Would you get a dog from a dog rescue centre?

Bestthingsinlifearefree

Hi,

We are another family seriously thinking about getting a puppy / dog. I've never had a dog before, wife did when she was a child but did not really have the responsibility of looking after it and our 7 year old boy is obviously, very very keen on the idea;) of getting a dog / puppy.

I am doing as much research as possible and fully accept it is a big commitment but very rewarding to.

So far I have bought a couple of dog / puppy books which have been useful and have also made an appointment to go to a dog rescue centre, they have a couple of "possibles" on their website.

At the moment some of the decisions we are mulling over are:

Do we get a puppy? (like having a baby again 24 /7 but at least we can train it have the full "puppy experience" or do we get a dog 7 months - 3 years old from the dog rescue that is still 'young' but hopefully has got passed some of the house training issues but might come with other baggage / be difficult to train if it has bad habits already?

Also what breed? Would not want a "big" dog, except perhaps a labrador. Would want a dog with energy so my boy can enjoy it but not to much energy (i.e marathon walks / exercise 2 hr plus day). Nice if there is a breed that does not moult to much.

I work from home (though in a busy role / in own office) so that could help but a puppy might be a strain when I have projects on / customers on phone etc.

Dog rescue centre also offers the option of "fostering" is this a good idea for us or is it fair on the dog?

.............any tips / thoughts much appreciated.......:o

gettingready

Good for you for considering a rescue dog...

Bit worried here though:

not to much energy (i.e marathon walks / exercise 2 hr plus day).

exercise 2+ hours per day is pretty normal for any dog so you need to be prepared for that

JMW77

You can Foster and then take on the dog permanently lots of people are so called failed fosterers.

ariba10

The only problem with that is the majority of dogs in rescue centers have been bought and ruined by owners that have not taken the trouble to look after them and train them.

Personally I would get a young puppy and train it properly.

Bestthingsinlifearefree

gettingready wrote: »

Good for you for considering a rescue dog...

Bit worried here though:



exercise 2+ hours per day is pretty normal for any dog so you need to be prepared for that

Is that so? I am probably showing my ignornce but for example would a small dog (e.g Yorkshire terrier) go on two hour walks daily. e.g how do old people have dogs then?

Not being pedantic just thinking out loud. One option is a Beagle cross harrier about 7 months old but I'm worried that that breed might need serious walking / exercise.

Personally I don't mind the rain, cold, snow etc and I'm an outdoors physical / exercise type person however that is balanced against being a busy working / family man etc

codemonkey

I currently have a rescue dog snoozing on the sofa beside me and it's the best thing we ever did. We've had him for 8 months and he is the sweetest, most affectionate dog ever. He has such a good temperament - everyone loves him.

There are a couple of things to consider though. First of all, everyone wants a puppy so they go quickly, and the older dogs tend to get overlooked. There are advantages to an older dog, especially if time is limited for training. Also consider a training class even for an older dog as older dogs are just as easy to train and tend to be a bit less hyper (which is good if you have children).

Be honest with the rescue about what you're looking for. We had a list of criteria for our dog e.g tested with children, toilet trained, dog friendly (we use a dog walker). We were offered a couple of dogs that didn't meet those and we said no.

As for breeds, don't think too much because you might change your mind or find a cross-breed. DH wasn't keen on staffies when we started out but now he's a convert.

Most importantly, use your head as well as your heart and be patient - like any relationship it may take time to find "the one". It took us a lot of trips to find our dog, and I'd have taken them all home. I cried a few times, but some of the dogs we considered wouldn't have been right for us. And when we met CD, we just knew he was ours. From the second he ran up to the fence of his enclosure and headbutted the dog we were saying hello to out of the way.

Bestthingsinlifearefree

JMW77 wrote: »

You can Foster and then take on the dog permanently lots of people are so called failed fosterers.

I have thought about this but part of me thinks it gives the option of ducking out if the going gets tough or is it fair on the dog. i.e I would not feel great if we had to give it back because it was to much. Or am I analysing it to much and it is a really sensible option. Dog gets out of the rescue centre at least for a while we get to see if we connect with it etc

JMW77

If it was me i would get a dog from a rescue centre all these dogs deserve homes ,getting a puppy just encourages people to keep breeding adding to the dog population .

Far to many dogs are homeless.

krlyr

I've had both the puppy 'from scratch' and the 3 year old rescue dog. Also in between, a 9 month old privately rehomed dog. There are pros and cons to both, as you say. Sadly the pup wasn't from the greatest background (we got given her from a relative who'd bought her through Freeads, so probably a puppyfarm/backyard breeder) and had several health and behavioural issues. She was hard work, and it did put me off having a puppy for quite a while (it's only in the last few years I've felt ready to take on a pup - it's been 10 years since we had Prue!). Remember that puppies are blank slates, but they aren't immune to developing issues. If you're new to dogs/puppies, you could make unintentional mistakes (for example, not exposing the dog to enough socialisation during the vital socialisation windows), or events outside of your control could cause issues (an attack from a dog, for example, could cause pup to develop reactivity/fear issues).

The rescue dog does have a couple of issues, he's dog reactive despite being advertised as good with other dogs, and he can be a right escape artist (climbed our 6' fencing within his first 2 weeks at ours - we had to add chicken wire on an incline 'prison fence' style! And quickly learnt how to wiggle out of a harness), but he's got a great temperament with people and is otherwise a lovely dog to own. Rescue dogs can have issues, but a good rescue will assess a dog and should be able to give a good idea of temperament and behaviour. It's not always foolproof - in Casper's case, yes, he did seem OK with dogs in the kennel environment, but it's quite an artificial environment and in his case didn't reflect his behaviour out in the "real world".

The private rehome has pros and cons too. We feel that the owner may not have been 100% honest about a few traits, but overall she was a great dog. Sadly she developed hypthyroidism a couple of years ago and this has quite an impact on her behaviour - she's quite prone to anxiety and related behaviour issues like reactivity to dogs, wariness of new things in the environment, and she's suffered separation anxiety as a result too. Not having the support of a rescue was tough at times.

I'm pro-responsible breeding, and pro-responsible rescue. Both routes need reearch, you get irresponsible breeders (puppy farms, backyard breeders, uneducated 'family breeders' and so on) but you also get dodgy "rescues" - hoarders masquering as rescues, rescues with good intentions but not the knowledge/support/funding to do it properly, and so on. Choose carefully, as the backup offered can make a whole world of difference if you do experience some teething problems.

krlyr

ariba10 wrote: »

The only problem with that is the majority of dogs in rescue centers have been bought and ruined by owners that have not taken the trouble to look after them and train them.

Personally I would get a young puppy and train it properly.

Are you sure it is the majority? I don't know the statistics to say it's not, but I've been on enough forums (and volunteered at a rescue) to know that there are plenty of other reasons for dogs to be surrendered. In the recent economic situation, many people have had to give up well-loved, well-behaved dogs simply because they could no longer afford them. Owner's health issues, changes in accomodation, relationship breakdowns, allergies, etc. could all be reasons why a perfectly well-behaved dog may end up requiring a new home.

Bestthingsinlifearefree

codemonkey wrote: »

I currently have a rescue dog snoozing on the sofa beside me and it's the best thing we ever did. He's a cocker lab cross, is 6 years old, we've had him for 8 months and he is the sweetest, most affectionate dog ever. He has such a good temperament - everyone loves him.

There are a couple of things to consider though. First of all, everyone wants a puppy so they go quickly, and the older dogs tend to get overlooked. There are advantages to an older dog, especially if time is limited for training. Also consider a training class even for an older dog as older dogs are just as easy to train and tend to be a bit less hyper (which is good if you have children).

Be honest with the rescue about what you're looking for. We had a list of criteria for our dog e.g tested with children, toilet trained, dog friendly (we use a dog walker). We were offered a couple of dogs that didn't meet those and we said no.

As for breeds, don't think too much because you might change your mind or find a cross-breed. DH wasn't keen on staffies when we started out but now he's a convert.

Most importantly, use your head as well as your heart and be patient - like any relationship it may take time to find "the one". It took us a lot of trips to find our dog, and I'd have taken them all home. I cried a few times, but some of the dogs we considered wouldn't have been right for us. And when we met CD, we just knew he was ours. From the second he ran up to the fence of his enclosure and headbutted the dog we were saying hello to out of the way.

The only thing with an older dog say 5 years plus is that I have a 7 years old boy and wanted the dog to be with him through out his childhood so I was thinking a rescue dog maybe 1-3 years old rather than an older dog who could well be calmer / less energetic.

We are all going together as a family to the rescue centre and I have a criteria in mind, child friendly, socilaised dog, not a big breed (rotweiller / alsation) would be a medium or small dog,house trained

This is probably a silly question but what happens when you go to a rescue centre can you walk the dog there? Do you pick the ones you like the look off. Can you visit the dog a few times?I'm a bit worried that we / my son will fall in love with a dog there and we will follow our hearts and not our heads. Any tips re a dog recue visit much appreciated.