Crazy Reasons Why People Abandon Their Dogs

A common topic of conversation among rescuers and animal shelter workers is the crazy reasons people give for why they are abandoning their animals.  Many excuses are used frequently among abandoners but every now and then we hear new reasons for the first time.  

“I don’t like the way he looks at me.”
A woman surrendered her 4-month old Pit Bull puppy to a shelter because she felt uncomfortable with the way he was staring at her. He had never growled, bitten, or otherwise shown any signs of aggression.








“He sheds too much.”
When a Golden Retriever mix was surendered due to his excessive shedding, shelter workers found that he was covered in scars and nicks from being constantly shaved. The dog was, as a result, very frightened of clippers and feared being groomed.

“She keeps peeing in the house and not on the puppy pads.”

“He won’t stay out of the trash.”

“Her hair keeps getting knotted and I can’t afford to go to the groomer every week.”

“He’s sick and I can’t afford to go to the vet.”
A sick little Lab-mix was surrendered to the shelter where he was treated and quickly recovered. His treatment would have been an inexpensive veterinary visit and a round of antibiotics, many of which are filled for free at certain pharmacies. His owner had never bothered to even make a phone call and did not have a primary veterinarian. It’s not known whether he’d ever received any vaccinations.



“Now that he’s not a puppy, he’s not as cute.”

“My new boyfriend doesn’t like him.”
Wonder if the new boyfriend is as loyal, loving, and committed to her as her dog was before she abandoned him.

“I don’t want a gay dog.”
A man surrendered his Bulldog mix because, as he claimed, the dog was gay and wouldn’t stop humping other male dogs. Upon surrender, he requested the dog be euthanized.

“The dog doesn’t match the new couch.”
A family bought a new couch for their home and then dumped their dog because the fur she was shedding stood out too much against the color of the couch

‘I won a free holiday and I couldn’t take my dogs with me.’

 ‘I’m a vegetarian but he always wanted to eat meat.’ ‘

I got him as a secret Santa present.’ 

She was too friendly and wanted to greet every dog and human we met on a walk.’

 ‘He was panting too much.’

 ‘He didn’t like it when we played dress up.’

 ‘She sleeps in her own bed all night – I thought she would want to sleep in my bed.’

.“He’s old and no fun anymore. I want a puppy instead.”
When a senior dog was left at a shelter, his previous owners explained that the dog was too old and too slow. They wanted to trade him in for a newer, younger model.

‘She wags her tail far too much. 

‘Now he has lost weight he is too energetic.’

 ‘If I’d known anything about beagles, I wouldn’t have got one I had to spend an hour a day hoovering as he shed so much hair.

 ‘The dog is always staring at me – even when I am eating.’

No matter what the reaso for wanting to get rid of your dog it is never ok to dump it where a domesticated animal has to now try and learn to survive on it's own. 

How Dogs Learn from Other Dogs

According to psychologist Stanley Coren dogs can learn new behaviors by watching other dogs.

As a general rule dogs like the company of other dogs. The company of other dogs helps to keep them active and social as well as mentally stimulated. Bello is an 7 year old German Shepherd who can often be found with the founder of our rescue helping to teach the incoming rescue dogs pack manners as well as leading the way in basic obedience, agility work, search work and play. Other younger dogs can often learn quickly by watching the older dogs perform tasks, commands or play.

a puppy will learn from a mature dog that it is normal to urinate in the garden, rather than in the house. An owner will certainly have to take a proactive approach to house-training – they cannot assume that a puppy will always follow the adult dog’s lead – but it’s likely that the former will tag along with the latter outside and start to urinate in the same area.

Of course, this natural tendency may come with a downside; a dog can also serve to model undesirable behaviors, such as jumping up on furniture. If you are addressing problematic behavior in a dog that lives with other dogs, it is prudent to make sure you train both animals.

How you can help!

Our volunteers are the perfect ambassadors for our rescues work and mission! Their enthusiasm is perfect to organize small fundraisers that can help us reach our building fund goals! Now is a perfect time for our volunteers to get involved and shake things up! By creating and managing individual fundraisers our volunteers can deepen their support for our cause and help get the word out to new audiences!!

Social sharing is an excellent way to raise awareness and spread the word about our rescues work. By volunteers sharing our fundraising campaigns they can help us go viral and we could raise money to complete our building and continue our work!!