emh

We are moving to Qatar end of they year and want to bring our 7 year old black lab who has a very calm temperament. However after spending so many days on the internet reading what other people have to say, starting to have doubts: never allowing a dog off lead in case she is stolen, not even outside on the patio, children barking at dogs to get a response, throwing stones, the lack of places to walk her..... I am more than happy to get up in the night to take her out at the cooler time but the threat of violence of theft has really worried me. We have been in this situation before and gave our dogs away, it broke my heart. Can anyone please offer some sensible advice?

Millhouse

Options are:

1) Bring it with you and run the risk of the issues you have identified (which are very remote)
2) Put it down and use this company: http://www.ashes2gems.com/
3) Give it away

On option 1, I think the risk of it being nicked is tiny - they hate dogs here. It's far more likely to be poisoned or shot with an air gun. Still, that's a small risk too... I just think it is cruel having them in the desert where it's boiling for 7 months of the year.

lanarkwitch

Have to agree with your latter point here, we had a lab for a short while here in AD and it wasn't pleasant for anyone more so the dog, if you have someone at home who can keep it for you then do that it will best for everyone, like Millhouse says it's just too hot most of the year for your dog to be physically comfortable, he/she will be stuck indoors all the time bored out their mind, sad, but it's true they are just not nuts about dogs here, especially big dogs

abbey08

She will fit in just nicely alongside all the Philippino women.

kittycat1

My mum and dad are after an older dog- you could visit whenever you wanted! they could even set up a webcam so you could see her and skype her. They are at home 24-7 so shed never be alone.

co durham boy

It's a terrible place for a dog here in my opinion . Yes you can do it and plenty people do but it's the quality of life the dog needs , you'll need to put a lot of time and effort into it and a lot of money as well.

It's a little bit easier for dogs in Dubai / Abu Dhabi as there's basically just more dogs and more expat owners and a lot more on offer.

Try the following http://www.qaws.org/index2.php http://www.qatarvet.com/HOME.html
http://dohavets.com/

You'll get more proper info speaking to these people and a better understanding of what to do . Remember dogs are unislamic and are treated like dirt by certain nationalities here , that's just the ignorant nature of the place you'll be residing in.

Qatari's don't like people never mind dogs

Ronnie Biggs

It sounds like you've read some very strange scare stories. My dog has gone with us to Abu Dhabi and Bahrain and has never had a moment's trouble from anyone. She did nip the gardener on his plums once but given that this gardener later stole clothes from our laundry room, I think this just makes her a good judge of character. It's the heat that is the real problem, not the people. PM me if you want any further info....

lanarkwitch

It is also worth adding that your lab will be in the mode of permanently shedding it's coat, it must be heat related, but you can't just put him outside here until it's over so you have to just park up the hoover in the living room and be prepared to use it every 10 mins or so

emh

Thanks to everyone for the advice and information. I have also had incredibly useful information from Kelly at QAWS (Qatar Animal Welfare Society) and would recommend anyone else in my position to contact her. But she didn't mention the shedding!

OleJanx

emh, I took my Alsatian to Kuwait, Oman and Qatar, and never had a problem in any of those. The coat shedding though, well, get a good vacuum cleaner! You WILL need it!

Millhouse

Assuming the advice wasn't ashes2gems what did she tell you?

co durham boy

Don't leave it with your Korean neighbours

OleJanx

emh

I have never used a forum before and won't again. I don't understand why anyone would reply to a person requiring sensible advice with racist remarks or a suggestion that I have my dog put down and turned into a gemstone. I appreciate the offer to adopt my dog and the information about shedding but will not be drawn in further. Some of these answers are plainly offfensive and intended to be so. No idea why. Please consider my question answered.

co durham boy

No one is being offensive that's for sure , you need a pretty good sense of humour living in the Gulf and a very thick skin . I think you actually got some decent advice .

When you're in Qatar give it a couple of months then log on and re read your post.
You'll be quite surprised at how it reads after living here .

One word of advice , if you're offended by this thread than i'm afraid there's a steep learning curve awaiting you for life in Qatar.

Good luck .