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A friend of mine is desperately trying to find homes for two older labs. They are her sisters dogs and her sister had to be moved into a nursing home.

 

Karen can keep the dogs at her house for a while. But these are really big dogs and she has a small house, a Chihuahua and 3 cats. And one of the labs chases cats. And a husband who is not very happy about all of this.

 

Will a rescue group work with her to help find a home if she is willing to keep the dogs at her house? Should she sign up with different rescue groups? What should we be doing here?

 

Her sister has been pretty seriously disable for quite a while so these dogs are really nice dogs but they need help with just general manners and things. We can work with them so they are better behaved than they are now.

 

Would it be safe to put something on Craig's List or is that too dangerous?

 

Any ideas?

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I would contact some rescues, perhaps Lab rescues, and explain the situation and see if they can help in placing them. They may be happy to help if they have a built in foster home up front.

 

If they can't, many rescues offer referral pages (or courtesy listings) for dogs that aren't actually in their care. I think that would be a better option than Craig's list. The stories about dog flippers are pretty dismal.

 

So I'd contact as many good rescues in the area as possible and see who might be able to help. Multiple courtesy listings wouldn't hurt. Just make sure to keep track so that when they get adopted your friend can notify them and have the listings removed.

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Make sure when contacting rescues to talk about the good things- dogs are neutered, UTD on vaccines, heartworm negative and social. Offer to keep them in her home and offer a monetary donation for their time. Rescues are contacted all the time for owner surreneders so it helps to set yourself apart and offer to do any vet work needed.

 

I also think it's much better to spend a couple dollars and put an actual ad in your local newspaper or pennysaver. CL never seems to draw quality homes/adopters. It seems to be mostly people looking for cheap, free spur of the moment animals.

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OK. Thanks. Karen just spent a whole bunch of money for shots and bowls and leashes. I don't know about heartworm meds. She also had to buy two really big crates.

 

These are really nice dogs. I wish we could find someplace with a big yard for them to run. They are both pretty over weight because their owner was not able to get them out much.

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Although I would be very careful with CL, I would be very careful with any method of re-homing a dog, and I don't think there's any inherent reason not to use CL. If you can get a rescue to take the dogs, or do a courtesy listing, as has been suggested, then that is always best. But as I see it, if you are re-homing a dog you should be extremely careful no matter how you find the potential home or they find you. An ad in the paper can bring out a crazy person or flipper just as easily as CL. A home check is essential, a good long conversation with the person is equally so. I would use my gut feelings and if there were even the slightest uncertainty I would not release the dog to that person. You cannot guarantee anything if the person is a stranger to you but if you spend an hour or more with a person and see their home and yard it is a lot harder for that person to fool you.

If I were looking for a dog and did not find what I wanted at a rescue, I would be looking at CL, and I would not want someone to think I could not be trusted just because I was found on CL.

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Karen has a couple of good leads. I'm hoping one of them will work out. I did tell her about contacting the rescue groups.

 

Pam: These dogs are older and they are both overweight. One is all lab and the other one is half lab half boxer. She is very sweet and seems to have gotten the best of both breeds. Their owner just wasn't able to take them out. But remember how fat Trim was when I first took her? And I just took her up to Smithville Lake and let her run. That weight just melted off after she started getting enough exercise.

 

The dogs seem to be adjusting really well. Neither one had ever been in a crate and they are doing just fine in their crates. I think Karen will probably take them down to the dog park to run as soon as this frigid air decides to go somewhere else.

 

I feel a little better about the situation because Karen seems to be willing to really take care of both of them until she can find some place suitable. They really need a big yard to run in.

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