*sigh*

[prosodic]

The adoption has hit a snag. I was afraid of this.

Yes, we were told that we could have her. All we needed to do was finish the adoption paperwork and send the required things (photos of the exterior of our house, a utility bill with our legal address). We jumped through all the hoops.

And now we're being told that Reece would be very lonely being left alone all day, even if Lance came home at lunch to let her out. And that our adoption is now dependent upon our agreeing to either enroll her in doggie daycare or find someone we trust to watch her during the day while we're at work.

I'm sorry, but Lance and I both believe that having someone with Reece every single second of every hour of everyday would leave her completely dependent on people and she wouldn't develop any independence whatsoever. She needs to learn to be okay by herself. It will benefit her in her adult life. Our plan was to crate her in the mornings and afternoons while we're at work, and to leave a radio on so that she can have the soothing sounds of human voices and music. It worked for my sister-in-law when she was raising Koda from a puppy to an adult, and Koda is a fantastic, well adjusted dog.

I forwarded this email (which I got from the woman who runs the shelter) to the woman who fosters Reece, just to get her opinion on the whole matter. We let her know that we planned to leave Reece alone for 4-5 hours everyday, and she didn't seem to think it was a problem.

We may have to give this whole thing up. I'm getting really frustrated and angry. But for now, I still think Reece is worth it.

Comments

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

I believe a dog can learn to be left alone, even without a crate -- but I think it has to be a gradual process, after adoption. Here they are in a new place, all day alone can be very scary. People I know who have managed it well have taken vacation time and gradually worked the dog up to being alone, e.g. staying home with the dog the first day, leaving it for an hour the second day, three hours the third day, etc. so that it learns that in this big scary new place, you'll always come back.

We left DJ alone for two hours the first day we moved into this house, before she was used to it, but after we'd had her for three years already, and she panicked -- and she's a confident dog, fine being left alone for hours, usually.