Heartless owner abandons puppy with pet sitter after failing to rehome themselves, resulting in the sitter adopting the puppy, giving him stable loving home and dog sister, sitter says: ‘I feel like there’s a reason he ended up with me. I love this boy.’

Author image for Laurent Shinar
Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Mar 19, 2026 1:00 PM EDT

While it is not easy to admit to yourself that you cannot take care of the dog you adopted, it is no excuse to dump the responsibility on someone else. That is what the pawrent in this story did when things got too tough with their pupper, setting off a chain reaction of responsibility dumping that finally landed in the hands of one heroic pet sitter.

Time and again we see pawrents who for whatever reason find themselves unable to continue caring for their doggos, abandoning their dogs or dumping the responsibility on unsuspecting victims. It is a pattern that is born of shame and guilt, and while those emotions are understandable, the actions are inexcusable. Not only for the sake of humanity, but mainly for the sake of the poor dogs who wind up in desperate situations that they cannot get out of themselves.

And with this story we have a slightly new approach to this phenomenon whereby a pawrent dumped their doggo on their grandparents. But the grandparents had no way to competently care for a canine in their advanced age and so they ended up dumping the poor pupper once more on an unsuspecting dog sitter. Thankfully, this is where the dumping ended and this doggo's new life began, but it could have been so much worse if this sitter was not so much of a heroic hooman. 
 

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    "It turns out Hiro's owners had been trying to find a place for him for WEEKS."
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    This was a Rover request because the original sitter canceled the stay. Owner was extremely sketchy and unresponsive; I figured they might attempt to leave the dog with me and I was right. They originally agreed to
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    pick him up at noon but messaged me a few hours before then and asked if I knew of anyone who would take him in because they can't care for him any longer and I agreed to keep him and look for a good
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    home for him as long as they agreed to pay for a harness and his neutering, and send over his health records. They have still yet to do anything we agreed on and I absolutely cannot afford any vaccinations (if he hasn't had any) or
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    neutering at this time. I'm in Hollywood, CA - Please, contact me if you're interested in giving this guy a home. He's a really sweet boy, and extremely smart. He has a ton of energy because he's only 1 years old and un-
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    LOS ANGELES A
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  • Well, first off we have to say that we are blown away that a pawrent would have the gall to do something so cowardly to their precious pupper. Even if things are really tough and you cannot provide the proper care for your canine there is no excuse to dump them on someone else like this. And second of all we need to take a moment to commend this pet sitter who does not seem to even remotely bat an eyelid at the situation and takes it all within their stride. All the while laser focused on making sure that the pupper’s best interests are their central focus.  

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    neutered, but he just needs a few good long walks a day like any big puppy does.
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    Update: Just met with the owners and my heart broke, they're an elderly couple who's grandchild has basically dumped the dog on them. He's entirely too
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    much regardless of their story is true or not but I totally believe them after they explained everything. They agreed to keep in contact for any vet costs but you never know so
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    UPDATE: I have him scheduled for an appointment for this Sunday, I'm not totally sure how much the visit will end up being but hopefully with my employee discount it
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    Cheezburger Image 10609392896
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    won't be too bad. Currently also in the process of switching his diet to something that'll keep him healthy (owners gave me a huge bag of
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    pedigree that he wouldn't touch unless he was starving) and he's eating better already!
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  • Jheez, the layers to this madness is truly astounding. Like how low can such a situation go? After all, we are just talking about the rehoming of a doggo. Something which the countless shelters and rescues of the world handle several times a day. So it is really frustrating that instead of owning up to their mistake of adopting a dog when they did not have the resources to support it, the dog’s original owner would set off a chain reaction of dumping their doggo on several different people. Which is not only a drag on the people but even more so on the poor pupper. 

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    FINAL UPDATE: After some consideration and speaking with a few people I really didn't have great interactions with, I've decided to keep Hiro. I'm a firm
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    Cheezburger Image 10609392640
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    believer in "everything happens for a reason" and there's a reason why Hiro ended up with us. After some chatting, it turns out
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    Hiro's owners had been trying to find a place for him for WEEKS. I love him, he's mine.
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    Hey! As I stated in my original post, after some consideration and a little research I've decided to keep Hiro. He had been moved from place to place so much in his little life and I feel like there's a reason
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    he ended up with me. I love this boy. I cannot thank you all enough for the support and kind words, and Hiro is forever grateful. While almost everyone has been extremely helpful and sweet, I did get
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    TOP-PAW
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    a comment accusing me of scamming people out of money. This weekend (10/22/23) I'm meeting up with a fellow Rover sitter who helped get more information on Hiro, if anybody else wants to come by and meet this sweet
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    boy you're more than welcome to shme a private message for more details.
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    7:43 Hi, This is Daniel with Rover Trust & Safety. I'm writing on behalf of Ariel who needs a last-minute sitter for their pet, Hiro. The booking with their current sitter is not going well due to the setting of the stay. Hiro is experiencing some separation anxiety, and would do best in an environment where Hiro can get plenty of attention and playtime.. Are you available for this stay? Let us know as soon as you can by responding to this message. We'll see your response and can answer any ques
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    4:31 ring 5GUC .lll 18% ← ÷ Yesterday ← to me, Information ✓ Hello, We are made aware of Hiro's situation a few weeks ago, unfortunately the person who reached out said he had to go that day. As an all-volunteer based rescue, we didn't have a volunteer available at the time. We asked if he could wait a few days so we could try to arrange, we never heard back from him. When are say he doesn't need a foster, what are you suggesting? Is the dog sitter willing to continue to foster him until a forev
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dogs adoption puppy abandoned dog owner reddit story pet sitter rehome heartless failing dog story sister loving home
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