Quote Originally Posted by Irulan View Post
That is so sad. But it is a very common scenario. I'm sure it's that they don't get enough attention, exercise or training. Unfortunately for some folks a dog is an accessory like a jet ski or a shrub. There are a lot of dogs in rescue groups and shelters from stories just like this where family gave them up ( thank gd) because they were "untrainable" or "uncontrollable", when really all they needed was attention, firm guidance and exercise.
One of the issues with my friend--and I think this happens a lot--is that they got the dogs a couple of years before they had kids when their lives were very different. Then they had two children and everything changed. I think a lot of young couples get a dog to test out the waters for parenting. While that doesn't always end badly, a lot of times the dog goes from being the center of attention to being largely ignored. It's sad and can lead to some unfortunate behaviors.