History Main / ShooTheDog

* Hilariously played with in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017''. In the episode ''The Other Bin of Scrooge [=McDuck=]!'', Huey seemingly helps out a hurt bigfoot in the forest. Said bigfoot, who Huey named "Tenderfeet," acts like a GentleGiant with animal-like intelligence, but is actually a {{fratbro}} named Gavin who is conning the nephews out of giving him a large amount of love and free food, with only Louie catching on. Trying to con a con didn't work out though, and Louie makes his brothers think that "Tenderfeet" needs to leave or else he would begin to die. Louie, pulling one last con and making up a [[SpoofAesop sappy fake aesop]], pretends to pull off this trope when setting "Tenderfeet" free... by slapping him in the face. Multiple times.
-->'''Louie:''' [crying CrocodileTears] Now go back from whence you came! This is for your own good! [''slap''] Go on! [''double slap''] Get out of here! Go! [Gavin runs off and Louie swings at air] Go! [Waterworks stop] Bye, Tenderfeet, I love you, have fun living in the gross woods and not our awesome mansion anymore!
--> '''Gavin:''' [mumbling] stupid duck with a hoodie...

* Parodied in an episode of ''Series/ThirtyRock'' when Jack does this Frank to prevent him from becoming a lawyer (and subsequently killed by the Mafia). Notable for being a direct reference to ''Film/HarryAndTheHendersons''.

* The ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse'' short "Mickey's Good Deed" has a heart-wrenching moment where Mickey sells Pluto to a rich man so he can afford to buy presents for the children of a poor family.

* Attempted in a climatic battles end in ''Film/JohnCarter'' but [[UndyingLoyalty Woola chooses to stay and fight beside John Carter.]]

** Done even earlier with Nami and Robin, who, despite having become attached to Luffy and the rest of the crew in spite of not being inclined to view their association with him as a temporary alliance, don't think he is willing or able to overcome their problems. Nami in particular does this by stealing the ship and pretending to kill Usopp to save his life from Arlong, which actually temporarily succeeds in convincing Zoro into thinking that Nami is truly evil (but by the time Robin is thought to have betrayed the Straw Hats, he remains open to either possibility being true).

*** Note that while he ''is'' prepared to kill Dr. Venture, he's noticeably relieved when he doesn't have to, and tries to get them to safety soon afterword despite the termination of his mission. Although [[spoiler:his nonchalance about Hank and Dean's repeated deaths because of the existence of their clones]] is misleading, it's quite clear that he does care about the Venture family.

When a character or animal is sent away, it's this trope. Subtrope of ShootTheDog and sometimes UnsuccessfulPetAdoption and NotUsedToFreedom. Compare to BreakHisHeartToSaveHim, ButNowIMustGo, ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies, LineInTheSand and ShooOutTheClowns. (Get out of the plot while you can, Tropey, AnyoneCanDie now!)

* ''Literature/GrassAndSky'': Timmi's family used to have a beagle named Charlie, but Rebecca was allergic to him, so they sent him away to live with Grampy. He's elderly, but still alive when they visit six years later.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook1967'' has Mowgli's adoptive wolf family and Bagheera deciding during a council meeting to send Mowgli to live in a nearby man village for his own safety after learning that [[BigBad Shere Khan]] has returned to his..and their...hunting grounds. Closer to the climax, Baloo also agrees with Bagheera that it's too dangerous for Mowgli to remain with him in the jungle. Of course, Mowgli sees this as a betrayal and runs off instead, nearly getting himself killed by first Kaa, and later Shere Khan himself.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook1967'' has Mowgli's adoptive wolf family and Bagheera deciding during a council meeting to send Mowgli to live in a nearby man village for his own safety after learning that [[BigBad ShereKhan]] has returned to his..and their...hunting grounds. Closer to the climax, Baloo also agrees with Bagheera that it's too dangerous for Mowgli to remain with him in the jungle. Of course, Mowgli sees this as a betrayal and runs off instead, nearly getting himself killed by first Kaa, and later Shere Khan himself.

-->'''Spongebob''': Can't you see I don't want you anymore? [Patrick walks up with the board on his head] Just get out of here, you stupid, dumb animal! [Patrick walks away with the same look on his face]

* Twisted in the Richard Corben story "Bowser" (''ComicBook/Vampirella'' #54, Sept. 1976). Little Timmy shoos Bowser away when his parents fear he's going to have to be put down [[spoiler: because Bowser is an EldritchAbomination and just ate a couple people. Turns out Bowser was extra hungry because [[YourTomcatIsPregnant he-- she?-- it was getting ready to have a litter of "puppies"!]]]] You can read this disgusting yet strangely heartwarming story [[http://thehorrorsofitall.blogspot.com/2011/04/bowser.html here.]]

* Twisted in the Richard Corben story "Bowser". Little Timmy shoos Bowser away when his parents fear he's going to have to be put down [[spoiler: because Bowser is an EldritchAbomination and just ate a couple people. Turns out Bowser was extra hungry because [[YourTomcatIsPregnant he-- she?-- it was getting ready to have a litter of "puppies"!]]]] You can read this disgusting yet strangely heartwarming story [[http://thehorrorsofitall.blogspot.com/2011/04/bowser.html here.]]

* In the ending of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', if you saved Shadow at the FloatingContinent, his segment in the final cinematic of the game will show him leaving to die alone in the [[LoadBearingBoss collapsing final dungeon]]. When [[MoralityPet his dog, Interceptor]], tries to follow him, he shoos it. Later, the dog enters the heroes' airship, but its owner doesn't.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'', Sazh keeps a chocobo chick in his afro. He bought it as a present for his son, Dajh, but was never able to give it to him. When the party comes across a group of chocobos on Gran Pulse, including more baby chocobos, he suggests to the chocobo "Maybe it'd be best if we just say goodbye here." The chick, however, won't have any of it and returns straight to Sazh. Something similar happens with Chobi in ''Anime/FinalFantasyUnlimited''.

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVII'' has this potentially occur in Loomin with Sieble and his pet larval Hellworm, Chibi. The rest of the town is getting antsy about his exotic taste in pets, particularly since [[DoomMagnet they've already had some nasty luck recently]]; if you warn him about this, he tries to release Chibi into the wild and shoo him away. Alternately, you can [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential sneak into his house and kill Chibi for the villagers]], but [[WhatTheHellHero why would you do that? Seriously]]. [[spoiler:Unless you ''want'' the villagers to suffer karmic backlash and Sieble end up as the SoleSurvivor...]]

* Sam does this to Bill the pony in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' when the Fellowship has to go through the Mines of Moria. Subverted, though - at least in the books - as Bill the pony finds his way back to Bree, where they pick him up on their way back to the Shire, and proves to still be the most awesome pony in Middle-earth. [[CoolHorse And that's saying something.]]

* Another human example in ''Anime/ShinkonGattaiGodannar''. [[LittleMissBadass Lou]] was just about ready to defend her [[DoomedHometown base]] alongside her father... who suddenly set her mecha to launch to Earth, abandoning him to die in a hopeless fight. He still have time to say about the things listed in this trope, much to her dismay.

* In ''[[FanFic/PokemonBlackandWhiteTaleofaLegend Pokemon Black & White: Tale of a Legend]]'', Hugh listens to Team Plasma's lies and releases Grunge the Garbodor, thinking it'll improve the Pokémon's life by leaps and bounds.

* The good ending to ''VideoGame/{{Rule of Rose}}'' can be seen as this in a metaphorical sense. Over the course of the game, it's revealed the player's best friend is in fact [[spoiler:the BigBad]], having [[spoiler:arranged the deaths of every other character]] because she [[spoiler:felt abandoned]] because the player was [[spoiler:spending more time with her pet dog than with her.]] The epilogue is a flashback/dream sequence where the player is sent back before the whole thing began and chains the dog inside a shed to metaphorically protect him, along with her other precious memories.