Rehoming a stray dog

[Liebkuchen]

Earlier in the week, found a stray pup on campus. Tiny pot bellied thing.Maybe 4 weeks old. Checked in the local shops, didn't belong to anyone so took it home. Got home to find out that a neighbour had been looking after a 2 week old pup that a student friend had found and was in imminent danger of being dumped in a bin if it wasn't adopted... long story short, I now have two pups. Haven't been to the vets yet as chinese friends are all on hols but the youngest is growing exponentially and the other's stomach has quickly gone back to normal on a proper diet although he might have a small hernia (pops back in with a prod).

I'm happy to care for them for now as it'll get easier as they get older. Work doesn't know yet although I suspect it'll be fine if I'm responsible and clear up after them etc... However, the problem is long term so I'm starting to advertise now for the oldest since it's easier to rehome a cute puppy rather than a full grown.

Where can I advertise? Any successful strategies? I've so far tried ytbbs.com and the Yantai People network online and offering him for free with me covering the cost of his vaccinations. Its only been a day or so but nothing more than pleasantries.

Worse case scenario and I have to get rid of them quickly, or I reach the end of the year and they still aren't adopted, is it a case of having them euthanised? I've seen photos of the local shelter (a cash donation might help them be taken in) but it looks dreadful by western standards. Any other options?

ps I'm politely ignoring any local dog licencing laws...

[anonymoose]

Take them to your local restaurant and see how much you can get for them. You might get more if you fatten them up a bit first.

Also, having a hernia can be quite serious, in humans at least. Presumably it is a stretch of intestine that is protruding, and if it gets blocked or twisted, it could very rapidly lead to death.

[Brian US]

I'm having regrets about the kitten I got two weeks ago. In the first week I found out he has ringworm and I'm currently in the process of a 2 month long treatment. I'm afraid with the case of animals and medical problems, it's unlikely someone will take them so they end up being killed.

Looking at online ads, I've seen dogs go for 12-35 kuai 一斤.

[bunny87]

you are brave to adopt street animals. the general understanding i've got from everyone i know in china is that they have quite short life spans... essentially, once out of the cute puppy stage and if it's not some protective thing, it's dinner. i've known people who do that to turtles and rabbits. and heard of it with dogs and cats.

and i agree with anonymoose. the protruding belly is a sign of a expensive problem. probably it's the reason it was dumped in the first place.

i also would avoid any attachment to animals, as the end is typically death. i mean, it always is, but then if you finish your contract and go home, you may feel responsible for their euthanization. alternatively, you could think of it as rather than killing them mercilessly because their lives were inconvenient to you, you instead provided them a caring and welcoming home for x amount of time. and continuing to think that that would be much better than having them left outside to fend for themselves and learn how to survive on the street.

goodluck with whatever you decide.

[Liebkuchen]

I believe its likely to be an umbilical hernia as its soft and pops it when pushed. No hard areas to the touch. Pretty common where mum's chewed the cord off and normally left to be fixed when they get spayed. Chinese student in the block is getting me the details of the local vet hospital tonight so I can take them tomorrow.

Ech. Heck of a dilema and something I naively didn't consider when I thought I'd just fix them up . I wouldn't contemplate just turning them loose in the UK- laws aside. I saw images of the dogs left to roam after the tsunami in Japan and cried- sorry- soppy Brit animal lover. I'd ship them home if I won the lottery.

My worry would be that if I just dumped them, then lord only knows what would happen to them- I've seen pictures of what the chinese police do in stray dogs in round ups, on the net. The older of my two already has a hairless bit on his side (cigarette burn? kick?) God, its bad that I'm contemplating putting down 2 perfectly healthy pups within the year if I could find a good western vet who could do it properly...

Anyhow- more positively, how can I get them rehomed? Best websites? I'll see if my uni contact can ask around and also see if the vets have any ideas. Do the Chinese ever put ads in shop windows? Anyone live in Eastern Shandong and like a dog or two (for company- not as a side dish!) ?

[heifeng]

and i agree with anonymoose. the protruding belly is a sign of a expensive problem. probably it's the reason it was dumped in the first place.

Umm I hope your dogs don't have worms....and that you don't contract worms from them. Puppies are cute, but also prone to parasites...on that note, have fun at the vets and take care of your own health out there!

[abcdefg]

Talk to the pups in Chinese and give them Chinese names. Learn dog-training and other dog-related words in Chinese and use them with the pups. Make it a learning situation if you have not done so already. Some dog vocabulary is intuitive; other words, obedience commands, and phrases are not.

[jbradfor]

Liebkuchen, I fear this is not going to end well. I think you are encountering, first hand and in person, the difference between England's pet culture and China's. I certainly urge you to not give up in your quest, but I think you might need to console yourself with giving these dogs one year of a good life, and I hope they can provide you good companionship for one year as well. Beyond that, I would have no expectation.

[abcdefg]

Was recently in Guizhou. Dog was quite popular. Wrote the following note to friends back home.

The sign is above a restaurant (near 安顺), and parts of the sign to the left which are not included had depictions of a fish and of a big tasty chicken, similar in size to the dog. The small writing under the large characters 食府 (which means something like "food mansion") says "fancy river dog meat." 花江狗肉 To the right of the dog meat, the small letters say "local earth chicken" 地方土鸡。It means chickens not raised in small cages. Farther to the right, the small characters advertise a style of local fish, "waterfall fresh fish." 瀑布鲜鱼。

[Lu]

In Taiwan, rehoming stray dogs is quite a thing, among foreigners at least, but I haven't seen a similar effort here. It might be worth it to ask around though, among the local expat population (or the more remote expat population, if there is not much of a local expat population in eastern Shandong), whether anyone (knows someone who) wants a nice puppy.

Are you having them neutered? That in any case will prevent them from breeding stray puppies of their own.

Good luck with them, in any case. Friend of mine got herself into a similar situation with a cute puppy that quickly started turning into a full-grown labrador, in a 12 m2 apartment. She found a home for it, fortunately, but then that was in Taipei.

[Liebkuchen]

Can't quite believe I'm saying this after less than a week but I've had some success.

Puppy 2- the 2 week old was being bullied more and more by the older pup everytime he tried to move around. The older dog was being really possessive. For the good of the young pup and my nerves, I had to admit defeat and pass him back to the other foreigners who'd taken him in. Not a success. Said pup is now being fostered by another American couple upstairs.

Puppy 1- the 4 week old turns out to be more like 8 weeks old. He doesn't apparently have a hernia- the vet was adimant, although I was also trying to explain via my Chinese student friend that I did know what a belly button was...He had bloods checked- all good, just a tad anaemic Should be fine on his proper pet food. He does have worms though so he had his first treatment asap. And- he goes to a new home today!!!! I had 2 replies from Chinese locals online. The first guy has a family history of dogs, lives with his parents- and was good with Sausage which was the main thing. I'll get the vaccines and neuturing prepaid at the vet if I can next weekend so everything's in place. I'm sad but also very happy.

Big cultural learning curve this week! Be it going to the vets, my Chinese friend being appalled that I was not reading the newspaper before putting it on the ground (not much good to me), reading about shelters and the attitudes of pet owners and society. Even the guy who is getting Sausage was incredibly hard to read for the first 3/4 of the meeting! Then I freaked him out by blubbing thanks at the end (I've had a virus this week- I'm not usually so emotional).

Thanks for the advice and culinary information! I don't regret doing it- Sausage needed a vet and a home- and its worked out extremely well, but I wasn't prepared for the emotional side of things, even for such a short period of time, incase things weren't going to work out so well.

@abcdefg- I did have a bit of a longer conversation this morning with a kitchen worker due to having him out on his lead! We got as far as he was going to a new home today but grounded on his age- I couldn't quite get my 周 out understandably.

[abcdefg]

Am very glad for you. It seems you have a way of landing on your feet following an initial miss-step.

Having a dog on a leash is a terrific conversation starter, any place, any time. Especially a friendly and well trained dog.

[roddy]

For future reference for anyone reading this, there's a bit of a cat / dog fostering and adoption scene in Beijing, if that's the right word. I found the cat people, the dog ones are out there somewhere too.

[jbradfor]

Sausage

Cheeky name for a dog in China.....