Gidget

This is my dog, Gidget.

I've posted photos of her on here before. She is going to be ten years old in February. This dog was my baby before I had a baby. Unfortunately, I happen to have a little problem with Miss Gidget. She's getting older, and as a result, like many people tend to do, she's getting kind of cranky. The problem with this is that all her crankiness is focused upon one person and one person alone:

The boy.

She doesn't like him, which is perfectly understandable. Little dogs (and some bigger dogs) frequently don't care for small children. It wouldn't be an issue except that when he gets too close to her she gets all snarly and snappish with him. She doesn't actually ever bite him; she just puts on a good show. He thinks it's hilarious, of course, so he continues to mess with her. It's become a pretty bad cycle.

Of course, because the other dog is mellow and doesn't really care what he does, he ignores her.

But back to Gidget. She doesn't do this to anyone else. In fact, she's super friendly with pretty much everyone else and loves nothing more than to snuggle up with you on the couch or in bed. Since the boy is usually on the couch with me, and this makes puts her on edge so she snaps at him, she is no longer allowed to be on the couch or bed.

She pretty much spends all day, every day, hiding under the bed from him. It's sad. I mean, who wants to spend their entire existence under a bed?

Adding to the issue is that we're planning on having another baby here (hopefully!) sometime in the next year. If one child in the house is stressing her out this bad, what will two do? I don't want her to get to the point where she finally DOES end up biting someone, because dogs that bite are dogs that get put down. End of story.

Yorkies tend to live 15 - 18 years, so even though she is a bit older, she still has a lot of life left in her. It's not fair to her to be condemned to live out the rest of her days under a bed and totally freaked out about the kid (or kids) hell bent on bugging her. She deserves to be out and part of a family, or at least able to spend time with someone, snuggled on a couch in the evenings.

Then, last week, like an answer to my prayers I read a post on someone's blog that they were trying to find a Yorkie to adopt and I almost cried from happiness. I emailed her and we were all set to go, when at the last minute their landlord changed his mind and decided he didn't want them to have a dog after all. Once again, I wanted to cry, but not out of happiness this time.

I thought a lot about it, and decided that Gidget still needs to go. No matter what. I can't take a chance that she will finally bite the boy one day. As much as I love my dog, I love my boy more. I've truly struggled with this decision, because not only was this dog my baby before I ever had a baby, I honestly believe that pets are a lifelong commitment and if you take one in, you should be prepared to own it until the day it dies. It drives me nuts when I read about people who get pets and get rid of them just as fast, because "they don't have time" for them. The matter of a child's safety, however, is something else entirely. This is not a good situation for either me or the dog at this point.

I've asked a few people if they or anyone they knew wanted a dog, and asked on Twitter and Facebook, but no one responded. I looked up the only Yorkie rescue in my area, and it says on their website that they have over a hundred dogs right now looking for fostering and/or adoption. I didn't even bother contacting them because of that. Then I thought about listing her on Craigslist.

Well, first off, they've pulled the pet category. They also state that you may not list pets in the "Free" category. I checked the terms of service and it does state that while you may not sell pets on Craigslist, you may rehome them with a small adoption fee. That is perfectly okay, so I listed her in the "General" category.

Um yeah. Someone flagged my post and had it pulled. I rechecked the TOS, in case I missed something, but no, I should have been okay, so I relisted. My post wasn't even up ten minutes before it was pulled again! I checked the forums, and apparently ANYONE can flag a post and have it removed. This means that if someone just decides they don't like you or your post, they can eff with you by removing it over and over and there isn't a damn thing you can do about it.

So... Craigslist is out.

I don't know what to do at this point. The dog is perfectly healthy, with the exception of needing a teeth cleaning pretty bad. She's housebroken, but needs to have access to a dog door, because if she can't get outside she will pee on the rug. Either that, or you can gate her up in a tiled area when you're not home and at night. She is microchipped and spayed. She is not one to bolt out doors like a puppy would. She weighs 6 1/2 lbs. This is a good dog.

Unless you have a small child.

I don't know where to turn to try to find a home for her now. I figured I'd take a chance and post about her here. Maybe I'll get lucky and someone who had always wanted a Yorkie but couldn't afford the crazy price tag that comes on these little dogs will read this and we'll all have a happy ending. Maybe someone will read this who knows someone who wants a Yorkie. Maybe someone will have another idea of how I can find Gidget a new home.

All I ask is that her new home not have any small children, and won't for the next five years. That means if you just got married and are planning on having babies in the next five years, or if you are very young and might move off to college, or if you have no idea where you might be in five years, that I prefer you pass. I don't want to hand off my problem to become someone else's problem.