Rehoming a rescue dog - thoughts please?

UKTigerlily

I have had a rescue dog for 3yrs now. I agree with elsien on everything but particularly to not get discouraged if the first rescue you try says no (happened to me) & that they may not be their best in rescue. Chaya wouldn't take a treat, had two coats on & was still shaking like a jelly, wouldn't look at me, did all of the calming signals & was a middle aged Brindle/White Staffie. I got her anyway & never looked back. I can honestly say I haven't regretted it for a single second & everyone who visits comments on how well cared for & happy she is. A friend here, Foreign Correspondant, also has a fantastic rescue, Badger. Best thing I ever did & so rewarding. As for training etc she was perfect in almost every way so I consider myself VERY lucky indeed, I also think getting her was fate as I met her previous owner's Sister a month later by chance & found out all about her etc

Cyril

I have two rescue dogs and they are just the most fabulous dogs ever.

They were both chucked out breeding !!!!!es and I feel honored to give them a second chance at a decent life.

krlyr

ariba10 wrote: »

The only problem I would have is. Why do they need rehoming?

If it is due to the ill health or death of the previous owner. then yes.

If it is due to is behaviour due to poor training when young. then no.

Any decent rescue would take a potential new owner's experience and "wants" into consideration - if the owner didn't want a challenge, a good rescue would find a suitable dog, if they felt experienced enough to train out minor issues then a good rescue would explain possible issues. It's hard for a rescue to guarantee the "perfect" dog due to the nature of living beings - a dog that is settled in a kennel or a foster home may suddenly act differently in its new home, for better or worse. As a dog owner, I would say hope for the best but prepare for the worst! But a good rescue won't see a new owner struggle either, don't feel ashamed to admit that a dog is too much if you can't handle the problem either.
My second dog was rehomed because of his behaviour - soon became apparent when he jumped our 6' fencing that he was a bit of an escape artist, he had a fondness for just darting off for no apparently reason when off-lead (after a while, anyway - he was on perfect behaviour for the first couple of months, but a new home can make a dog seem too good to be true until they settle in and become comfortable enough to misbehave!), and being reactive towards dogs when on-lead. His old owners had sent him away to doggy "boarding school" and presumably returned him when it didn't work.
Was I silly to adopt him then? Well, not really. We fixed the fence to have an incline, voila, no more escaping. We've recently moved to somewhere with much lower fencing and no incline but he's yet to make any attempt to escape - so perhaps the fence-jumping was a result of a lack of stimulation at home, and became a habit.
The darting off was fixed by buying a longline. He doesn't really venture that far from us when he's offlead anyway so it was no real issue to limit him to a distance of 30' or so. If we're in a secure area, I drop the longline and he trails it around with him - we can easily grab it if needed. We constantly practice and reward recall, in the house, garden or out on walks, and he hasn't darted off in ages.
The reactivity is taking a little longer but it's a bigger issue - for such a big dog, he's a huge wuss, and I'm slowly showing him that dogs aren't that scary. We meet up with some doggy friends, we pass by dogs on the street at a "safe" distance, and he's getting less and less reactive.
A dog with problems isn't necessarily a problem dog. Many are fixed by simple changes - a destructive dog may be a bored dog, a dog that pees in the house may not have been toilet-trained properly, a dog that raids the bin may have a simple to treat health condition making it excessively hungry.
But there are plenty of "normal" dogs handed into rescue for other reasons - change in housing circumstances, money troubles, relationship breakup, emigration, severe allergies, or even just plain getting bored of the responsibility of a dog. There are so many dogs out there, OP will find one to suit their experience and lifestyle.

To the OP, I would say that if you have no luck with the larger organisations like DT etc., don't forget the smaller rescues. Forums like Dogpages are good places to find smaller rescues, which can be more flexible about rules because there's no corporate head office - "head office" is the kennel staff mucking out kennels or ferrying dogs from pound to foster home, and therefore it can be much easier for them to deal with homes on an individual basis instead of just having one set of criteria that everyne has to meet.

3v3

Thank you to everyone!! You have given me some wonderful advice and sharing your experiences has really given me food for thought over things I hadn't yet considered - which I'm sure will save me, my family and the dog some teething issues (which would be stressful for the dog if I remained ignorant and that would defeat the object of homing a rescue dog).

As I stated, this won't happen until June so I have much to consider before I begin my focused search. Thank you so much

adviceforall

Rescue dogs are simply the best....( had 7)........ so far..lol wouldn't dream of getting one from anywhere else.

Good luck with your search OP, we have had 2 Dobi's before, they are such great dogs.
Hope you can find your next best friend soon.

moomin5

I've rehomed 3 ex-racing greyhounds via RGT though were all still living at trainers rather than in the rehoming kennels. We filled in an online application and were then contacted to visit the kennels to meet the dogs, where we took a few for a short walk. After choosing, they arranged a home check, although this was a little backwards as they wouldn't reserve as we'd not passed at that point. I know just within greyhound rehoming the policies, adoption procedures and set-up can vary greatly.
Most breeds also have own rescue's if a certain breed takes your fancy. Also check out Dogsblog, if your able to travel many rescues now home out of their local area which can widen your options if you don't have much luck with your local rescues.

While rescues assess adopters, I think its also important to assess the rescue a bit as some are much better than others which can make all the difference for a successful adoption. Some things you can find out by looking on a website, such as do they neuter/spay, home check and expect you to return the dog if needs be. Consider how well they've assessed the dogs and what info they have quizzed you on to know if your a suitable match, they shouldn't really be willing to let you pick any dog you like. Do they offer post adoption support which can be important if you find you need some help or advice & also reduces returns for them. In your case you'd probably want to know how they'll cat test the dog.

WhiteHorse

You must assess a rescue dog carefully. Some have to be rehomed for perfectly innocent reasons, others not.

Check temperament and training. (Ask the staff, they have daily contact and will have some idea).

If the kennels have an enclosure, take the dog for a run there and see.

Check if okay with other dogs, children and so on. Again staff should have an idea (Possible exception: Dogs from the pound).

Age, known health problems (can you cope? It's not fair if you can't).

Finally consider the breed or cross mix. Some breeds are more likely to have been abused (because they are attractive to a certain type of owner).

katz03

When we started discussing adding to a family with a dog, we were in agreement that we would re-home a rescue dog - next question for us was what type of dog. Personally I love GSD's as thats what I grew up with - My OH is terrified of them as his mum had always had small lap dogs!! The only breed I wasn't keen on were Greyhounds - how wrong was I!!
I was on the web looking for local rescue homes, when I cam across the RGT website which gives a very honest description of the nature of the breed. They are great with people, very social, don't require hours of walks! But most will expect you to share the sofa!
Our first greyhound Cassie had been retired from racing at 2 - so she was still a very young dog and very timid, it was great watching her confidence in the outside world grow. She really made me fall in love with the breed, and I still miss her.
Our current greyhound Blue has a totally different personality - very confident - very cheeky - can wrap OH round her little paw lol!! she is 11 now and so playful!
Please consider if one of these young retired lovely dogs would be suitable for your family.
We had a home visit before we were allowed to home, and Jan who ran our local RGT kennels was always so pleased to hear from us after homing and ready to answer any questions, and we still take Blue there for kenneling when we go on holiday.

budgetboo

In my experience specific breed rescues tend to have dogs in foster care for months (so get to KNOW the dog) & a much better idea of the history of many of the dogs in their care than the general rescues (BIG charities like Battersea). In choosing a dog with a small child baby in the home I'd always rec people check out the smaller breed rescues first as this tends to be where much loved family pets end up when their owners get cancer or die etc rather than the Big well-advertised charities as they get the strays of dubious origins, or just don't have the time to check full histories properly.

Do be totally honest about your lifestyle, and expectations with the rescue. Our dog was he 3rd I looked at and the search took over 6 months, but she is SO worth the wait. I could have paid thousands and not got a better companion for our family. The rescue were totally understanding of my need to source the "right" dog rather and "any" dog - the big charities are all about numbers so have arbitary rehomeing rules and may not accept you anyway f you have a child under 10, work, don't live in a country mansion etc. Our dog wouldn't suit every one but for us she's perfect, and a smaller rescue are more likely to put the work in to help you make that perfect match.

My dog came via Lurcher link & I was able to obtain her full history from puppyhood and she's been amazing and just perfect as a "therapy" dog for my austistic son.

gingertopsy

3v3 wrote: »

Thank you to everyone!! You have given me some wonderful advice and sharing your experiences has really given me food for thought over things I hadn't yet considered - which I'm sure will save me, my family and the dog some teething issues (which would be stressful for the dog if I remained ignorant and that would defeat the object of homing a rescue dog).

As I stated, this won't happen until June so I have much to consider before I begin my focused search. Thank you so much

We have always had rescue dogs. We rescue ridgebacks and you will find that any breed club worth its salt will have its own rescue branch. My sister just rescued a xbreed from an RSPCA kennels and she has had no end of trouble with it. (It has even started recently killing hedgehogs and that takes some doing) I would always go for breed rescue, they vet the dogs and suit them to your needs. Ours have always been lovely, but of course the stories given as they are handed in are for the most part worthy of Hans Christian Anderson!! Go for it, they will give you so much love.:T