosco is now at the county (high kill) shelter, and has 3 or 4 days to be adopted. She was wondering if she should go get him?! :mad: I used to think they were nice people, but I just realized how cold and mean they are. It would be different if they were totally ignorant. No, they've been educated/warned by both me, my sister, my sisters husband, and their own families. My sister said they will foster him or keep him, I don't know what will happen.....

I hate what people do to dogs everyday, and how they think of them as so insignificant and emotionless. This boy was so sweet, I haven't seen him since he was a little puppy, but he could be the greatest dog if he was given the chance. Instead, he was bounced from home to home, exploited, and abused. I can't imagine all the hurt and confusion he's been through :( :mad:

[delidog]

Oh that is Sooo Sad.......

Poor Boscoe!!!!

As you told them at First...

Do you know how many Dark,Large dogs are in the Pounds???

This breaks my heart also...I hope that someone rescues him and gives him a good Forever Home...

Poor,Sad Boscoe...My Heart goes out to you..

Boscoe,I will be Praying for you

[joycenalex]

this is sad. i met a couple last summer who moved into the area and are very very tight with my partners' best friends, so they are part of the social circle for birthday parties and card parties. i won't go to their home b/c i've seen how they get then discard cats and dogs, and the current plan is to become (backyard) furless cat breeders. they've had at least 12 cats in the last year, 10 of whom have gone to cat welfare, %^$#&&, and no one but the 2 of us seems to think this is wrong!!!! argh! i cannot imagine what is in their heads that lets them do that. poor dog.

[BitsyNaceyDog]

Wow that whole thing stinks. Maybe your sisters friend should contact a lab rescue or some no-kill shelter and transfer him there.

[pitc9]

I hope and pray that someone gets him out of there in time!!
That poor boy needs to know that not all people in this world are bad! The only people he's ever known have been bad people....:( :(

[sammy101]

thats horrible:( :mad: poor Bosco..

are you going to go get him?(or your sister)?Atleast get him to a no-kill rescue if you can:(

[KYS]

Very sad situation, my heart goes out for that poor pup.

[tatsxxx11]

Poor Bosco:(:(:( Sadly, this happens too frequently and is the main reason for surrender of Labs, not only puppies but also adults. After the birth of a baby, young families want to complete the "perfect picture" by buying a puppy; the current trend is for the poplular Retriever. Many of these families have little or no experience handling/raising Retrievers, are not aware of their high energy level/exercise needs, their desire to be with their people. Some have no dog experience at all!:( Worst scenario...no fence! It isn't long before an overwhelmed mother finds she has no time for the dog and as in your case, the dog remains crated all day; no obedience training, no socialization. My rescue group (all Retriever and Retriever mixes) puts our potential adopters through a rigorous application/evaluation process in order to prevent this scenario. It's not that we won't adopt to families with young children, but the families must have a record of Lab experience as a family and a fenced in yard. Usually dogs with a mod. to low energy level, or a dog over 6, is the best match. We pull from shelters all the time. I hope and pray that a rescue group might be contacted to try and save this poor boy. People need to do the necessary research and be willing to make the commitment, before adopting and especially before buying a puppy. Thanks so much for your concern and caring. This must be heartbreaking for you. And being the compassionate person that you are, I'm suare you feel the pressure of getting him out of there. I wish I were there to help:( Sending you all my support, if only in spirit. Sandra

[caseysmom]

Trust me puppies are a huge undertaking...which I don't think I would ever undertake again...on the other hand...anyone that gets a pet should look at them as a member of the family...rehoming was probably the best option but they should have been very careful...an animal is not disposable...hopefully they learned their lesson.

Casey was 3 when I got her from the high kill shelter...she has been the best dog I have ever had...btw she was past her pts date but they had room and knew she was adoptable...so maybe they could call a rescue for him or something I know a rescue group was there to get casey when I was but they let me have her.

[Giselle]

Oh how sad! I agree with caseysmom. I was verry young when Lucky was a puppy but I do remember wearing boots whenever I interacted with him. Even though he was separated at the proper age of 12-14 weeks, he was jumpy and nippy like he-doublehockeysticks. After much ruined socks, shows, shirts, jackets, table legs, chair legs, etc. etc., I swear never to get a puppy unless it's for show or something utterly important!:p

Can you ask a Retriever rescue group to take in Bosco? I know a lot of Grey groups pull from shelters just by word of mouth.
http://www.rescuers.com/rescues/DogBreedShow5.asp

[delidog]

Any Word on Boscoe??

[bckrazy]

Sorry I haven't replied... :( I'm kind of grounded right now.

As far as I've heard, Bosco is still being held at the shelter. I talked to his first owners, and they said they're thinking of going there this weekend :rolleyes:. They tried to call his breeder but the number was disconnected, it was just a BYB anyway. My sister called two Southern CA rescues, both said their foster homes were packed with dogs and were only accepting Labs under 12 months... especially since Bosco has recieved no training/his temperament is unknown. This is really, really horrible. I can't believe this happens every day.. I could not ever imagine letting my dog rot in the pound.

We stopped by my sisters house on Wednsday and she showed me the pictures she had of him on her computer, he was only a puppy then but he's such a gorgeous dog with these big beautiful eyes.

[bckrazy]

THANK YOU for the link, Giselle! :) I'll be calling a few of those rescues today.

[tatsxxx11]

Still hoping for a miracle for Bosco:( This is heartbreaking, but thank you for doing all you can to save him!

[flamepony12]

Aww, I'm very sorry! How sad. :( Prayers and good thoughts sent Bosco's way..... :(
((((((HUGS))))))

[dukedogsmom]

What a bunch of jerks! I still like that article that wants to get rid of the two kids because they got a great puppy. It's just like a want ad and describes their looks, etc. I hope these people pay for what they did to poor Bosco. I have no respect for scum like that. Seems like too many people lose all common sense once they've had a child.

[LauraT7]

It isn't that they lose their sense becasue they had a kid - they never had any sense to begin with - or they wouldn't have gotten the dog!

I can feel for you - knowing what you know about Boscoe and the lengths you went to, to 'educate' his owners before things got this bad. But some people aren't just stupid, they're selfish.

My ex's current family is the same way - though I can't for the life of me, figure out how he can allow it. He KNOWS better - as he helped me raise and train our goldens for 7 yrs, and had a dog growing up. ( his folks took good care of their dog!)

Our 'first children' were a pair of golden retreivers - Toby and Tara. Though i was ignorant and got them from a backyard breeder - I saw they had the best care, love and training I could do. They were truly treated like my children. Toby and Tara were 5 when my son, Jon was born. Jon learned to walk holding onto Toby as his 'walker' - they were great with the baby. But I also worked to train the skin-baby and the fur babies to get along. I sure am glad that they weren't 'babies' at the same time! At least, from growing up with dogs, I had more sense than to have puppies and babies together!

We divorced when Jon was 2 and the dogs were 7. I got 'custody' of all three.

My ex had a couple live-in girlfriends and then remarried. All of his girlfriends had dogs - some were more responsible than others. His wife, however - is a real idiot. She has two boys from her first marriage, and they have two together. Right now the kids are about 12, 10, 5 & 3. They continually got puppies (and other pets - hampsters, reptiles, etc.) - they tend to pick 'small' dogs - the 'cuteness' factor, i guess. They've had mixes, Terriers, and the last dog i know of - a black lab. All got sent to the shelter because of 'biting'. The dogs didn't 'bite'. They were untrained babies with too many kids that teased and taunted them. They were abused by the kids, and kept in crates too much, and of course, they nipped ankles and fingers. what puppy wouldn't?

They got marginally smarter the last time and got 'cinders' - the black lab. Tempermentaly, she was great. They 'sent' her to a kennel/training school for 2weeks (they have more $ than brains) and she learned not to nip and basic obedience. But they didn't keep working with her, she was too big for the small dog crate they had, so she lived mostly outside in the fenced yard. They didn't even buy her a doghouse - she slept under the picnic table! ( when my son, Jon visited them - he would sneak her into his room to sleep - Cinders was very sweet and very affectionate.

Jon and I had lost Toby to cancer in March 1999. In Jan 2001, Tara died at age 15. That same Month, My ex's family moved into their new house they'd just built. Because of the moving, and other things - Jon didn't stay at his dad's again until mid-feb - when he was told that Cinders had been sent to the kennel for 're-training' while they moved. ( that's what they told all the kids) But the next time he visited, she still wasn't back. Suspicious, I started calling the area shelters. Sure enough, Cinders had been turned in to the local no-kill shelter.

The shelter was very suspicious of me, until I explained my son's relationship to the dog, and that our dog had just died. We wanted to adopt Cinders, but we were too late. She had already been adopted to another family. They said she was a great dog, perfect temperment, and very easy to find a family for. They had a number of applicants for her immediately, and only kept her long enough to vet, chip & spay her. (of course, a fully trained 2 yr old, gentle lab?) the shelter told me that my Ex and his wife had been - in effect- 'blacklisted' from adopting at their shelter, and probably others - because they had turned over so many dogs! I was surprised to find out that they had 'given up' about one dog a year! not only that, but they had 'adopted' two of those dogs from that shelter, and then turned them over to shelters in other counties to 'get rid' of them! ( I guess the ex is too stupid to realize that Shelters microchip the dogs and that they were all returned to that no-kill shelter eventually!)

My son was heartbroken - in effect, he'd lost two dogs in as many months.

Not long after that - for other reasons - my ex lost overnight visitation rights with our son ( due to his wife) so he no longer sees her or the kids and we no longer know what pets they might have. But i am sure they continue to 'cycle' pets. it pains me to think of how many animals have suffered at the hands of those wild kids and that my ex isn't man enough to at least say 'NO!'.

i do belive that there should be some kind of registry for animal owners - and that limits should be placed on who and how many people can have.

Granted, there are some who can responsibly handle large, multipet households ( some on this board - and I salute you for your patience and large hearts!)

but the 'average' person can't adequately care for animals without knowledge and training (whether the training comes from pure experience or formal 'training)

It would be a HUGE undertaking - but what a difference it would make to so many unwanted and unloved animals!

Laura