what to ask of the potential new family?
got a number of responses for a new home for amy, some more promising than others...got me thinking of what further information to ask of them and why....need to list them down for my record and referrel, so i dun leave anything out...i hope...
1. the type of place they stay...landed property with yard or flat/aparment? if flat/apartment, how many rooms?
2. where will amy sleep? especially important for landed, if amy will be sleeping indoor or outdoor?
3. will amy have the free roam of the place? this is important as this is the main reason why i think i cannot keep her...as she is now being confined in a crate from 7.30am (when we leave the house to bring the kids to the babysitter and then to work) to almost 8pm (after work and fetching of the kids)...some weeknights will be later when we need to buy groceries from the supermarket...so what kind of life for a dog to be in a crate for more than 12 hours a day? but if i were to pass to someone who is going to do the same, what's the point?
4. is there a park nearby? even tho amy can be quite a couch potato and contended just to laze around at home all day as long as she has company...but she does need to get out of the house sometimes, even if it is only a 15 min walk around our estate...sometimes i have this urge to ask our condo security guards if they will like a dog with them to patrol the premises...
5. some who responded are e.g. sahms with kids, or retired elderly without helper. being a sahm without a maid, caring for kids is tough enough a job, plus the household chores etc. i have to remember to check with them if they are prepared for the amount of workload that will come with amy...e.g.:
- amy, being a typical beagle, sheds. for a household with young children like toddlers or babies learning to crawl and play on the floor alot, cleanliness might be an issue. i had to get up earlier every morning before gabe woke up and before ming left for work, to walk and feed amy her breakfast, and then to sweep the floor etc. basically just to get the place ready...
- amy being the aristocrat, does not like to do her business in the soiled newspapers...so as soon as you see her past urine or motion on the papers in her pee tray, have to change them asap before she needs to go toilet again...else you have to be prepared to clean the floors...also she still have problem knowing how long she is, becoz she will still miss the papers in the pee tray when she passes motion...like her entire body is in the tray but her butt is slightly out and miss the tray!! so...have to be prepared to clean her pee and poo off the floors...i prefer my old flat the last time when amy was trained to do her business in the 2nd toilet in the kitchen which was seldom used, i just had to clear the papers, and sprayed clean the toilet floor, then put the tray and papers back inside...
- even tho amy is toilet trained, but she will have to be re-trained when she goes to the new home...so the new family will have to be prepared to do that...
- she gets very nervous during thunder and rain...and will salivate alot...and she will follow us around the house to be close to us during the time unless we settle her somewhere where she feels safe and secure...but with her drooling everywhere, the new family again have to be prepared to have to clean and mop the floor if they cannot stand her saliva everywhere...
6. basic dog care:
- frontline and heartworm prevention tablet once a month;
- bath once a week or fortnight;
- brush teeth and clean ears once a week (at least)...something i have been guilty of not able to do as often as i would like...for her teeth, thank God the "greenies" is doing a good job keeping her teeth healthy and she likes to eat that as a treat....
- clip her nails once a month...something i never had the courage to do myself...haha...i have been bringing her to Angelin and Lish's previous petstore (Petzstuff) in clementi for her monthly basic groom...they know the most important task was to clip amy's nails...now the shop has been bought over and renamed to "Pets and U", nevertheless, amy still goes there for her monthly groom...and she loves the new couch in the shop front, seems to be very at home and her favourite spot!! i am grateful for the help i got from the shop!!
- annual vaccination...
- amy has skin problem so we have to be careful what to feed her. no treats if possible and at the moment, she is doing well with the "back to basic" kibbles, pork flavour..she did well in barf (raw salmon steak) before too...but that is if the new family can put up with her fishy body odor...hehe...but her coat shined very nicely that time when she was on salmon steaks...just smelly and oily...
i hope i have not missed anything so far....
before we make our decision, i will request for amy to meet the new family at their home and environment so to allow us to assess for ourselves if the new family is suitable match and for them to know amy's characters and temperament if she is what they want to be a part of their family....and once we find the right home, i hope the new family will agree to allow us to visit again in the first month just to see how amy is doing...we will eventually have to let go and leave people alone...
i do hope to minimize the chance of amy having to go to different homes, which is why i dun want foster homes...if possible, let her next home be her permanent home...however, if things really do not work out, i will take amy back at no time and that will be the end of any re-homing attempt...we have to come to term that...amy shall stay in the crate for long hours during the weekdays or short hours during the weekends when we have to be out...for the rest of her life....
she is getting used to it so far so good...except for yesterday due to the heavy rain and thunder storm...i came home to a very wet amy in the crate, sleeping in her own drool....but she was fine after a good wipe, and settled down after awhile....just that i do not know how to live with the guilt every time when i have to put her inside the crate and close the door...looking at that eyes staring at me...
oh my...look at the time...its time to go home :)
1. the type of place they stay...landed property with yard or flat/aparment? if flat/apartment, how many rooms?
2. where will amy sleep? especially important for landed, if amy will be sleeping indoor or outdoor?
3. will amy have the free roam of the place? this is important as this is the main reason why i think i cannot keep her...as she is now being confined in a crate from 7.30am (when we leave the house to bring the kids to the babysitter and then to work) to almost 8pm (after work and fetching of the kids)...some weeknights will be later when we need to buy groceries from the supermarket...so what kind of life for a dog to be in a crate for more than 12 hours a day? but if i were to pass to someone who is going to do the same, what's the point?
4. is there a park nearby? even tho amy can be quite a couch potato and contended just to laze around at home all day as long as she has company...but she does need to get out of the house sometimes, even if it is only a 15 min walk around our estate...sometimes i have this urge to ask our condo security guards if they will like a dog with them to patrol the premises...
5. some who responded are e.g. sahms with kids, or retired elderly without helper. being a sahm without a maid, caring for kids is tough enough a job, plus the household chores etc. i have to remember to check with them if they are prepared for the amount of workload that will come with amy...e.g.:
- amy, being a typical beagle, sheds. for a household with young children like toddlers or babies learning to crawl and play on the floor alot, cleanliness might be an issue. i had to get up earlier every morning before gabe woke up and before ming left for work, to walk and feed amy her breakfast, and then to sweep the floor etc. basically just to get the place ready...
- amy being the aristocrat, does not like to do her business in the soiled newspapers...so as soon as you see her past urine or motion on the papers in her pee tray, have to change them asap before she needs to go toilet again...else you have to be prepared to clean the floors...also she still have problem knowing how long she is, becoz she will still miss the papers in the pee tray when she passes motion...like her entire body is in the tray but her butt is slightly out and miss the tray!! so...have to be prepared to clean her pee and poo off the floors...i prefer my old flat the last time when amy was trained to do her business in the 2nd toilet in the kitchen which was seldom used, i just had to clear the papers, and sprayed clean the toilet floor, then put the tray and papers back inside...
- even tho amy is toilet trained, but she will have to be re-trained when she goes to the new home...so the new family will have to be prepared to do that...
- she gets very nervous during thunder and rain...and will salivate alot...and she will follow us around the house to be close to us during the time unless we settle her somewhere where she feels safe and secure...but with her drooling everywhere, the new family again have to be prepared to have to clean and mop the floor if they cannot stand her saliva everywhere...
6. basic dog care:
- frontline and heartworm prevention tablet once a month;
- bath once a week or fortnight;
- brush teeth and clean ears once a week (at least)...something i have been guilty of not able to do as often as i would like...for her teeth, thank God the "greenies" is doing a good job keeping her teeth healthy and she likes to eat that as a treat....
- clip her nails once a month...something i never had the courage to do myself...haha...i have been bringing her to Angelin and Lish's previous petstore (Petzstuff) in clementi for her monthly basic groom...they know the most important task was to clip amy's nails...now the shop has been bought over and renamed to "Pets and U", nevertheless, amy still goes there for her monthly groom...and she loves the new couch in the shop front, seems to be very at home and her favourite spot!! i am grateful for the help i got from the shop!!
- annual vaccination...
- amy has skin problem so we have to be careful what to feed her. no treats if possible and at the moment, she is doing well with the "back to basic" kibbles, pork flavour..she did well in barf (raw salmon steak) before too...but that is if the new family can put up with her fishy body odor...hehe...but her coat shined very nicely that time when she was on salmon steaks...just smelly and oily...
i hope i have not missed anything so far....
before we make our decision, i will request for amy to meet the new family at their home and environment so to allow us to assess for ourselves if the new family is suitable match and for them to know amy's characters and temperament if she is what they want to be a part of their family....and once we find the right home, i hope the new family will agree to allow us to visit again in the first month just to see how amy is doing...we will eventually have to let go and leave people alone...
i do hope to minimize the chance of amy having to go to different homes, which is why i dun want foster homes...if possible, let her next home be her permanent home...however, if things really do not work out, i will take amy back at no time and that will be the end of any re-homing attempt...we have to come to term that...amy shall stay in the crate for long hours during the weekdays or short hours during the weekends when we have to be out...for the rest of her life....
she is getting used to it so far so good...except for yesterday due to the heavy rain and thunder storm...i came home to a very wet amy in the crate, sleeping in her own drool....but she was fine after a good wipe, and settled down after awhile....just that i do not know how to live with the guilt every time when i have to put her inside the crate and close the door...looking at that eyes staring at me...
oh my...look at the time...its time to go home :)