2 years ago my girl had a beautiful litter of 3 girl pups...all went to loving forever homes..or so I thought. On friday morning I got a call from the owner of one of the girls. They had an 8mth old baby and the mother had returned to work full time and they wanted to rehome young dog asap...if I couldnt take her back they were going to advertise in the vets, pet shops and papers...this came totally out of the blue as I have been in contact with them and all was ok. Anyway of course I said she could come back here...they wanted £500 for her, due to all the food, toys, beds etc they had paid out for her...she isnt even spayed and they hadnt transferred ownership!!
I told them to bring her to me which they have done today...the reason for rehoming is that the lady's mother has refused to look after the dog anymore when she goes back to work full time (starts full time on monday), needless to say she is devastated. They wanted her completely out of the area that they live in, about 20 mins drive from me. The dog is gorgeous..no problems what I can see and although a bit upset at being left by them has settled next to hubby on sofa. My dilemma is due to the fact that my daughter is 6mths pregnant and will be living at home after baby is born, I had decided not to breed again and got my girl spayed on friday...I dont know what to do now..do I keep pup that has come back or look for new forever home for her and hope she settles ok...Im really torn and need some advice. Sorry a bit long winded I know:(

I am so sorry but also glas they did contact you andyou have been able to have her back. AS for the £500 I hope you didnt have to give them the money maybe I am being cruel but cannot inderstand how on the one hand someone canbe devastated and on the other ask for money. Due to a marriage breakup my previous gsd returned to her breeder  (albeit in the end temporarily) and i gave them the cost of her food + extrasey each year to help feed and look after her.I also visited her

As for your dilemma I think you have to think how hard would it be to keep an extra dog is it rerally practicall given the new baby if you feel it is and having one of your pups is really a silver lining I would keep her.

If you and the family feel not I am sure in the righthome she will settle how easy do you feel it would be to rehome her ? As for the pup being to close to the original owners I think that is just unfortunate the pups interest being the most important.
Btw I am not a breede and perhaps others who are will be able to help more

Well I sure hope you didn't pay them £500 as no way wouls they have got that for her had they tried to sell her as an adult with no show history etc, no health tests done etc,  she has no commercial value and is the status of a rescue. 

I can understand if you paid them just to get her back, but it really wasn't on.

Personaly i'd keep her myself.

I really can't believe the cheek of some people,fancy asking you to give them£500 and  really hope you didn't pay this Think they would be given short thrift if they asked any rescue centre to pay for taking in a dog . Having said that at least they were sensible and returned the dog to your care.

Does your breed club offer a rescue/rehoming service. My breed clubs keep a list of people who want to rehome and this would be first point of contact. I can sympathise with the fact that you really don't want to keep another dog due to your family circumstances but I'm afraid that when anyone decides to breed a litter then such situations should be always kept in mind and you owe it to the dog to keep her until you can find a loving home.

You could also try contacting hearing dogs for deaf people and see if they are looking for any dogs at the moment.They will take on young dogs with good temperament  if budgets,targets,etc permit and will rehome to suitable homes if the dogs don't make fully fledged assistance dogs.

Hope you get a bit of advice from others and at the end of the day you have done the right thing so far by taking her back in.Good luck

> they wanted £500 for her, due to all the food, toys, beds etc they had paid out for her...she isnt even spayed and they hadnt transferred ownership!!

Sounds like a sale rather than doing the right thing by their dog.  Smacks a bit of blackmail too doesn't it??  You weren't going to say no - and I don't blame you.  At the very least I hope they gave you all her bedding, collars, lead, toys, and spare food...

I can see why you must be torn but I'd suggest you wait a while before making any decisions.  You'll need time to get to know her and she'll need to settle first.  Once you've been able to properly assess her you can make the right decision for her and your family.  In the meantime, if you don't think you can keep her perhaps you know someone who'd be willing to foster her and do the assessment for you?  It'll need to be someone you trust but would ensure that you remain in control but without compromising your situation at home.  Good luck with your decision making :)

It was extremely cheeky of them to dare to ask for £500, but alas I would have had to give the money without complaint as an un-spayed bitch advertised in newspapers could well have given her the life from hell if snapped up by a puppy farmer or throw away BYB. Have they had a litter from her toffeecrisp just out of interest, perhaps they were use, abuse and chuck out BYB's themselves? We can all be fooled by people.

As to what to do with her toffeecrisp I've always said if an adult comes back home to me, that is then it's forever home....... but I very often even now have my previous puppy owners asking for another pup or if I can recommend someone so there is always the potential for a home with someone you know and trust previously, they would be the only people I would even think of homing her to after a re-home I wouldn't personally advertise her now, but, if you have any such people they may well be worth considering.

Just so thankful she did not fall into the wrong hands poor girl. Perhaps she was just meant to be with you. :-)

Whether or not you have paid out for the bitch ( and you really shouldnt have to but sometimes needs must) - and if you have definately have her in YOUR name then contact your regional rescue coordinator for the Cavalier or Northern clubs.
If they are anything like me theyre inundated with calls for pups or older ones.

  Mrs L Gillhespy 0191 3711523  northern or eastern Mrs Dawn Ashpole 01234 295532 

Good luck.

So glad you have got your girl back, it sounds like the people were not a nice as you first thought. We can all find ourselves in difficult situations but the way they have handled it is not ideal. Surely the woman knew she was returning to work some time ago ? They have put you in a really difficult position, and to ask £500 for the bitch to me speaks volumes about the type of people they are.
As others have said I would take a bit of time and don't make any rash decisions, you can have a baby in the house and multiple dogs. I know a lot of midwives etc. don't like animals, but some do and for those that don't you can always put the dogs in another room while they visit.
I know you said that you don't think you will breed again, but if you do it would be worth looking at some other breeders contracts, and doing one that would cover this situation in the future and meet your own personal requirements.
Hope everything works out well, let us know what you decide when you have taken a bit of time to consider.

So pleased to hear that you've got your girl back, if I had been in your situation I'd gladly have paid to get her back, if you'd refused then they probably would have advertised her in pet shop, Vet, e **** etc. As for your dilema, only you can answer that one I'm afraid, but if you do let her go, have her spayed first.

>but if you do let her go, have her spayed first.

Very good advice.

Many Thanks to everyone:)
I did NOT pay the £500 for her and she is here with us. They didnt bring her food, shes on Dr Johns/Johnsons and mine are on Wainwrights dry. Hopefully it wont upset her tummy too much!! She is beautiful, very well mannered, but quite timid...hopefully just temporary. All the pups were very outgoing, confident little dogs when they went to new homes, I still see 1 on a regular basis who is very confident, they are going to come in the next few days and see how they get on, with possible view to taking her...I trust these people. They couldnt remember when her last season was or even roughly when next one is due:( so Im going to keep a close eye on her from now. Her being unspayed and being advertised worried me greatly which is why I asked them to bring her here. She hasnt had a litter and she will be spayed if she goes to either the 1st family or stays with us. It did state in the contract that if they wanted to breed I would only lift restrictions if they had all health checks done, which I listed along with prices.
She has had food and a little play and is at present on sofa asleep.
If I dont find a forever home for her then shes definitly got one here, we will muddle through with 3 dogs and the baby Im sure;)

ETA...they did bring a carrier bag FULL of treats, 2 beds, 3 blankets, 4 bowls, 2 leads and a huge bag of toys.

Weird how people think isn't it at least she is safe. I do wonder how the dogs who do not have breeders who will/can take them back get on hope she ends up with the other family or you.  She is one of the lucky ones.

Weird how people think isn't it at least she is safe. I do wonder how the dogs who do not have breeders who will/can take them back get on hope she ends up with the other family or you.  She is one of the lucky ones.

sounds like you are getting sorted so glad she has you

Thanks for the update, sounds as if you are now a lot clearer. I love a happy ending !!!

Need some advice please.
The pup that came back on sunday is terrified of my 2 dogs...her mum and a 10yr old JR, whose as soft and daft as anything. Apparently when the old owners had their caravan and went to visit if any dogs were around and wanted to play she would run away with her tail between her legs..owners picked her up and made a huge fuss of her...this has continued for the last 2 yrs..simply reinforcing her fear. Every time my 2 move, walk around or even sneeze, shes up looking and shaking. She wont go into garden for a wee if they are out there and today has not had a wee at all up to now...she had a poo when they came in, have tried several times all day so far but nothing, hasnt even had a drink yet either!!!
We are all being very patient with her but really dont know how to deal with this...any advice would be great.
Thankyou.

Give her as much space from them as you can - reward her REALLY heavily for any and every interaction with them (and that includes just looking at them) - take her for a short walk off their territory for wees/poos as much as possible and again, reward her super well for that.

Ideally, mix up her own kibble with high value treats such as cheese/sausage/liver cake etc and use the kibble for the easy stuff and the high value treats for the harder stuff.

Try not to push her faster than she can go though - right now, shes scared. If you push her to confront her fears she may tip over into being aggressive to protect herself, so patience is key here.

I would take them on a walk together (if you have somewhere quiet with no distractions) if you think the pup is confidant enough for that.  I would put all 3 on a leash & have the pup in one hand, and the other two in the other hand.  Then you will all be part of a pack going somewhere (and somewhere which is not the territory of the other 2 dogs).  I'd walk fairly briskly and confidantly.  If it goes well I'd continue it, and one day sneakily move one of the other dog's leads over to the pup's side so they are walking next to each other.  I wouldn't play ball games - unless with her alone as it can be very threatening to have dogs rushing around and they seem to lose their body language appreciation when chasing a ball.  But I would do anything which cements the pack and promotes good manners - like telling them all to sit & giving them a treat individually when they are sitting nicely.  Again, ideally away from your home which is not her territory yet.

I would also give her a crate so she can have her own space & get away from them when she needs to.

I'd also take her out on her own & treat her like a young puppy in terms of socialisation & new experiences - the more the better (it's OK if she is slightly nervous - but don't let her get very frightened.  Enlist some friends with well-socialised dogs & walk her with them one at a time - ideally off lead.  I'm not sure she realises she's a dog!!  She needs to learn not only that other dogs aren't frightening - but also the very complex language of dog so she can interact politely & safely.

Best of luck.

Many Thanks for the replies.
Sorry I didnt reply earlier, had a hospital appt!!!
Ref Walking together, we did this last night, with me taking our 2 and my daughter walking pupster..no problems at all, it was just a short walk and one has just been spayed. Im going to take her out on her own in a few minutes to see if she will have a wee!!!! There are no puddles anywhere downstairs.
She has her own crate (thankfully we had a spare) and bedding which I started putting her in on sunday night...what a noise she made...last night not a peep from her, so hopefully she will realise shes safe there, my other 2 were in together in the big crate.
I have been feeding all 3 in the kitchen at the same time, so tonight I will feed her in a diffrent room.

She definitly doesnt know shes a dog, they have babied her so much she thinks shes human. now shes totally confused and frightened.

Toffeecrisp that's great.  It sounds like she is making strides already.