I've had an emotional past few weeks trying to find Diesel a friend. I shortlisted the type of dog I wanted to a spaniel and decided to go the rescue route because I don't have the strength to walk into a SPCA. Just delivering goods to their second hand shop breaks me.
I approached a colleague who has a rescue association for assistance. She didn't have any spaniels for adoption and so recommended that I get in touch with a lady who I later found out works for Spaniel Rescue.
It was all fine in the beginning - we had a good chat and ultimately narrowed down the search to a young dog that would have the energy to keep up with Diesel but was also old enough to have already been potty trained. I thought it would have to be female, but she mentioned that it didn't matter, two boys could be fine together as long as they were both neutered by adulthood, and a female dog might be a bit 'bitchy' for Diesel, given that he is such a gentle soul.
After a couple of weeks, and a few follow ups from my side, she contacted me with the news that there was a male spaniel similar in age to Diesel up for adoption. The family that owned this dog didn't want to get a second dog. Unfortunately, he was suffering from some separation anxiety while they were out and his barking was aggravating the neighbours. Therefore, they thought it was in his best interest to give him up for adoption.
She sent a picture via WhatsApp and it was 'love at first sight' as she had stated. We arranged a meet and greet with the current owner, who brought Frodo to my house on a Saturday afternoon to meet Diesel.
The dogs loved each other and played non-stop for the entire time Frodo was around. However, on my end I barely got to see Frodo, because his current owner had brought her mom and her two young sons with her. I spent the time listening to each of the adult's stories about how difficult it was to give up dogs and to move house, and directing the boys to the bathroom. In short, it was like chaos had descended on my house for 20 minutes.
Nevertheless, once they had left, the current owner sent a message to the WhatsApp group stating: "I felt it went really well. The dogs kept each other very busy. He is tired now. Loved Kim and think she will make a good mommy to Frodo."
Then there was silence for the next week and a bit. Eventually I decided to contact the rescue lady because my colleagues and family were asking about Frodo - clearly I was so excited I was telling everyone the story.
She then told me that the owner now had misgivings. She now wasn't sure whether Frodo should go to a home with a large breed dog, and wasn't answering the rescue lady's messages. The rescue lady said she would try again, but it didn't look like I was going to get Frodo. If that was the case, she would look at the other dogs up for adoption and let me know of any suitable options.
All good. If only the Frodo and Spaniel Rescue saga had ended there.
That Thursday I was trawling through Facebook when I noticed a Spaniel Rescue post about a 10-month-old dog needing an urgent foster home. On Friday there was a post to thank someone for taking in the dog at such short notice. The post contained a picture of the dog and he looked cute. I called the rescue lady with the intention of finding out if I could possibly adopt this dog. Turns out it was Frodo.
The family was leaving for their Ireland holiday. The owner had wanted to home the dog before the holiday, which she had mentioned to me during their visit. Unfortunately, since she "hadn't found a home" and there was now no more time left, she just dumped Frodo on the rescue lady at the last minute, with no food, no toys, no collar, no bowl, nothing. Strange, considering she absolutely loved this dog and it was "so" difficult to give him up for adoption.
Anyway, after a long conversation with the rescue lady where we went over the meet and greet, and how what she had been told by the owner might not amount to the truth, she decided we should give it another try and she would facilitate the meeting this time. Therefore, we set up a second meet and greet at my house for the next Thursday morning.
I worked from home that morning. When she didn't arrive at 9am, I gave it a bit more time. Then I called - no answer. An unanswered WhatsApp message and two further unanswered calls later, I decided to leave for work.
When I got to work I had a message: "Just at vet with dog hit by car". Okay, but no 'sorry Kim'. And couldn't she have let me know that she wasn't going to make it, or answered one of my calls. And so with this, after all the following up I had done, the reaching out with little response, the trying to accommodate everyone with little success, I decided to give up. What was the point? I also haven't heard anything further from the rescue lady.
Again, if only the Frodo and Spaniel Rescue saga had ended there.
I then saw my colleague with the rescue association again the next Monday - she had been out of the office at clients for the past two weeks. She asked if I had my dog yet, and I had to explain the whole ordeal to that point.
It made her so angry that here I had been trying so hard, here was a good home for Frodo, but the rescue lady just wasn't playing along. We both understand that rescue is often a second job, that you need to juggle this with your day job, your family and other commitments. However, it shouldn't be that difficult just to respond, even if it's just to say that you're busy and will come back to me later, or let me know why I can't have Frodo.
She decided to contact the rescue lady to express her disbelief. I'm not sure exactly what was said, but the rescue lady then agreed to set up a WhatsApp group with the current foster mom to organise for Frodo to come through for the weekend. That WhatsApp group never materialised. My colleague then decided to set up a WhatsApp group to try arrange the visit. She even offered her help with getting Frodo to my place, doing the home check and making sure the dogs got on well, because she knew that the rescue lady was busy and needed help. The rescue lady never responded. In short the weekend came and went, and Frodo didn't visit.
We are now in this current week, almost two months since I first made contact with the rescue lady, and I still don't have a friend for Diesel. Other than Frodo, there has also been no communication as to options for a friend for Diesel, yet this rescue association gets new spaniels almost every day.
I contacted Pet Rescue this week about a spaniel up for adoption. When I mentioned that I've been having troubles with adopting a dog from Spaniel Rescue, the lady told me that I am not the only person to say that. Unfortunately, I was too late for the Pet Rescue dog, they had already booked an appointment for Pierre to come see him the next day, and Pierre ended up adopting him. Lucky Pierre.
The final straw in the Frodo saga was the up-for-adoption post on the Spaniel Rescue page, posted this week:
Needless to say, I am angry. Hence the angry emotion on the post. I'm absolutely done with dealing with Spaniel Rescue.
I've now reached out to Spaniel Welfare, filled out an application form (something Spaniel Rescue didn't even request) and they've been great so far - very responsive. However, they want Diesel neutered before they even do a home check or consider placing a spaniel.
I don't want to neuter Diesel until he is a year old because there are studies to show that you should wait, especially with large breed dogs, until they are older. The dogs can experience problems if it is done too soon. The lady that I get Diesel's food from said I should wait, if not do it at all, and mentioned that her one dog experienced incontinence because she was spayed too soon. Now that I think about it, Asha might have had that, because I recall the ex mentioned that she constantly 'leaked'.
The lady that I spoke to at doggie day care this week also said I should wait, and that I shouldn't be pressurised into doing it sooner. She's a breeder, so she should know a thing or two. Unfortunately, because she is a breeder, it also means that until Diesel is neutered he can't go to her doggie day care. The other doggie day care options don't have space at the moment.
So I'm stuck with regards to all options of trying to keep Diesel entertained during the day while I'm at work. And now I'm really not sure what to do.
Diesel wasn't supposed to be home alone during the day. When I got him I had a boyfriend living with me who worked from home. This is why it was okay to get only one dog. However, circumstances changed.
The sad thing is I wanted to get two puppies again, like with Titan and Asha, but it was the bad experience with another rescue organisation that changed my mind.
Before I got Diesel, I considered adopting a German Short-haired Pointer (GSP). I contacted a GSP rescue association that had puppies up for adoption. At that point I wanted young puppies because I wasn't sure the little cat could handle big dogs just invading her space one day. At least the puppies would start out small.
I wanted to adopt two from the same litter, but I was discouraged to do so because of littermate syndrome. This is where a pair of puppies, whether from the same litter or not, bond with each other to such a degree that they exclude other dogs or humans from their interactions. This can lead to behavioural issues.
It's a possible issue, but not all dogs have this problem. Perhaps we were lucky with Titan and Asha, or perhaps it was because of the way that they were raised that there weren't any issues. The Spaniel Rescue lady rubbished the littermate syndrome idea.
Anyway, the GSP association didn't want me to adopt two puppies from the same litter, so they suggested I look at an 8-month-old black GSP named Vader and one of the liver litter puppies. I was happy with this and we organised for a home check.
The lady that came to do the home check only had a problem with the fence between the front and back yards, which has since been fixed. It had some sharp edges at the top and she suggested I put a pool noodle at the top because GSPs have a tendency to jump over lower fences.
However, during the visit she bad-mouthed every single breed of dog that was raised - GSP, Weimaraner, Labrador, Golden Retriever. She told me that a GSP could be fine with a cat for a long time, and then one day could just snap and attack the cat. I also found out that Vader was no longer available and that I 'might' get one of the litter puppies as I was on the shortlist, but she couldn't guarantee it. Broken promises.
Needless to say, I said thank you, but no thank you. And because of the cat statement, I then looked in the direction of a Labrador. This, after a couple of weeks where I had to convince myself that getting a dog was still a good idea, because of her dismissing all types of dogs.
I started following a Labrador rescue association and submitted an application, but came to realise that puppies are snapped up quickly. While trawling through Labrador puppy posts the one day, I came across the advert for Kusa registered pups for sale in which Diesel was featured.
I called and the puppy with the white spot in the advert was promised to me so quickly and his collection organised for that very weekend. He didn't come cheap, but it was effortless.
And that is probably the reason why so many people still shop. It might be the route that I will have to take again, even though I'm trying my best to 'do the right thing'.
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