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I don't think rehoming is always bad either. My family had (what I think were) valid reasons in the past for rehoming, and friends and family agree. I don't agree with rehoming for petty reasons that would just take a bit of training (ex: the old "He jumps on people", "He shreds things", "He barks too much" excuses). But often I think rehoming possibly is for the best depending on the situation. I agree with many points made above, and I agree with almost everything you said, Jordan.
Dogs that are carefully selected from reputable breeders for the purpose of competition and don't turn out to fulfill that promise, aren't the ones that wind up dumped in shelters and breed rescues. The overwhelming majority of rescue dogs come from careless pet owners who fail to spay and neuter their pets and BYB.
By the time it becomes apparent that a potential competition dog doesn't have what it takes; the owner has far too much emotional investment in that dog to just take it and dump it for someone else to worry about. The rehoming process is never taken lightly, is always handled personally and the prime concern is the welfare of the dog.
The ones to be upset with are the ones who purchase on impulse and dump on impulse.
There was a huge discussion a few years back in the agility community about rehoming. Some of the World team level type trainers and instructors had rehomed dogs that weren't working out in agility. Many agility competitors rose up in arms over this. They felt you should show the dog you have, and not rehome dogs that weren't turning out to be agility prospects. Many people said they would boycott the seminars of these particular trainers.
Personally, I understand the need to rehome a dog that doesn't live up to it's competition promise. These dogs do come from reputable breeders. They are rehomed carefully and with great forethought. Some agility enthusiasts live in areas where they are limited on the number of dogs they can have. In order to do these people's jobs, they have to have agility dogs. Whether people like it or not, agility instructors reputations are tied directly to their dogs. When you have a retired dog at home, a dog in the sunset of his career, and you get a new dog that turns out to hate agility in a city that only allows three dogs - you're really between a rock and a hard place. Your livelihood depends on your dog's performance. In this instance, I can see rehoming the dog to a great pet home where it won't be subjected to the stresses of competition, which it doesn't like.
On the other shoe, I did hear a rumor that a Nationally known agility instructor was buying whole litters of BCs, and then keeping the one that turned out the best and rehoming the others. If this rumor is or was true, than this is definately wrong, and this trainer should rethink his/her philosophies.
I had a trainer who got a sheltie for agility. It had come from some great agility lines, but as it matured, it became apparent that the dog really didn't enjoy it's work. It was, however, a perfect pet sheltie. Sweet, calm, no-drive. Great for a pet home...not great at all for an agility home. The sheltie was rehomed to a family with children who loved that little dog. The dog was so happy. It was sweet to see. The trainer got a BC this is to this day tearing up the agility rings.
I agree with many of the things Giselle and Tikeyas_mom have said, and they have probably said it better than I could. Of course a dog should be rehomed if it is abused, neglected, or otherwise in jeopardy. It should not be rehomed because it has become inconvenient to take care of the dogs needs. There are many things that can happen in a 15 year period that are unexpected and unpreventable, that makes a person unable to care for the pet that they love; in those cases the dog should be rehomed rather than put in jeopardy. The main point to remember when bringing a dog into the home is that you are now responsible for that animals health and well-being for maybe 15 years of longer, if you are not willing to make that commitment, don't bring the dog home.
I believe that a dog is for life and not disposable. Having said that is the dog truly is not happy living in it's current home then rehoming would be better than a depressed dog.. after problems have been worked on.
One of my biggest 'hates' is people who think these precious souls can be thrown away and replaced by the next cute pup that comes along ;). We dont see many rehomings of sporting dogs here... i know a few dogs who were bought for Flyball but will never compete because of chasing problems but they are still loved and trained as much as their competing 'siblings'.
I have only rehomed a dog once- that was a imported shepherd, that had no clue with children, I had a 5 year old, and also didn't act like a 'pack member' but rather spent the entire time trying to be the alpha- in a house that was already established. He went to live in a single dog home, and adored. ( I am sure people thought I was crazy for placing a fully trained adult healthy dog..)
Galina came here for training orginally- to see if I could do something with her. Galina was afraid of larger dogs- actually most of the Borzois regardless of size. She only played with the whippets, and when too big to do that safely anymore, the breeder started looking at options. Had she not been drop dead beautiful, she would have been spayed immediatly, without trying.. Her favorite previous game at the other house was " dodge the borzoi"... Bringing her here- with a owner constantly at home, only one other female Femka that was spayed and smaller, and of course- having her brother- the one she use to play with all the time as a puppy, made a world of good for her. She went from leash trained, but would drop to the ground around another borzoi or bigger dog- to a big show off in the ring. I credit some of it to my positive show training ( I teach the dogs- they are God in the ring! Everything is JUST BEAUTIFUL in movements), but also- quite frankly- I believe she came out of her shell so quick because of her brother Zubin. Zubin isnt afraid of a thing- NOTHING- and no one or no dog is a 'stranger' to him..
I have 2 out of 4 dogs that were the product of being rehomed- Femka and Galina.. ( Femkas story will break your heart!). Galina however- as a result of working with her, training her, and mostly letting her figure out - another big dog is FUN(!!)- I got the benefit of a beautiful show bitch, and silly companion..
I am not sure if we had gotten to the end of that first month with Galina- had there not been obvious improvement what would have happened- would she have stayed still or not- it never got to that point. I actually rather doubt she would of, as I was thinking about this last night on applesmom question. The main reason she stayed is that she is such a perfect playmate for Zubin. Femka is starting to show her age- and Zubin is so much bigger than little Femka. Typical young male puppy- with lots of " Bravado" - Femka and Zubin do not play that much- not like Zubin and Galina-. And Galina starts the games more than Zubin.
One more thing here- I obviously had shepherds for a very long time- and at least half were committed for police work etc. However- although it was hard to see them go when they entered into training- although they were my pups- my approach was more like " fostering a seeing eye dog". They had a job to do, and I was proud my dogs could do it. In a state where Malinois are used more than shepherds for this type of work- to me it was pride to put the shepherd back into the fields they use to excell at. Did I cry when my 8month-12 month old left for their " career"- yes- was I proud- MORE SO!