New dog - home check advice please

Gem_

I'm so excited as we have reserved a new dog from a local rescue centre. They don't do their own home checks but use the RSPCA.

Does anyone know specifically what they will be looking for? Are there minimum fence heights etc? I don't want to fail if there is something simple I can fix before they come around.

Oh and he is a dalmation, our previous dog was a terrier - anything special I should watch out for?

Thanks for any advice
Gem

krlyr

This isn't the RSPCA's but this is another rescue's checklist for homecheckers, covers lots of points to consider
http://www.fourpawsanimalrescue.org.uk/Homecheck_Form_Updated.pdf

I found that the rescue I adopted from wouldn't discuss fencing requirements without doing a homecheck, seemed a bit of a waste of everyone's time knowing that I would fail, but they did have a good chat about everything else and it meant that next time they literally only checked that the new fencing was as I said it would be - they turned up, said hi and bye as they happened to arrive just as all the panels turned up and my stepdad was out setting the posts up for me. For a large breed, you may find they require at least 5' panels, with mine it was 6' (GSD rescue)

Other than that, it was generally very informal and more of a discussion than a strict check, just to make sure I was aware of the responsibilities and had plans for walking the dogs often enough, care if I went on holiday, that I could afford and was prepared for potential vet bills etc.

alleycat`

Mostly as above, they ummed and arred about the fence panels (5'6" and not 6') but eventually decided they were good enough.

It amused me greatly that the lady didn't notice I'd not yet fitted the gate to the back garden.

She was fixated about that extra 6"'s.
I'm not sure what to make of that

Was very informal and mostly quite friendly with some good advice.

Edit:- Don't know much about Dalmations medically other than they can suffer from deafness, Hip problems and some Skin issues.

I suspect you'll need to enjoy your long walks as i believe they were bred as carriage dogs?

DaniP

I do homechecks for a number of rescues.

All I check for is a secure garden, fences 6ft plus. The main thing is that the dog is not left alone from 9 till 5. One of my rescues will accept a dog walker calling to the house etc.

Dalmations are very hyper!

alleycat`

DaniP wrote: »

I do homechecks for a number of rescues.

All I check for is a secure garden, fences 6ft plus. The main thing is that the dog is not left alone from 9 till 5. One of my rescues will accept a dog walker calling to the house etc.

Dalmations are very hyper!

I assume the 6'+ is dependant on breed?
Seems somewhat overkill for a pug?

zaksmum

When I had my home check the lady just glanced into the garden, asked if it was secure, then chatted to me for about 30 minutes about how I feel about dogs.

She said they make a mess and chew things...I said I'm fully aware of this as I've had dogs all my life. She commented on a framed picture of my last dog, announced she was happy I was a genuine dog lover (!!) and that I'd passed her home check, and that was it.

krlyr

alleycat` wrote: »

I assume the 6'+ is dependant on breed?
Seems somewhat overkill for a pug?

I suppose it depends on the purpose of the fence - it doesn't just keep a dog safely contained but a 6' fence will make it harder for a dog to be snatched (dog theft to sell dogs 'on demand' or for ransom can happen) or for someone to leave over and pet the dog and get bitten/tease the dog. Security for more than one reason.

Gem_

Oh I'm worried now, we have a 5 foot fence and the garden is way too big for me to be able to afford to raise the height all the way around.

The previous two rescue dogs I've had they didn't bother to do a homecheck.

krlyr

I had the same problem (fence was even lower than 5' so knew I'd fail) so the compromise was having an area sectioned off with 6' fencing for the dogs. It turned out that Casper could jump 6' fencing anyway so I was glad to have a smaller section to houdini-proof rather than turn the whole garden into a prison yard, and if I let the dogs out in the other parts of the garden then he stayed on a longline (Kiki was happy to stay put). The section was quite large, about the size/shape of a medium-sized terraced house's garden, and it was a lot cheaper to fence as one side already had a brick outbuilding on our side, the wall of teh building on the neighbour's side, and a garden shed along one side, and the back of the house on another, so I just needed to fence an "L" shaped part. I found enough panels on Ebay and think I paid about £20 for them all!

I would suggest you give them a call and ask if they have a minimum height requirement on fences if you're worried, if they have a set rule then they should have an answer, if they say it's judged in an individual basis then wait and see what the homechecker says. There could be a compromise on the fencing, e.g. when I had to adapt my fencing I used chicken wire and some homemade brackets to make an incline at the top of the fence pointing in at a 90 degree angle - this can be more effective than adding height to the fence as it prevents the dog getting a grip on the top of the fencing and pulling themselves over

sb88_2

Hi, sorry I hope you don't mind me jumping on board here!
I'm considering rescuing a dog, we have a nice side back garden, and a high fence, it is completly secure. We don't however, have a back door leading directly in to the garden, Only a front door,and we have to walk arund the side to access the gate leading in to the garden.

Any idea how a rescue center might percieve this ?

krlyr

Different rescues will have different policies, you might be viewed similarly to someone in a flat with a communal garden (e.g. having to go down stairs to reach the garden) - which many rescues will happily home to. If the larger rescues are inflexible, don't forget to try a variety of smaller rescues who may judge your situation on a more individual basis. Try forums like Dogpages and Dogsey to locate your local rescues (many have staff as members of the forum so it's nice to "know" someone from the rescue personally via the forums too)