Pet advice, please.

What is the best way to go about finding a good home for one of our dogs? My husband rescued Ireland from being trampled by cows when she was about 4 weeks old. She's now a year and a half old, and poor girl needs lots of room to run. Because of where we live, letting her run free isn't really an option. We live close to a busy road, and there are dog killers in the neighborhood. Any suggestions on finding her a good home? I've never used CraigsList for pets; have any of you?

Thank you.

Check with your local Humane Society. If you are willing and able to continue 'fostering' her until they can find a new home it doesn't put any demand on their usually very limited kennel space and they'll take care of interviewing/screening prospective homes. Also, what kind of dog is she? If she is a recognizable breed you may have a rescue group for that breed in your area that can help. If you go the ad route on your own, I would strongly recommend including the line "interview and references required." That should cut down on the 12 year olds calling without parents permission as well as anyone who isn't serious about pet care.

Thanks, Becca. Couple good ideas in there I hadn't considered. I'll check with the local Humane Society about fostering her. The rescue isn't an option since she's a mutt (although she is very dominately wire terrier/border collie).

My mom had a similar situation recently. She had adopted Otis and could not provide the attention needed (she thought it was Basset/Lab mix, but now she thinks it was a doxie lab mix- which BTW is really strange when you consider the mechanics but I digress) to keep it from destroying her house. She put an ad in a local paper, saying that she would give it up for free but it needed a home with a lot of room to run and a large, loving and active family. She screened people herself and wasn't willing to give Otis up to anyone. Thankfully, she was able to find a local family with 6 children that live on a farm who were looking for just a dog.

We live in a small town (~20k people) so YMMV. When I've seen people on Craigslist who are being careful to not let the dog fall into bad hands, they always ask for a "rehoming fee." If you're not comfortable collecting the fee, just tell them that it's $50, and when they show up with the cash- tell them to keep it and to get some pig ears for the little guy with the $.

You might investigate the rescue groups anyway if you know there is a lot of terrier and border collie in the dog. We have a family friend who fosters for a lab rescue group, and they accept mixed breed dogs that are part lab. Could be that a sheltie or terrier rescue group might accept your dog.

You also might consider PMing B_F and MichelleDawn. I believe B_F fosters dogs and MichelleDawn works with local shelters. They might have good advice for you.

Also ask your vet for ideas - I usually see signs in the vet's office of pets that need new homes.

Phoenix, you beat me to it! I forgot to say that in my previous post. Our two pugs became "ours" in this very way. . .another of our vet's clients had them, needed a home, and the vet asked us if we were interested because we had another pug at the time. The rest, as they say, is history!

Many of the breed-specific rescues will also take mixes of that breed, so don't count that out yet.

Another suggestion is to go on

http://www.petfinder.com/

Put your zip code in and start looking at all the rescue groups in your area. Focus on no-kill rescues and start making some calls.

Be very careful of just giving the dog away because there are people who respond to "free" animal ads and they end up selling the pets to research facilities.

It will be a lot of work, but placing the dog is the best thing for both of you.

I will echo the others and say it's best to find a no-kill rescue or shelter in your area. We adopted a dog (she was picked up as a stray at a kill shelter) and tried to work with her for 6-8 months, but she just wasn't the right fit for us and our other dogs.

We ended up turning her into the NVSPCA with a detailed letter of her positive and negative points. A week later she was adopted by a family who didn't have other dogs and had the time to work with her. They walked into the situation informed and were happy to take her home.

I just placed Ireland on the waiting list at the local Humane Society. I was surprised I got misty-eyed when I hung up the phone. I know she'd be so much better off somewhere with more room to run, but I almost feel as though I'm giving up on her.

It's ok Ops...you're doign the right thing by holding out for her to get a better place.

Try not to feel that way Butterops...The little tazmanian devil pup that we fostered went on to a great home and then an even better home that is permanent. She has ruled no matter where she's been and is happy as a lark. Just keep on taking care of her...

I understand the "need to run" as I have a border mix and a blue heeler...the border is older and more settled now, but the heeler still just HAS TO GO! I will say this tho. If you keep it up about another 6 months, you may find that she settles down and does not have that huge urge anymore. 2 years is a major milestone, in my experience, on "energy levels".

I've fostered a lot of dogs over the years and cried every time I placed them with a forever family. I loved them all and hated to see them go. In the end, though, they were all better off in their new homes.

You're doing the right thing for Ireland.

I foster cats all the time (just took one back to the shelter today) and I cry every time. Just make sure you love the dog as long as she is with you and that you follow up once she gets to the humane society. You are doing the best thing for her.

It turns out that since Ireland is spayed and current on shots, they're going to go ahead and take her. Luckily, she'll go straight to the adoption floor. My hubby tried to get off work early so I wouldn't have to take her, but he's not able to.

Young dogs generally get adopted quickly, so I'm sure she'll be in a new home soon.

::hugs:: BO. Do you have a friend that could maybe go with you?

I went today by myself. I did cry.. a lot.. but I'm still glad I did it. They did give me a card so I can call and check on Ireland. That made me happy.

((hugs)) to you, ButterOps.