Not that long ago, you were thrilled to have a puppy of your very own. You never dreamed you'd have to give him up someday. Even if you can't keep him anymore, your dog still depends on you to do what's best for him, just like he depended on you when he was a puppy. Now, more than ever, he needs you to make the right choices for his future.

Throughout this article, we're going to be direct and honest with you. Your dog is your responsibility. He has no one else but you to look out for his interests. It'll take effort, patience and persistence to find him the right home. He deserves your best efforts.

Finding a new home involves several steps. Before you start, there are some important things you should know...

Shelters and humane societies were created to care for stray and abused animals. They weren't meant to be a drop-off site for people who don't want their pets anymore. Shelters, on average, take in 100 new animals or more each day. Let's face it - there won't be enough good homes for all of them. Even the best shelters can't boast much more than a 50% adoption rate. Only the youngest, friendliest, cutest and best behaved dogs are going to be adopted.

By law, stray pets must be kept several days for their owners to reclaim them. They may not be destroyed until that period is up. Dogs given up by their owners aren't protected by these laws. They may be destroyed at any time. Shelters don't want to kill all these animals but they don't have a choice. There just isn't enough room for all of them. Shelters today are so overcrowded that your dog could be killed the same day it arrives.

If your dog happens to be a purebred, that won't help your dog's chances of adoption -- almost half of the dogs in many shelters are purebreds. Your dog may be as good as dead when it walks in the door. If your dog is old, has health problems or a poor attitude toward strangers, its chances of adoption are slim to none.

Sending your dog to a shelter in hopes that he'll find a good home is wishful thinking. It's more likely that you'll be signing your dog’s death warrant. A shelter is your last resort only after all your best efforts have failed.

True "no-kill" shelters are few and far between. Obviously, no one wants to see their pet killed, so the demand for no-kill shelter services is high. So high that they're forced to turn away many pets because they don't have room for them all. Sometimes they have to choose only the most adoptable dogs to work with.

Rescue groups like ours are small, non-profit, private groups run by volunteers dedicated to educating the public and giving every dog a chance. Most of them operate out of the volunteer's home. Like no-kill shelters, demand for their services is high, so high that your dog may be turned away for lack of room. Again, if your dog is purebred they may still be able to help you place your dog by providing you with referrals to the breed rescue groups. You'll have the most success if you follow the rescue service's advice and are willing to do your share of the work to help find your dog a new home.

Do you really have to give up your dog? There's a big difference between being forced to give up your dog and wanting to "get rid of him". Search your heart for the real reason why your dog can't live with you anymore. Be honest with yourself. Your answer will probably fall into one of two categories:

The Most Common People Problems:

"We're moving and we can't find a landlord who'll let us keep our dog."

Many landlords don't allow children either but you'd never give up one of your kids if you couldn't find the right apartment. Affordable rental homes that allow pets are out there if you work to find them. Most people give up too easily.

"We don't have enough time for the dog"

As a puppy, your dog took far more of your time than he does now. Are you really that busy? Can other members of your family help care for the dog? Will getting rid of your really make your life less stressful? When they look closely at their lives, people often discover that the dog isn't cramping their style as much as they think.

The Most Common Dog Problem:

Behavior problems

If you got your dog as a puppy and he now has a behavior problem you can't live with, you must accept the fact that you are partly responsible for the way your dog is. You have 4 options:

You can continue to live with your dog the way he is

You can get help to correct the problem

You can try to give your problem to someone else

You can have the dog destroyed

Obviously the first option is out or you wouldn't be reading this article. You're probably most interested in Option 3, so let's talk frankly about that for a moment....

If you were looking for a dog and could select from all kinds of dogs and puppies, would you deliberately choose one with a behavior problem? No, certainly not. And neither would anyone else. To make your dog desirable to other people, you're going to have to take some action to fix his problems. Most behavior problems aren't that hard to solve. We can help you with them if you'll give it a try. Think hard about Option 2 before deciding it won't work for you, because the only option you have left is number 4, having the dog destroyed. That's the bottom line. If you, who know and love the dog best, won't give him another chance, why should anyone else? Think about that.

If your dog is aggressive with people or has ever bitten anyone, you can't, in good conscience, give him to anyone else. Could you live with yourself if that dog hurt another person, especially a child? Can you deal with the lawsuit that could result from it? You stand to lose your home and everything else you own. Lawsuits from dog bites are settling for millions of dollars in damages.

Our society today has zero tolerance for a dog with a bite history, no matter how minor. A dog that has bitten -- whether or not it was his fault -- is considered by law to be a dangerous dog. In some states, it's illegal to sell or give away a biting dog. No insurance company will cover a family with a biting dog. And to be perfectly honest, no responsible person in his right mind would want to adopt a biting dog.

No matter how much you love your dog, if he has ever bitten anyone, you only have one

responsible choice -- take him to your veterinarian and have him humanely put to sleep.

Don't leave him at a shelter where he might be frightened and confused and put other people at risk. Don’t pass your problem off to a rescue group or another family who will be forced to make the same decision you should have reached.

As hard as it is to face, putting a potentially dangerous, biting dog to sleep is the only safe and responsible thing to do. It's the right thing to do!

To successfully find a new home, you need to be realistic about your dog's adoption potential. Let's be honest: most people don't want "used" dogs, especially if they have health or behavior problems. Your dog will have the best chance if he's less than 4 years old, is healthy, friendly to strangers, obeys commands and adapts quickly to new situations. Look at your dog as if you were meeting him for the first time. What kind of impression would he make? Would you want to adopt him?

Your dog will be much more appealing if he's clean, well-groomed and healthy. First, take him to the vet for a check up. He'll need a heartworm test, a DHLPP and a rabies vaccination if he hasn't one within the last 6 months. Be sure to tell the vet about any behavior problems so he can rule out physical causes.

If your dog isn't spayed or neutered, do it now! Having your dog neutered or spayed is the best going-away present you can give him. It may save his life! Give your dog a brighter future - make the appointment today!! It's also the best way to insure that your dog will be adopted by a family who wants him only as a best friend and member of the family.

If you can't afford the cost of surgery, check with your vet, local shelter or rescue group for information about low-cost spay and neuter programs that are available in some parts of the country.

Groom your dog. You want your dog to look beautiful and make a good impression. He needs to be clean and well-dressed! Get rid of those mats and tangles and give him a bath. Make sure he's neatly trimmed. If you can't do these things yourself, take him to a groomer. Get rid of his old rusty choke chain and buy a nice, new, strong collar and lead.

(Thank you very much for allowing us to use this excellent article!)

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