Need a place to vent

[robinh]

Maybe I should just ignore this, but it just really gets me.

The woman I work with lives with her grandparents - it's a real disfunctional situation at best. Grandma and Grandpa argue all the time. Grandpa has had a stroke and from what I can gather was a real control freak before and has become worse since the stroke. Grandma has been telling him she wants a lap dog for a couple of years that I know of and she finally got one. I think the only reason she's doing it is just to spite him.

Neither Grandma nor Grandpa cannot take care of themself - that's why their granddaughter lives with them. Well, now Grandma has this PUPPY! He's 9 weeks old and he chews, potties all over and generally runs wild. She complains he won't mind - duh - he's a puppy!! So now she's taken to using a newspaper to correct him.

Her getting a PUPPY was such a bad idea! Her having a dog is a bad idea, but a puppy is a disaster!!

I feel sorry for the puppy because he was sold to a man who got him for his wife who said "NO!!!" So he sold the puppy to the woman I work with's mother. She didn't have time for the puppy so she sold it to her step-mother. This poor animal is only 9 weeks old and is in it's FOURTH home. Of course he's wild and acts out - he's scared and doesn't know what will happen from day to day!

I've told the granddaughter that if and when Grandma admits defeat, I can't take the puppy but I'll make sure it gets a good home. But the whole thing just makes me so mad.

Another case of someone who NEVER should be allowed to have an animal gets one just because...

[wolfie]

That's so sad! Poor pup! Hopefully you'll be able to take him and give him a good forever home. People like that make me angry too.

[Kfamr]

[Karen]

Very sad. Any hope of Grandma or granddaughter training the pup, taking him to obedience classes or anything?

I think she should get an older dog from the shelter who would just adore being a "lap dog" and is already trained.

[Twisterdog]

Sometimes elderly people don't realize that they are getting too old to do the things they have always done ... like drive a car, walk to the mailbox, or house train a puppy. Or, sometimes they might realize it on some level, but not want to admit it to themselves or to anyone else. Getting old is so hard, both physically and emotionally.

Perhaps Grandma either forgot how difficult a puppy can be, or didn't realize that she is now too old to handle it.

While it is indeed a bad situation for the puppy, I also feel for the people involved.

Perhaps you could help them find an older, trained calm dog at a local shelter? Or even on Petfinder, if it is fairly close, and volunteer to pick it up for them?

I hope it works out for everyone involved.

[clara4457]

It is really a sad situation on two levels - there is an older dog out there that would be very happy just laying on her lap for hours on end and deserves a home and then there is a puppy that needs more direction and socialization than this woman can obviously give him and will probably grow up socially stunted.

We get it all the time at the shelter where older Americans think they want a puppy. We really try to steer them toward an older dog that fits their lifestyle better.

So sad.

[robinh]

Before they got the puppy, I suggested an older dog - a "Lap dog", but she was convinced this was what she wanted. Grandma can't walk 50 feet without getting winded (smokes like a chimney) so her going to obedience class is out of the question. They seem to think the pup should know what "no" means and that he should know to potty on the paper. I've tried to explain that a puppy is like a little child, they don't know instinctively you have to train them. But I don't seem to be making any impression.

Granddaughter has enough on her hands with full time job, cat and taking care of grandparents - she didn't want a dog because of the work involved. She talked to me ahead of time about what was involved and knew that there was no way anyone there could handle it.

I figure it will take a week or two before grandma gives up. I'm just so unhappy about the poor puppy. He doesn't deserve this.