Visiting him after he has been rehomed will be confusing, and disruptive for the dog.

Have you considered day care/ dog walker? to enable you to keep him with you?

 

Not wishing to pry but have you and your ex tried everything to work it out together...is there really no future for you both together?

If not, what dog is he and what area are you in please?

 

I am wondering whether there might be someone local to you who would be very happy to have daily doggy company, but would be happy to give him back in the evenings?

1 to 1 doggy daycare with mutual benefits I suppose.

Or could family help out?

 

Is there really no way you could keep him with some help from a dog walker? What breed is the dog? Why do you think you wouldn't be able to provide him enough attention and care?
I really doubt anyone would re-home the dog and allow you regular visits. That would be very confusing for the dog especially if eventually you will not have time to visit him anymore. If you decide to find a new family for the dog you have to let him go.

 

The main problem is leaving him alone in the house for long periods. Previously, I would be at home when my girlfriend was at work, and vice versa, but now this won't be possible as I'm moving out of town.

We have discussed dog-sitters and -walkers, but I'm currently limited on finances and don't have a good enough job to be able to pay people to look after him when my girlfriend's at work.

Do dogs really get confused if they live with someone else and a previous owner visits occasionally, or do they just adapt to new settings quickly and then welcome the visit as a bonus when it happens?

 

What dog is he and what area are you in please?

 

The main problem is leaving him alone in the house for long periods. Previously, I would be at home when my girlfriend was at work, and vice versa, but now this won't be possible as I'm moving out of town.

We have discussed dog-sitters and -walkers, but I'm currently limited on finances and don't have a good enough job to be able to pay people to look after him when my girlfriend's at work.

Do dogs really get confused if they live with someone else and a previous owner visits occasionally, or do they just adapt to new settings quickly and then welcome the visit as a bonus when it happens?

I have to say if I rehomed a dog I wouldn't want the previous owners visiting at all. Not only would it blur the lines for the dog, but also for the new owner who may feel they never really own the dog or can bond with it properly, or may feel like you might feel you have the right to have input on every decision regarding the dog, or decide you want him back when your life is more suited to it.

 

I always suggest this, but I know it can work - do you have any older, retired people living within your area? I know older people who would love to have doggie company but know they are past owning one. These are the sort of people who would be happy to have the dog for you for a few hours a day even if they cannot walk him. It is certainly worth putting a leaflet around the OAP clubs in your area, or perhaps the womens institute. Not everyone wants paying.

I know when I am too old to have my own dogs, I should be delighted to care for someone else's during the day.

 

Do dogs really get confused if they live with someone else and a previous owner visits occasionally, or do they just adapt to new settings quickly and then welcome the visit as a bonus when it happens?

Depends on the dog really. My dogs old owners only lived around the corner so we'd bump into them every so often. He was quite unsettled after seeing them. Not really distressed but definitely confused and unsettled and would try to follow them. They moved a few months after we got him though, perhaps with more time he'd have been less bothered.

One of my previous dogs went to live with my uncle though and on the odd occasion I saw him he was delighted to see me but made it absolutely crystal clear that he had no desire to come with me when I left lol.

Call me selfish but while I'd be happy to give updates to a dogs previous owner I wouldn't particularly want them visiting. Especially not regularly.

 

I always suggest this, but I know it can work - do you have any older, retired people living within your area? I know older people who would love to have doggie company but know they are past owning one. These are the sort of people who would be happy to have the dog for you for a few hours a day even if they cannot walk him. It is certainly worth putting a leaflet around the OAP clubs in your area, or perhaps the womens institute. Not everyone wants paying.

I know when I am too old to have my own dogs, I should be delighted to care for someone else's during the day.

My Nana did this and it worked out perfectly for everyone involved, she loved having the dog for company through the day, she couldn't walk him but she would sit in the garden with him if the weather was nice.

 

I'm still in contact with my dogs original owner, I've sent him emails, pictures and updates regularly and thinking about meeting him in the distant future so he can see how his puppy turned out.. It all depends on who your pup goes to.

I would definitely look into daycare or something so you can keep him with you first though

 

The main problem is leaving him alone in the house for long periods. Previously, I would be at home when my girlfriend was at work, and vice versa, but now this won't be possible as I'm moving out of town.

We have discussed dog-sitters and -walkers, but I'm currently limited on finances and don't have a good enough job to be able to pay people to look after him when my girlfriend's at work.

Do dogs really get confused if they live with someone else and a previous owner visits occasionally, or do they just adapt to new settings quickly and then welcome the visit as a bonus when it happens?

I don't think it's just the dog getting confused as to who s/he "belongs" to, but also the new owners/adopters. I know I definitely wouldn't want Max's or Milly's (if she's ever had any previous owners ) to be involved in their lives - either now or in the past. Maybe I'd feel differently if I'd had either from a pup, and their breeders wanted to remain in touch, but I haven't so can't say for sure.

 

My Nana did this and it worked out perfectly for everyone involved, she loved having the dog for company through the day, she couldn't walk him but she would sit in the garden with him if the weather was nice.

Precisely. The old lady who used to live opposite me would have jumped at the chance; she was always saying how she regretted not being able to have a dog any more.

 

Due to a separation, I'm having to find a new home for my near-three-year old dog as it's not really feasible for just one person to look after him full-time.

Sorry but I really don't see why it's "not feasible for one person to look after him full time"???? - I do it .... so do many others - it takes planning and commitment but it's perfectly feasible if you're willing to make it work

As others have suggested ask around and see if someone could help during the day when you're at work

I'm still in contact with my dogs original owner, I've sent him emails, pictures and updates regularly and thinking about meeting him in the distant future so he can see how his puppy turned out.. It all depends on who your pup goes to.

I'm in contact with Maisie's former owner - she gets an email update now & then & the odd pic or 2.

We've only met up once (really due to the distance between us) but it was nice to catch up and it was nice for her to see how well Maisie's doing ... but I certainly don't think a "timeshare" arrangement would work - sorry!

 

I'm on my own. With 6 kids. And a dog. And getting another dog in 3 weeks. Perfectly doable. Milly can be left in her own 4 hours with no problems and 6 has been ok too once or twice. I'm pretty sure she'd be ok with 8 hours although it wouldn't be ideal and I'd either have to pop home or get a dog walker. I could understand if you worked away for a few days at a time but not in this situation.

 

I rehomed a dog from friends of friends in December last year, they visited after she had been with us a week and we have stayed in touch via Facebook sharing photographs of when they had her and us. To be honest I would have been happy with them visiting more often.

They have asked that we meet up over the summer so their children could see the dog and we will do that.

I'm quite nervous about it as we have changed her name but they are aware we were thinking of it.

My problem has been they didn't do much socialisation or training with her. She came all matted up and required trimming down to almost bald in some spots and she had a nasty ear infection when we got her requiring surgery to clean and pluck her ears. I also believe she came from a puppy farm. We paid them £150 for her and then within days she had cost another £160 in vets and grooming bills.

To be honest they were a bit clueless re dogs in my opinion but they did love her. If it hadn't been for her care being not what I would have liked I would have been happy to let her visit them for a weekend if they had wanted.