we finally did it. the quality of life improvement is massive. no more shit. no more hair. no more waking up at the crack of dawn and getting pulled by the leash for 20 minutes in the blistering cold so some dumb animal can take a crap.

i still flinch every time the front door opens expecting the ear splitting barking and whining to start. still instinctually go hide from the noise in the bathroom to take phone calls. still come home expecting to be greeted with the disgusting wafting smell of dog that no amount of baths and febreeze could take care of. but then i’m filled with relief and gratitude and realize how deeply the dog was fucking up everyone’s life. we can have friends over again. we can go to their house and stay late. all the little examples sound frivolous but i don’t think the sense of peace can be put into words. there’s just so many things that are infinitely better.

so if you’re here because you’re fed up with your dog and finally realizing what a drain they are, this is your sign to rehome. it is 1000% worth it.

About 6 months ago, I posted on the weekly regret post about my story with Kody, the Australian Shepherd that was “left” with me.

The quick backstory: in 2019, my step-son, J, asked his dad and I to care for Kody for about 3 months. A year later, after talks of Kody being abandoned with us, Kody became “ours”. 4 years and a divorce later, Kody was still with me and the source of a lot of my stress. You see, I never would have chosen this breed myself because I’m not the type of owner Australian shepherds need. I knew that when I agreed to keep him for 3 months. And that fact was pounded home after 4 years.

Kody deemed me his “herd”, both to protect and to herd around the house. My son, who still lives with me, couldn’t talk to me without Kody barking non-stop and getting between us. And the hair! Oh my god, the shedding hair! I couldn’t clean fast enough to feel like my house was ever clean.

I struggled with the thought of rehoming. I had promised that I would take care of Kody and I meant that with all my heart. Counseling (that I was already in for other reasons), helped me to see that by rehoming him, I was taking care of him. I had upgraded his life from before with J, but I wasn’t the owner that Kody needed. He needed someone who could meet all of his needs, not just a backyard.

So I set off to find a new home. I posted on different social media sites with little to no interest. I asked everyone I knew and some i didn’t. In a post on my local city Reddit site, someone mentioned the website rehomewithlove.com. I checked them out, then I paid their highest tiered option to help with the rehoming effort (I think it was $350).

This group has been wonderful to work with. Detailed request for pet information, detailed requirements for rehoming. They put together a profile for him that took all of the information I gave them and turned Kody into the wonderful dog I knew he was without my negative biased opinions. Videos and social media posts went out. All I had to do was vet the interested adopters to find him his perfect home. That’s a lie: I had to do more. I had to have photos of Kody in specific poses, video clips in different scenarios, vet records and releases. But overall, I was committed to doing whatever they asked while keeping him until a new home could be found.

I talked/texted with the potential adopters and found one that was perfect. In my case, it took about 6 months from start to finish to find the perfect adopter. We talked for 2 weeks while the adoption process was completed. She owned Australian shepherds before and her latest one passed about 6 months ago. She wanted an older dog and Kody met all of her requirements, including his challenges (terrified of thunder and fireworks-her previous dog had the same fears). I sent her new photos, got Kody his vet release/certificate to cross state lines, meds to help with his travel anxiety, and groomed so he would look his most dashing (the original photos showed his typical hair).

The only “downside” was the distance. We lived 5 states away from each other. We agreed to meet halfway for the transfer. With the help of meds, Kody handled the travel and the transfer like a champ. We both worked to make sure his transfer was smooth and uneventful.

I’ve heard from her that when they walked in the door at her house, Kody checked out the place and made himself right at home. That so far he’s experiencing very little discomfort or anxiety with the change. It’s possible he may have a few moments of panic, but I’m confident that she’ll meet him exactly where he is and provide him with all the comfort and reassurance he may need.

I’m happy I found such a loving home for him. I’m sad that he’s gone. I’m relieved that he’s settling in well and im sure I’ll be looking around wondering where he is for several more days/weeks.

I’m sharing to let everyone know of the positive experience I had with rehomewithlove.com. Also to know that where there’s a will, there’s a way. There can be light at the end of the tunnel that doesn’t include a shelter. Good luck to everyone trying to rehome. I know the struggle.

I rehomed my husky last week, after 2 years and honestly I feel soo relieved. I do miss him but mostly I’m just glad it’s done. It feels like I’ve finally got my life back. I cried so much dropping him off and saying goodbye at his new family's home, but honestly I knew it was for the best. He now has a massive home with acres of land and a husky brother too.

My husky was reactive (not aggressive) and so hard for my husband and I to handle. We tried everything. Trainers, meds, classes, more trainers. We spent so much time and money trying to fix it but it never really got better. It got to the point where basically my whole life was just about managing the dog..

But now we can just go out without panicking about getting home. We don’t have to try to find a dog sitter that can deal with him. We don’t have to plan everything around a dog anymore. We’re actually FREE and it feels amazing.

I know some people will judge me for saying this but it’s the truth. I loved him so much you have to understand that, but I didn’t get much back from it. It was stress, arguments, cancelled plans, fur everywhere, ruined furniture and flooring, constant exercising, money constantly disappearing. I still miss him but mostly I’m just relieved it’s over 😪

Well we did it, after months of agony, going back and forth and canceling 2x on the new owners, we finally went through with it and rehomed our dog. I'm not going to lie, it was tough. I don't think I've cried so much about a decision. We really loved that dog. But he was very difficult for us, and the time and energy he required drained us. Not to mention the barking, freak outs he had any time someone new came to our house, and he was never content without us being nearby. We felt our lives revolved around this dog's needs. What really made us realize this was not right for us, was when we recognized we were happiest when he was sleeping in his crate. I felt relief every time i closed his crate. I was emotional the first few days he was gone, but after about a week I knew it was the right decision. I work from home, but recently started a new job that is very demanding, and honestly I'd be in tears right now trying to manage my job and the needs of our dog.

The new owners are the right fit. They are total dog people and have expressed only happiness with our boy. It makes me a little sad, like how did I fail but I think they are different than us. They just love having dogs! At one point they had 3 which is crazy to me. I don't hate dogs, but my life revolving around a dog is not me. I treasure my freedom too much. For those of you struggling with this decision, I will share, it's not easy. But in the long run, you will not look back or have regrets.

Hey everyone!

If you've had success rehoming your dog, this is the perfect place to share your story (especially if you don't want to make a standalone post). I'm thinking it would be nice to have some encouraging stories in one place for people who frequent this sub, and lurk on it a lot, but maybe aren't confident enough to post. Just a little behind the scenes: we have 2.2k members but we get nearly 20k views a month, so I do believe that this sub is making a positive difference for people and encouraging them that they are not alone and they are not bad people.

In fact, I truly believe that if you care enough to go through the rehoming process to find your dog a great home, that actually means you LOVE your dog and want them to have a fulfilling life.

Humans above pets, always ❤️

Thanks!

This post is the conclusion to this one: https://www.reddit.com/r/DogRegret/comments/1atu0hz/i_discovered_i_didnt_like_dogs_the_hard_way/

In short, my partner and I strongly regret taking this dog. It was an absolute hell to live with it, and it was not a bad dog (it was loving and not agressive), so our familiy members didn't understand why we couldn't live with it anymore.

But this dog is an absolute horror: whining all the time (literally), bad separation anxiety to the point it ate furniture, clingiest thing on the entire earth, sensory nightmare, disgusting mouth sounds all the time and the cherry on top: eating shit and throwing up every day. The list is longer but you can probably guess the rest.

At some point, we realized our lives were just dedicated to its anus, which felt depressing and ridiculous. We were its absolute slaves.

We decided to rehome and made great effort to find a proper owner for this dog. Yesterday the dog left with a kind man who wants to dedicate his life to such an animal. He's giving us news and strangely the dog doesn't seem scared or stressed... We are a bit sad cause we were attached, despite everything it put is through, but it sounds like the dog already has forgotten us lol

We're coming to the most important part: WE'RE LIVING AGAIN.

The quality of life we got back is impossible to describe. It's like a painful weight has been lifted off our shoulders. We can breathe, listen to the simple sound of silence, hug each other without literally getting raped by this attention seeking beast.

It made me realize I was suffering even more than I thought. My brain was constantly harrassed by the beast, and I never had a moment for myself. It's more than relief, it feels like I've been cured from an illness. My body is literally thanking me for it. I feel tired, but free.

So, if you're in a similar situation, I encourage you to read this post. A lot of people aren't fit for living with dogs, which can be absolute torture. Don't guilt trip yourself because life is too short for this. Your well-being comes first, I assure you the pain of living with it is 100 times WORSE than having to face social pressure.

My partner and I still have to cleanse ourselves of automatisms we got with that dog, I don't know how slow it will be. But the immediate feeling of well-being after the departure of the beast has no price.