Surrender Dachshund Kevin’s Story
Today we are looking at the story behind the surrender of a dachshund, Kevin.
Recognising the heartache and difficulty behind making such a sad decision is essential. No one goes into dog ownership with anything but the best intentions and the dream of a wonderful addition to their family.
However, sometimes it can go wrong. This is one of those stories…
Kevin first came to his owner’s attention in an advertisement. It had been a couple of years since she lost her Bichon Frise and she felt that the time was right to introduce a new dog into the home. It was December 2020 and COVID restrictions were in place.
The meeting with the breeder took place at an outside location as these were the social distancing rules at the time, however, alarm bells were soon ringing.
Kevin had no paperwork and there was no sign of the puppy’s parents. Here was an early dilemma! Leaving the dachshund behind meant exposing him to an uncertain future so Kevin was purchased and brought home to meet his new family.
Kevin’s first visit to the vet confirmed his dubious history. He was not of the age his new owner had been told, his vaccination certificate was not credible and the fact that he had a heavy worm burden confirmed that the worming program that was discussed had probably also not taken place.
At this time these findings only reinforced that she had made the right decision in bringing Kevin into his new loving home.
Everything went well for 6 months, there were young children in the home, however, initially, no issues came to the surface.
Things took a turn for the worse when Kevin was chewing on a bone treat and the owner’s 5-year-old just sat down nearby without doing anything that would suggest any need for Kevin to respond.
Kevin, however, reacted aggressively toward the young girl.
As this was the first sign of such behaviour the owner put measures in place, no more bones would be given as a treat and the children were warned to keep away when Kevin had food.
12 months went by and with the above-mentioned procedures in place there were no further issues, despite Kevin still being wary of strangers in the house he was establishing himself as a much-loved part of the family and the owner was thrilled.
However, as the weather improved earlier this year there was a family BBQ held in the garden. Everything was going well until Kevin found a bone that had belonged to a previous inhabitant of the space and a family visitor who came too close was bitten.
Once more Kevin was exonerated as the family had previously identified and dealt with his issues around food, they felt this was just a blip.
Unfortunately, two weeks later Kevin bit a child, one of the owner’s children had previously spilt yoghurt in the back garden and as she bent down nearby to pick up a piece of chalk she had been using Kevin reacted badly. The bite on her arm was quite severe.
This was the third time he had bitten, the time scale between the incidents was lessening and the aggression increasing. It was beginning to frighten the owner as to what could happen. She had to prioritise her children.
Kevin had been such a lovely dachshund who was a wonderful addition to the family, but now a heartbreaking decision had to be made.
With his biting history, the owner knew she had to be responsible and do what she believed to be the right thing. How could she potentially add this problem to another home? it just did not feel like the right thing to do, how would she feel if he bit another child?
At this point, the owner did not know that there was a breed-specific rescue or that they would take a dog with a bit of history it seemed the only option was to take Kevin to the vet to be euthanized.
This must have felt terrible in every sense, we know many tears were shed.
On arrival at the vet, the reasons behind the decision were discussed with the family.
The vet fortunately was aware of Dachshund Rescue’s work and called us, our regional coordinator was off like a shot to collect him!
The owner was thrilled that Kevin was getting another chance and rushed home to get all his favourite accessories to help him settle.
This story has a strong message for anyone purchasing a new dog and the owner has been incredibly brave in sharing her experience with us.
She urges people to research the breed properly, as her experience shows that some dachshunds can struggle to live with young children. She also wants to stress the importance of knowing where your new dachshund comes from and the need to be aware of its history.
Kevin was effectively saved from a difficult and uncertain future by the owner and she should feel that despite everything that prevailed she did right by Kevin in the first instance.
Kevin is now happily settled with one of our coordinators, and the family who had to let him go are regularly updated on his progress.
This was a tough situation to deal with for any dog owner and we were only too glad to be able to help.
In this case, the owner was a genuine lady acting as we all do in wanting to complete her family with a dachshund but found herself facing a real dilemma, something that could happen to any of us!!
It emphasises the importance of several things
This was a tough situation to deal with for any dog owner and we were only too glad to be able to help. There are some really important points to note though, most of which are obvious, but probably worth highlighting :
- A puppy with no paperwork and/or no sign of the parents is an immediate red flag. (the lady in this case obviously recognised that in fact, it’s probably the one thing that thankfully helped her decide to take Kevin on).
This shows the value of doing a little research on the breeder. Most are genuine and want to do things properly, unfortunately, there are still some around that are focused on profit more than the care of the dog. - It’s also important to research the breed, something emphasised by the lady in this example. Some of the behaviours experienced in this case are not uncommon in dachshunds, forewarned is forearmed as they say.
- Most dachshund rescue organizations, have rules around where they will rehome a dog. These can include things like; the age of children in the family, the presence of other dogs or pets, the amount of time an owner can spend with a dog, having a private garden etc. Though often not popular, a situation like Kevin’s story above, emphasises the need for these. Any rescue has a duty of care, not only for the dog, but also for the people taking on a rescue animal.
If you’re considering surrendering your dachshund, feel free to chat with one of our regional coordinators. You’ll find their contact details here.
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