Taking one back (Brandy)

Friday At 5 pm Steve and myself had to do a dog surrender.Now this is not a bad thing,but in this case not a good thing either.As this was a family that adopted this dog from our rescue.At the time of adoption this was a sweet lab pointer mix named Brandy.Brandy was only 10 weeks old.Now I was not Brandy's foster.As with all applicants we do call reference's and try to evaluate as to try to get the dog a good permanent home.This is and does present many challenges.We are always looking to refine our adoption precess.Reason I bring this into this story is after talking with the family we learned that the young lady that did the adoption never mentioned that her fiancé was not raised with dogs nor was he really a dog person.
Now we don't just take the dog back we first try to provide some behavior training for both owner and the dog.Second there is thing we now need to know like their reason for surrendering the dog.We get many reasons and with the reason there is the truth or should I say the truth they want us to believe.Now with this dog and owner situation it seems they were not able to give this dog boundaries.The first boundary that was never set with this dog was the pack leaders position.The out come of this was a dog, that was a good loving dog, but Brandy now would control the house with growls and snips toward the owner if Brandy now did not want to listen to what she was being told.The owner was bite several time by Brandy.They expressed that Brandy would be sitting at the foot of who ever was eating something,with a very pleasant disposition right up till she was told to move or go lay down.This was where the Jekyll & Hyde would show up and someone would get bit.To me this was not unusual as the owner never let Brandy know who was the Alfa boss of the house and by the time they got to this point now they are not even willing to try because they fear their own dog.Very sad to me even more upsetting is They are about to get married and I hope they can do better with a child should they have one.As we all know you just can give them back!!!
When evaluating the dog at the owners house on the front lawn.I take the dogs leash and start to get a feel for this dogs place.After about 15 minutes the owner, her sister and mother have all remarked that the dog listens better to me after only a couple minutes than it listened to them for the last 9 months.I asked them if the dog would listen to them in this manner would they want to keep Brandy?I got a yes from all three women with a final word from the fiancé spoken Thur Brandy's mommy that he wont allow Brandy to stay.With a word of caution I mention that this will be the out come with any dog they get if the soon to be husband does not learn how to raise a dog!!

WE at the rescue and all rescues feel that if you want a dog,and have never had a dog or have had a dog but with mixed results. It is always better to consult with a train-or and dog behavior-est.This in many cases can help you have a better dog which is a result from being a better dog owner.Always remember your dog does not speak and or understand English but they are smart enough to learn.Problem is can we learn to listen to our dogs with our eyes.As dog use body langue and smell to communicate with sound not words it indicate what they are feeling .
Open eyes will help you more than you know along with knowing more about the breed and its Traits.With knowledge you can have a well adjusted family member.