My black lab...

[Justin]

I've been trying to find someone to take him for a while, but I think I finally found someone where I work. He raises labs and I think he will be really good to him. He may or may not take him...I'm not sure yet.

I got sick of others in my family not spending time with the dog. I have work and school, I'm rarely ever home. When I am, I do what I can. I just know he would be better off with someone who could devote enough time to him. Only thing is, I feel terrible. I feel like I'm abandoning him. We've had him long enough that I've grown really attached and I don't want to give him up...

[qetta]

Oh - that must be a really tough decision to make. :hug:

[Justin]

Not necessarily a tough decision...I know what's best for him. I was thrown into the entire thing. He belonged to a friend of my brother, who was moving and couldn't care for him. My parents and brother decided to take this dog...I just came home and he was there. I became the one to care for him right away, no one else seems to want to help. Like I said, there's no way I can devote enough time to this dog, even though I desperately want to. Only thing is, I suppose the guy is somewhat picky over which dogs he takes, since he only deals with labs I guess. He doesn't keep them in cages or chained up all the time either, and seems to realize that labs need to play a lot when they are puppies. I really hope he will take my dog...I can't stand the thought of him being chained up and everyone walking right by him, except when I'm home.

I've been trying for so long to find someone, but I won't give him to just anyone. All the local animal rescue's have been full for a long time.

[Justin]

I just need to vent...and some support. No one else understands why I want to give this dog away. They think it's ok to keep an animal chained up, only giving it food and water to survive, forget about any attention...

[qetta]

So - not a tough decision then, but a tough thing to do regardless. Will you be able to see the doggie still, if your coworker takes him?

[Justin]

If I wanted to, I doubt he would have a problem with it, he seems like a really nice guy. I don't think I want to though...I just want to be comfortable knowing that he's better off. The guy has other dogs as well, which will be great since they'll be able to play together.

[kpickell]

How old's your dog?
Maybe you could take the dog when you move out. ?

[Justin]

He's not even a year old.

[DelTremens]

That's sad. All puppies need a lot of attention... my dog didn't really mature until she was around 2 years old, and she's still an attention whore. So its sad that your dog is being uprooted, especially when he is still so young, but hopefully he'll have a better home and get some much needed affection and attention.

[Bobsy]

Have you looked into labrador rescues in your country/region? I'm thinking of things like this (http://www.lrsec.org.uk/fset.htm) (this one's in the UK, so it's just an example of what I mean).

The way they usually work is that the dog would stay with you until the breed rescue had found a suitable owner (and since your dog is young it probably wouldn't take too long), then they would also do regular check ups to make sure the dog had settled in and was being well cared for.

Maybe this is an option you could look into?