Today I had several dog training appointments.  The first one was with a deaf boxer.  We made some great progress using an e-collar to communicate with him.  I then went to work with a mixed breed dog who had an owner who simply wanted to learn some new obedience training techniques for mental stimulation with her dog.  My last training appointment of the day was to be with a five month old Labrador retriever.  It was going to be our first training appointment and we were going to work on housebreaking and basic puppy obedience training.

I showed up on time for the appointment and knocked on the door.  The husband came to the door, “Oh, I’m sorry.  My wife meant to call you but didn’t have your number.  The dog was having a few behavior problems and we didn’t feel like getting a crate.  We got rid of the dog.”

I was ticked.  First of all, I was mad because of the time and money they had cost me.  I had set apart that time for them.  In making the appointment with them I was not able to make an appointment with someone else.  What that means is that I had an afternoon that I could have been earning money for my family but wasn’t able to.  I was also pretty upset that they claimed they didn’t have my number even though they were the ones who called me in the first place.

Perhaps what made me the most upset, though, was the callous attitude toward the dog.  The dog became inconvenient and their solution was to just get rid of the dog.  I can’t believe people do this.

Everyone knows (or should know) when they get a dog that it is a big responsibility.  Especially when you get a puppy you have to realize that there are shots, medications, training equipment to buy, and quite likely professional training to purchase.  It makes me so upset to see people throw away a dog when the dog actually requires work.  The ironic thing is that this client, in particular,  could have had almost immediate relief to their problems with the methods that I would have shown them.

So here I am on my soap box asking you, pleading with you.  If you get a puppy or adult dog make sure you get the dog for the long haul.  That means if your dog gets sick you make the sacrifice to pay for vet bills.  If your dog develops behavior problems or aggression don’t toss the dog out with the trash.  Get professional help to get rid of the problems.  Don’t just give up because it isn’t easy.