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Previous owners want dog back - what would you do?

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Shiver Me- Timbers- "Charlie"

My Little Dog, a- heartbeat at my- feet.<3		 
 
Barked: Tue May 1, '12 10:16am PST 
I found a kijiji ad, while browsing. The ad title quite literally says "Please, WE Have Given Our Dog Away But Want Him Back!"

And the actual ad says "Hello
We gave our dog away yesterday to a very nice lady but we have made a huge mistake and really need him back!! He was to be going out to claresholm this next weekend to stay with an old lady. We have made a huge mistake and our hearts are breaking! If you have max please please please call us back! - listed phone number -"

Would you give these people their dog back? A mistake is a mistake, I'll admit that. I can't count the number of times I considered giving Charlie up back when I was in school and young and felt like I wasn't giving him the attention he needed(instead, I worked out my schedule so I COULD give him what he needed). But I can't help but wonder, if they got the dog back, would they ever reconsider it again? Would they ever consider giving the dog up at a later future date?

How does one handle something like that?
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MIKA&KAI

Akita Pals- Always.
 
 
Barked: Tue May 1, '12 10:31am PST 
Charlie this is certainly an odd issue. I can understand the former owners having a change of heart but I really can't say that I would want to give the dog back to them. If they truly cared about the dog as much as they now claim to,would they not have screened potential new homes more carefully? Taken down contact information of the new owner to check on the dog occasionally? Something more than just handing him/her to the first person to answer the ad?
Were I to have to rehome either or both of my dogs for any reason I would want to know where they were going,how they were going to be kept,have contact information and an understanding that I could call or e-mail to see how they were doing. I could never just hand them over to someone whos phone number,adress,and e-mail adress if applicable I didn't know and would want to interview perspective homes and get the best fit I could,so I would find it very difficult to have the sympathy to give the dog back. I feel bad for them but they wouldn't need the ad if they had done what they should have,they would have the contact info.
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Trigger

*Blackdog*		 
 
Barked: Tue May 1, '12 10:46am PST 
Would depend entirely on how I felt about the dog and the circumstances he had come from.

If there was an instant bond then I'd be hard pressed, even if there wasn't anything there yet if he came from a bad or sketchy situation there's no way I'd send him back.

If however they were genuine people who attempted to rehome him because they felt that was their only option, and the amount of time that had lapsed was short as it is in this situation then I'd probably at least consider it. Especially if there were children in the family. People are human and make mistakes, making things right and resuming responsibility I think would be an excellent example to set for the kids (and coming from parents who rehomed every single family dog we ever had literally ripping some from my hands I'd feel for the loss they were experiencing in particular).

I'd perhaps ask them to hang onto my information so if things didn't work out they could contact me in the future just in case.
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Savannah- Blue Belle

A Heart of Gold!
 
 
Barked: Tue May 1, '12 11:17am PST 
If I had taken the dog, it would have been a commitment for me. I would be inclined to keep it.

I don't think they gave it the proper thought the first time, and would bet it would happen again.
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Titus

Cave canis- vigilo omnis		 
 
Barked: Tue May 1, '12 11:23am PST 
That's a pretty bizarre situation. Generally, I think I would consider it a done deal... Not that I don't feel sympathy for them, but rash decisions frequently come with consequences.

And I wouldn't even think of giving up my dog to someone without getting verifiable contact information first.
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Twister

Love me.		 
 
Barked: Tue May 1, '12 11:57am PST 
To me this is a no-brainer after seeing a ton of ads basically saying the same thing on Craigslist.

I think it is one thing if you LOST the dog...

But to SELL the animal, it is not fair or right to turn around the next moment-or the next year, as I have seen in some ads-and demand the animal back.

What I respect more, are some ads I have seen-not trying to re-home the animal, but asking for foster homes to keep them until their situation changed. THEN they would be completely right in asking for them back. way to go

If I bought an animal, I would not give it back just because they changed their mind. I'd be sorry, tough luck, should have thought about that sooner. smile

eta: heh, maybe their mistake was GIVING it away, then someone else offered money for it...
I also don't get how they exchanged info on the dog, where to meet, etc etc without having contact info... thinking

Edited by author Tue May 1, '12 12:03pm PST

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Hucky and- Ringo

1184791		 
 
Barked: Tue May 1, '12 11:58am PST 
Ringo was my sons dog. He called me one night and asked me if I wanted him. I was going to Florida for a week so I told him to really think about it and make sure the kids (my grandkids) were ok with it cause if I take him, he's not getting him back if the kids start crying for him. Well a week later when I returned, he called me the day after christmas and said if I want him to come and get him. I did and again, before I left I told him it's permanant, so to make sure that this was what he wanted. So no, I would not give the dog back. If I was going to give up a dog, I would give it great thought before looking for a new home. It wouldn't be a spur of the moment decision and change my mind the next day.
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Lucille

I am the Sock- Bandit!!!		 
 
Barked: Tue May 1, '12 12:29pm PST 
Twister said " heh, maybe their mistake was GIVING it away, then someone else offered money for it..."

My thoughts exactly. I bet someone asked them "hey where's that cute dog you had?" "Oh we had to give it away to someone on CL." "Really?! Free?! I would have given you a couple hundred for him, such a nice pretty dog..."
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Trigger

*Blackdog*		 
 
Barked: Tue May 1, '12 12:40pm PST 
To be fair, we know if this decision was made in jest.

Nor do we have any idea if the dog was rehomed for free or not. Semantics could be at play here. And besides, I'm personally inclined to give the benefit of the doubt to someone who for-go's making a profit off their rehomed pet considering quality more than anything over some one who merely searches for anyone with a wad of cash.



Pretty unfair to judge without having a good 99% of the facts....
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Twister

Love me.		 
 
Barked: Tue May 1, '12 4:40pm PST 
Wasn't this just a 'what if' scenario? No judging going on. I think my last statement could be a very real possibility in some cases, not all. I also think there would be a big difference between if they sold it to you, or gave it to you like you said. But, once someone accepts the animal, I still think they are under no obligation to return it UNLESS there was a prior agreement made to that possibility. wink

PS, there have been a lot of problems with 'flippers' (people getting animals for free or cheap, then turning around selling them for $100+) on Craigslist, so I think anyone trying to re-home their pet needs to be extra careful anyhow-it may end up who knows where, then that would be a big problem if they ended up wanting it back.
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