Rehomed Dog needs help

She is approx 3yrs old a German shorthaired pointer cross.  We found someone interested in taking her for a few days as a trial to see how she gets along with her family and other dog.  We met on neutral ground at a park and she got on with the other dog just fine so the lady decided to take her.

When she got her home, she was fine... a little unsure of her surroundings but ok.  She was around the lady and one of her younger sons.  Later on in the evening her husband and eldest child came home which caused Bonnie to show aggression by growling and barking at both of them.  She has been with the family for the past 4 days and this is still going on.  She barks at them when they come down the stairs and won't even play ball with them (which is highly unusual for her).

Now I know what some may say, that she was abused by a man previously.  But what I CAN say is that she has been with me and my husband for nearly a year and NEVER showed this side of her unless it was someone she didnt know at first.  She has been around plenty of men, my father in law, brother in laws etc. with no issues.  So why now?

It's actually terrible because if she doesn't get on with them, she isn't going to keep her.  She asked to extend her trial date to this coming weekend.  The saddest part of it, if it doesn't work out I will be putting her down.  I simply cannot care for her anymore and refuse to put her into a cage at the pound where she will be scared and eventually put down anyways. 

Any suggestions that anyone has as to what her problem could be or anything I can suggest to the lady as to how the family can deal with this would be much appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Jaime

 

I finally found a "foster carer" for one of the rescue shelters and she said that she would help me get Bonnie in.  I emailed her numerous times to try to make that happen and she just stopped answering my emails.  It then worried me because she stopped answering me when I was asking her what it would be like for Bonnie.

I do know the dog and I know that she would NOT do well in a small kennel or mixed with other dogs as she is nervous.  We do believe that she was abused when we found her, the state of her alone suggested that and the fact that anytime you went to pet her, she would nearly bow her head.  But nervousness aside, she is brillant.  I think her nevousness made her try to do absolutely anything she could to avoid a scolding so she was easy to train... we learned very early that even if you raised your voice in the slightest she was like a deer in headlights.

But with the training she got and the affection/attention we thought she was ready to be rehomed.

It was brillant because last Thursday I had another woman email me that was interested in Bonnie... so I contacted the lady that Bonnie was with on the trial and told her that if it wasn't working out that I would take Bonnie as I had someone else interested.  Much to my suprise, the lady had Bonnie in surgery to get her spayed as she had a male dog.  She still told me that Bonnie was hesitant about the older men but that she was getting better... then the real story came out.

I told her from the start that Bonnie was an outdoor dog.  My husband and I keep our dogs in a nice kennel outside that even have heatlamps if it drops below 0 C.  We would allow Bonnie and our other dogs to come into our sunroom but they were only allowed on a large area rug by the door.  They love it because they can sit with us on the weekend, watch tv and just be in our company so it's like a treat to them.

She decided right off the bat that she was going to keep Bonnie indoors, with full range of the house.  She said that at first Bonnie wouldn't come off the front door mat (smart cookie) and that it took them nearly 2 hours to convince her it was ok.  Things like the dishwasher changing cycles would make her growl, doors being closed that she couldn't see, people coming down the stairs, and even people coming to the front door.  But OF COURSE!  She isn't used to that, to be taken and dumped in a new place with COMPLETELY different surroundings and people I would have expected that.  It wasn't till the husband and older son came home later and by that stage, I think it was just too much for her.

She said that she wanted to keep her for another while and doesn't see herself giving her up.  I didn't say it to her but if she turns around and decides she doesn't want her that is too bad.  She signed as the owner to have her spayed (without consulting me first) and we went over our trial for her as well as offered to take her as we had found an alternative home for her which she declined.  I don't think she would have spent the money to spay her if she had no intention on keeping her.

The only thing that I CAN say, is Bonnie should get used to it fairly soon, she loves being inside.  I used to make fun of her as she hates the rain and would jump over puddles rather than walk through them.  The lady that she is with said that Bonnie has become very accustomed to sleeping on her couch and even manages to slowly push the youngest son off and on to the floor so that she can sprawl out.

Please understand, I love Bonnie.  The whole thing as to why I posted on here is because I was desperate.  It sounds all well and good to put a dog into a rescue but I think a large part of that is dependant on the dogs personality.  There is deffinately a lack of resources for situations like this in Ireland and it's sad to be honest, especially when you see all the dogs to free homes on donedeal.  Bonnie is a dog that needs a lot of attention and reinforcement to combat her nervousness, if I was to take her and put her into a shelter with no interaction, it would have devastated her and probably damaged her further.  I couldn't have lived with her being scared out of her wits with the possibility of no adoption... I would rather see her to have lived a short but better life.  I don't expect many of you to agree...

 t the minute I am trying to rehome a dog just like your situation. The dog is with a fosteres as I would put if. he was plucked off the street,, the same. I have put the dog on irishanimalshelters web pag on facebook and there is somone looking to adopt him already he is a pet. So through a rescue centre we are going to have him neutered and fostered for assessment while that is happening and then on to his new home after they have had a home visit. we didn't want to take any of their foster spaces up untill we found him a home. Try going on to irishanimalshelters on facebook and see if you have any joy there maybe