How to get my dog "fix"

krlyr

gettingready wrote: »

IMHO taking shelter/rescue dogs for walks is great as they do not get that many nice long walks but I personally tottaly disagree with taking a dog home for the weekends and returning to a kennel/shelter on weekdays.

This must be so stresful and confusing for the poor dog - having a nice weekend with all home comforts and then being returned to a kennel.

I think dogs live much more in the "now" than us and if they get into a routine of weekend trips I doubt it's that stressful. I think it would be a shame to condemn a kenneled dog to being kenneled until they found a home, rather than be able to give brief but regular home comforts. Not only does it benefit the dog in terms of giving them a change of scenery, but you can also use the time to train the dogs more effectively (thus making the dog more homeable - a dog that's had time spent teaching it basic commands, loose leash walking, etc. will appeal to more people) and assess the dog in a home environment, for example check its suitability around cats or visiting children* (*depending on experience/how sensible the children are/dog's temperament/etc.)

I walked at a kennel where the dogs were often taken out for the day or a weekend and I don't think it was a bad thing for the dogs.

Fire_Fox

Celia Hammond? Charities that support older people?

gettingready

krlyr - I can see where you are coming from but I look at it differently.

Take the dog out for a walk - yes.

Take it home for a day or two.. nope. They get confused, they miss the "home" later back in kennels. Believe me, seen this and was breaking my heart.

Pthree

I think it would be just as heart breaking for me to take a dog back on a Sunday evening - hell it would kill me!

lionheartedgirl

Hi OP, if you're in Mile End there are a couple of greyhound stadiums near you, so a few rescues/RGT branches. Not sure if you like greyhounds, but if you've never met any, you will fall in love quite quickly once you spend time around them!

On another note - unrelated but thanks to FireFox for posting those dating sites, one of them sounded right up my street so I took the plunge and joined :eek: :rotfl: