We found the reason Tinkerbell was rehomed...

Ok, some of you may know that we only got Tinkerbell in August this year after finding her on gumtree. Ian saw the ad on the saturday night, and it said she was in the same area as us, he rung up and turned out she was 30 doors away at the opposite end of our street. So he went to see her, and half hour later came back with her just like that.

To me that seemed odd, that the owner's could just hand her over like that. His story was that he was splitting from his girlfriend (they had two young children) and that he was being forced to move into a flat and couldn't take her with him. He said so many times how good she was, with the children, housetrained, with other dogs, on lead blah blah blah. But we couldn't for the life of us find out why they no longer wanted her. Whilst walking her one night a few weeks later, I met him in the street and she greeted him. A week after we had her, the girlfriend stopped Ian in the street to ask how she was. He asked her about moving and she mentioned they had just had Virgin installed. Not the kind of action you'd take if you were moving house.

Since we had her we have had to lead train her, she pulled like a train in the lead, and didn't seem to know that it was ok to go toilet on a walk. She seemed to think it was only to be done in the garden, or on the kitchen floor But with patience and a lot of hard work we have got there with her, and she is now a lot better on the lead. We also suspected she hadn't been as well socialised as we thought, because she would lunge at (in a frinedly way) all people and dogs she met. She would jump on people if they walked past her and ignored everything when she saw a dog. She just wanted to play with everything and everyone she met.

Well tonight the penny dropped.....Ian has come back from a walk and told me he saw the old onwer's next door neighbour. Apparently he works as a hairdresser and worked away a lot leaving Tinkerbell shut in the house crying all day. She was alos locked out in the garden an awful lot, and wasn't fed because he no longer wanted her. She was skinny when she came to us, could see her ribs, but not overly skinny. Apparently it was down to her next door neighbour to feed her and fuss her. And she told Ian she couldn't believe how well she looked, with the extra weight on her, and that she is truly glad she has been rehomed to a good home. She said she couldn't believe Tinkerbell was sitting calmly and not bouncing around trying to nip everyone, apparently this is what she used to do.

Makes me so angry that she has been through a sad life at such a young age, obviously the puppy stage quickly wore off for her owners. And more angry that he lied about her, if he didn't want her he only had to say, at least we would have known her past. He also lied about her age, told us she was 11 months old not 15 (have no idea why). And he neglected to tell us she was in season, or that my suspicions are she has had a litter already. He did however brag about paying £200 for her (no papers) and he wanted £50 for her. Scum like him deserve to be treated how they treat others. Oh and when I met him that night whilst walking he seemed so pleased to see her, she obviously loved him as she also seemed pleased. But he also asked how she was behaving herself, maybe he wanted to know then if she was better behaved with us than she was with him.

And do you know the sad thing about it, her boisterousness when she was with him bouncing, nipping etc could so easily have been sorted with training and regular walking. We didn't know about her having these problems (except the bouncing) yet we have trained her more in the last few weeks than he ever properly has. I guessed she hadn't been walked much, the lead given to us with her was immaculate and she never ever turns her head into his doorway despite walking past his house every day. Surely if she walked, she would know his house as she now knows where to go for ours!

Lol and breathe! Rant over!

Well, I'd like to say I'm suprised, but I'm not. Thank god she found you, and now can you give me this muppets address, bit of education needed.

I wouldn't even be able to look at him.

Well done to you for giving her loving and guiding home

I'm sure Tinkerbell knows she now has a loving caring home and will respond to your training .

Her previous owner (probably without knowing it)did her a very big favour in the end by passing her to you.

Sounds like she found the right home. Way too many people seem to get a dog and not realize the time and patience reaquired.

so even though they niglected her she still likes him. dogs are too forgiving sometimes. poor tink well at least she's improving with proper nutrician and proper guidance

I was going to say "poor little girl", but to be honest, she's one lucky, lucky girl to have found her forever home with the right people to look after her!

I am so glad she is with you guys now, but I still don't understand people who get a pet only to neglect and abuse them. I feel guilty when the birdfeeder is low on food and they aren't even pets! Too bad they have children. Poor kids.

..Lucky lucky Tinkerbell...you should be proud of what you have done so far...you have given her a wonderful life for starters....

When I look on gumtree and see all the adds for staffys and staffy crosses ( indeed ALL dogs really ) that are free or for sale I always wonder where the poor buggers will end up..Makes me sad and also angry that there are so many dogs out there desperate for a GOOD home..and still 'people' keep breeding them... get your dogs desexed you morons!!.....anyway it makes my blood boil and like you say how quickly they handed Tinkerbell over.. you could have been anyone...but in this case Tinkerbell couldn't have gone to a better home....and I bet Tinkerbell is one happy little girl too!!
There are heaps of articles in the newspaper over here begging people not to buy pets for xmas as how soon the novelty wears off for alot of people who love the idea of a puppy or kitten..for the first few months anyway.....

i do hate when peeps give a story about why they have to get rid of the dog.. and at first you think ok that might be true,then you find out its all a load of crap.....

but fair play to yous for saving her from god knows wot kind of life she could have had....

Thanks guys, I always felt lucky to have found her when we did. She had apparently been on gumtree for a while. But now I feel even more glad that she is with us and can start enjoying her life. She is a fantastic dog and I have said this before but she is brilliant with the children. My 4 year old daughter can control her, tell her off and command her to do things like sit, paw, leave etc. And she always listens to her.

The training she has had is the "cool" stuff, e.g. paw (both), roll over, sit, speak etc. But the safety things you would teach your dog like stay, come here, leave have been neglected. More weight in my mind that they loved her as a pup but when she outgrew her puppy cuteness she wasn't wanted anymore.

Having kids myself though, I do wonder if her last lot miss her. Poor babies are only the same age as my two and my two love her to bits and would be devestated if we just threw her out! And the education they have been given by their parents scares me, they have learnt that if you no longer want a dog you just give it away, don't work with it just chuck it. And I hate to think the reason they were told she had to go, I just hope they don't grow up to be one of the many that now hate staffies because of their ignorant waste of space parents!

tinkerbell is one kucky dog to have found you and your family

><

When I was looking for a 2nd dog I saw so many adverts from people rehoming due to new job/home/baby on the way and you wonder what the real reason is a lot of the time. People get a cute wee puppy then realise it takes time and a lot of work to train them and they just can't be bothered with it. She is lucky she has found a loving home with you

I am so glad Tinkerbell has you.

least she has you now millie had a home before i had her they said the little boy was allergic to her and made his excema bad well i have excema and what this kid had wasnt bad , they initially said well stay in touch and i did send them a pic of millie about a month after i had her but no reply. to me they didnt want her as why else would you pay 300 for a puppy then not vacinate her?

Thank goodness Tinks found you. If the previous owners were so bothered about her, after they rehomed her with you (knowing where you lived), why did they never ask you how she was getting on. At least now they may realise what they have missed out on, she is a wonderful dog you have done marvelously with her. Well done you.

kathytake2 wrote:Thank goodness Tinks found you. If the previous owners were so bothered about her, after they rehomed her with you (knowing where you lived), why did they never ask you how she was getting on. At least now they may realise what they have missed out on, she is a wonderful dog you have done marvelously with her. Well done you.

They have asked when they saw Ian in the street, and the guy asked me when I met him while walking her. He was the doting owner then, and she clearly adored him, but that's as far as the contact went. And to be honest I am glad they don't see her, because after seeing how well behaved she can be with us they would maybe ask for her back!