[blackrose]

My cousin, Tim, called my mom yesterday to ask a favor of her. He is in the marines and is going to be deployed back to Iraq in September. His favor? He needs someone to keep his two year old female "spoiled rotten princess" Saint Bernard for about seven months while he is overseas. The Saint is good with kids (he has two kids under 4), housebroken, crate trained, and is "a really good dog".

My mom didn't tell him no, but didn't tell him yes either. Her dream dog is a long haired female Saint, but she told me, "There is no way we can have a Saint in the house right now. No way." I agree with her - with our hectic schedule, five kids, and looney animals running around the house (*cough* Pheobe! *cough*) adding a Saint into the mix, no matter how well behaved, isn't a good idea.

However, we could keep it outside with no problem. No looney animals, the hectic shedule is only a problem because it will need potty breaks if kept indoors, and no humungo dog right in the mix with five kids and their looney friends.

I know that Saints can physically handle living outdoors, but since they are big mushes could a Saint used to being inside emotionally handle being kept outdoors? It would be cared for in the same way Blackie and Rose are - it wouldn't be just thrown out back and left there. It would probably be an outside/inside dog - outside during the day, inside at night or during bad weather. Now that we have an invisible fence we could also possibley train it to stay in our yard so it would have three acres to roam on under supervision.

Another question that my mind is asking is, "What about expenses?" Tim is broke and isn't going to help out at all. We won't be reimbursed for keeping the dog nor will we be helped financially to feed, vet, and care for it. Saints are large dogs. They eat a lot. They are expensive to feed and vet. How expensive though? We aren't poor by any means, but both of my parents are very sticky on where they spend their money. We would need to pay for the kennel (a 10'x10' kennel is $300 dollars, and I would want a bigger kennel for a Saint - at least a 10'x20'), the food, the toys, the doghouse, the vet care, and everything else. Excluding the kennel and other housing needs, how much would it be to care for a Saint monthly?

Tim is the same cousin who had an unnuetered Black Lab then brought back a female Lab puppy (while he was still getting on his feet, going through a divorce, and taking care of two young kids) and once he realized they were acting up (because of no training) he got rid of them. Then he bought a Pit Bull and got rid of it in about a month's time. Now he has this Saint - all of the dog change-ups have occured in this past year. Unless he adopted it from a shelter or someone who already had it done I highly doubt it is UTD on vaccs or spayed.
Because of Tim's unreliability, my mom is worried that after we've had it for almost a year that when he comes back he won't want it back and we will be stuck with it. After keeping it for seven months I'm not sure we'll want to give it up, but what are we going to do with another permant resident dog? If, however, we don't take it the Saint will probably end up in a shelter somewhere, good dog or not.

What do you all think? My mom is trying to decide for herself, but she values my opinion as well as you guys', even though she doesn't know any of you.

On top of that, my friend just rescued an abused male Pit Bull puppy last night. She was at a friend's house and they were beat'n on the thing. She went off on them and took the pup home with her. When she called me to ask me how to introduce the pup to her white GSD her dad didn't sound too happy about it at all. Her parents already barely tolorate the GSD, Shadow.

She's going out of state this fall for college and is already trying to sweet talk me into taking Shadow for her (he is 9yrs old and a very sweet boy), but I'm thinking it isn't a good idea. He hates cats, is like Blackie around other dogs, and he'd have to be outside (which she doesn't want him to be as he is her baby). And now if we are going to have this Saint....not a good idea at all. If she's trying to sweet talk me into taking Shadow, what is she going to do with this Pittie pup? I already have a feeling I'm going to be asked to take it in as well.
I might convince her to rehome the Pittie (and I would help out with that), but there is no way she's going to give up Shadow and at almost 10 years old, I don't think Shadow'd have a very good chance of finding a home. If I had my own place I'd take both of them without a doubt, but I don't. I have no idea what I'm going to do about that as well. Any advice for my friend on that subject?

[Willowy]

Marines in combat situations get extra combat pay, so he can certainly afford to pay you (or whoever) to keep his dog for him, especially when you consider that he's already paying for the dog's food right now. I would make him pay for food and vet care, and of course tell him that any dog I would be caring for would need to be fully vetted and spayed, and that he would be paying for it. And that he would have to buy the kennel, too. If he's not willing to pay for all these things, I would tell him that the dog would legally be mine after I have cared for it for 10 days (or however long it is in your state), and then I would rehome or keep the dog. He wouldn't win in court if he tried to get her back after that. But I don't know how tough on him your mom is willing to be. I'd offer to help him find a Saint rescue in his area.

[Shastar]

I agree, make him pay for the up keep of the dog make out a contract that states if payment for care in X amount of days is not met then you/your family will own the dog out right and you can find it a more suitable home.

That or just try to get him to sign the dog over to you/your family so you can find it a new home. Either way from the sounds of his past dealings with dogs right now might not be the best time for him to have any dogs.

Just my opinion though.

[Dogsareme]

Deciding to foster/dog sit or not is a big deal and seems like a scary thing......... until you actually do it . Everything seems to settle easier then you think and is not as big of a deal as you thought it would be. In the end you will actually wonder why you dreaded it.

He DOES have to pay you to take care of her. Put it to him this way, either he PAY for the food or he can drop her off at the nearest rescue and see if she is still there in 7 months. Basically if he wants to keep her should be paying for her, he would be doing it if he was not going over seas....I don't think he would of starved her at his own home with the excuse he cannot afford it. He is just trying to take you guys for a ride.

[Lorina]

If one of my family members were going to Iraq, I'd do whatever it took to make their lives a little easier.

Even having a dog who weighs more than my husband in my house seems like nothing compared to putting your life on the line in a warzone.

[blackrose]

Thanks for all of the advice. I'll talk to my mom about it. I'll ask her to call him and get more info....like expense fees, shot records, indepth behavior, if he could handle her being kept outside, things like that.

We've dogsat for a lot of people before, about half of the dogs were kept at our house. We've had some wonderful dogs and then we've had some that were like, "OMG, shoot me now, why did we ever agree to this?!?!?" About half and half actually.

So do you guys think that the Saint will be able to emotionally handle being kept outside?

If one of my family members were going to Iraq, I'd do whatever it took to make their lives a little easier.

Even having a dog who weighs more than my husband in my house seems like nothing compared to putting your life on the line in a warzone.

This is what I think as well, but I'm not sure about my mom. I would take the Saint in a heartbeat if I knew it would be able to adjust.

I looked into some Saint Rescues and I do believe he is currently living in South Carolina. There isn't a Saint Rescue in that state that I can get into contact with and the one that we have here in Indiana already needs fosterhomes, so I don't know if they would be able to take in another Saint - if Tim were even willing to relinquish her in the first place.

But I don't know how tough on him your mom is willing to be.

Not very. Tim is one of her favorite nephews and since he's made so many life mistakes recentally, she doesn't want to be hard on him. Which, IMO, doesn't make sense. If I cared for someone and they were screwing up I'd be hard on them - in a compassionate sort of way.


Oh - my friend found a home for the Pittie puppy and it is doing fine. She showed me a picture and it almost looks more Boxer than Pittie, but it was sure a cutie pie.