Not a dog person, but I had to post here

An acquaintance on another not pet-related forum posted about how she gave her dog to her inlaws "temporarily" until she could bring the dog into a pet-friendly home. It is now two and a half years later and they are finally in a pet-friendly home and she wants her dog back. I feel so bad for the dog! 2.5 years is forever in dog years! She now has "her" dog back, but really, after 2.5 years IMHO that dog is no longer hers. 2.5 years is NOT temporary. Of course I can't post my opinion on that other board at the risk of being flamed off. I'm doing all I can to not say anything. I just hope that dog does not misbehave on her and her family. Of course then we'll be hearing that it's all her MIL's fault.

Let's pray that the dog adjusts.

Some dogs will adjust no problem, with others it may take a while. But think of dogs who get bounced from home to home - many still end up perfectly good dogs once they get to their "forever" home and settle in!

Well, 2.5 years is not "temporary" in my book either. On the other hand, the dog remained safe, in a good home (supposedly) and I'd guess she and her family saw the dog periodically. Not the best situation, but certainly not bad.

If the current owners want to fight this, then they can and will win unless it was in the agreement which it sounds like its not. 2.5 years is not temp. in my books. Why now after all this time?

My dog Zoee is temporarily staying with my mom while her knee heals. We all know that could take up to a whole year. Just the other day we were discussing this and my mom said (jokingly...I hope) "after a year, she's my dog". And I had just been thinking about it that day before. (She's not going to want to give her back.)
I do visit her as often as I can. They live over an hour away from me, so it's not too often. I pay for everything......food, grooming, vet costs. But hopefully it will be less than a year. 2.5 years is a LONG time. I couldn't handle not having her with me that long. The past 7 weeks have been hard enough.

My questions for the person you are posting about is.......who paid for the care of the dog for 2.5 years? Did the "owners" come visit? I honestly can't give an opinion since every situation is different. AND the fact that I am sort of in a similar situation.

I think it would depend on how the person who had the dog for 2.5 years feels and what kind of personality the dog has. If the people were planning on giving the dog back the entire time and are okay with it (and the dog does okay) then it's fine....if they weren't planning on giving the dog back after more than a few months its different. Also some dogs would adjust to this just fine, some would not. We had a similar situation, my sister told my mom to take Sydney (schnauzer) until she had her twins because she was having a difficult pregnancy. So my mom took her with the intent to give her back after the babies were born, well they were born and my sister said she didn't want her back and told my mom to sell her (which of course she didn't). Then a year or so down the road wanted Sydney back and my parents wouldn't give her back and I don't blame them. Nebo loves me but also loves my parents I think he'd happily go live with them for a while then come back and happily live with me again. Whenever they dog-sit he's perfectly content being there. The girls love them too but they are happier with me I don't think they'd handle that very well; there's no way Skya would be able to live with anyone else but me. You can tell Killer is attached to us but he's such a happy "just give me attention" dog that I think he would adjust anywhere with some time. However I wouldn't dog-sit somebody's dog for more than a few months and be able to just give the dog back....I'd definitely be too attached.

I have a former co-worker who agreed to take in a dog "temporarily" for a neighbor. She and her family became very attached to the dog (Pixie - a black lab). Over a year later -- the neighbor asked for her dog back, saying her daughter missed "her" dog. My former co-worker politely refused, saying that Pixie was behind on her veterinary care when my co-worker's family took her in, and they saw to it that she was caught up on her vaccinations, dental care and exams. The neighbor offered to reimburse for the expenses byt my former co-worker again refused saying that it was in Pixie's and her family's best interest for her to remain where she was.

(What she didn't tell her neighbor was that she felt Pixie's previous living situation was a disaster! It was a small house, she rarely got any kind of play time or romping, she was cared for "sort of" but didn't see a whole lot of affection or love. When they took her in she had some behavior problems and bad traits. Through care, love and laughter they turned her completely around. And they were not about to let her return to the previous environment. Pixie is the sweetest, funniest, best behaved dog I know. She's a big, happy goofy girl and I love to be around her because she just makes me happy!)

A previous co-workers neighbor had a female dog that bit people twice (she had a litter of puppies both times this happened). The city said she needed to be outside city limits or she would be destroyed. The owners wanted to find a temporary home for her until they got a place of their own outside city limits. When I told my parents the story they didn't even think twice about taking her. My mom knew right from the beginning that it would not be a temporary thing. Pepsi has been with my parents for 6 years now. My dad still calls her Temporary, but that's just because my dad likes to be difficult/different. He called our previous Min Pin Walter when his name was Kodi.

My mom heard from the previous a few times within the first 6 months. She has not heard from them since. They let her chew on rocks so her teeth are basically little nubs. My mom broke the rock chewing habit within a few months. Pepsi could never live with anyone else. She is so protective of my mom, it's crazy!

It really just depends how the people who have had the dog feel and how adaptable the dog is. Of course it seems silly on the surface but there are some special situations. When my mom moved us to another state, we had to live with my aunt for a year. She had an elderly dog, and my 1 year old dog, Sam, would have been too rambunctious for him. My dad took care of Sam for us for a year before we got him back. It broke my heart to leave him, I wouldn't have done it that way if I were the adult, but you have to do what you have to do. Sam adjusted well in the end and he is an extremely loved boy who will be seven this year!

I can understand what the original owner is going through. Unfortunately my Foxy was shifted a lot. When I first got her I lived with my X's Mom. We had issues with her getting outside there and having the police called about it that I sent her to live with my parents. Then I got her back and she lived in a kennel in a barn for a while. X and I got our own place finally and she lived there with us until X and I divorced. I decided to leave Iowa at that point and moved to Missouri where I attended college, got married, and got an apartment but it was a non-animal friendly one. So for several more years Foxy lived with Mom and Dad. Finally last year DH and I bought our own house and Foxy came to live with us to live out her golden years in a stable and steady house of her own.