Would you get a dog from a dog rescue centre?

lostinrates

catkins wrote: »

I also agree that almost ALL breeds of dog need a fair amount of walking. Why do so many dogs cause problems - crying, barking, chewing? Because they are bored. They don't get enough exercise so have lots of excess energy to deal with. A dog that has sufficient exercise will spend a lot of the time indoors sleeping.


Have you thought about a greyhound? There are loads of greyhounds looking for homes and quite a lot of them are young. They actually don't necessarily need as much exercise as some breeds, they are gentle friendly dogs and they make brilliant pets.

That's what I thought from op's requirements too.
Op you've mentioned a couple of breeds / x that would do well from periods of long walks. Some dogs do fine or better with shorter walks, most especially if they have access to some where to run fast off lead.


Re names... My dogs ( none of them rescues but one a rehome as as adult from breeder) all have multiple nicknames. Many feel it confuses a dog, mine cope fine. My grey hound particularly loves her multiple names.

Kinski

Two of my dogs were rescues, Abby the 8 year old sheltie and Ellie who was 3 when we got her a couple of years ago. I had no problem changing the 8 year olds name and it only took her a couple of days to get used to it, Ellie my bichon didn't have a name as she came from a puppy farm where they don't give them names, poor Ellie wasn't even allocated a number by the farmer but again it only took a short time for her to recognise her name. Both my girls have been fantastic, the only problem I've had was with Ellie who hates men and will have a pop at my oh and my sons.

Merry_Wanderer

Dogs Trust are excellent. We took on an oldie as our first dog, he was only with us 6 months before he passed but it was a massive learning curve, and a good one. We soon after got a rescue lurcher (mostly greyhound) and she is a dream. So easy going, sleeps all the time, very affectionate with people, never barks, tolerant of kids visiting us and playing with her, doesn't jump up or run around the house, and although she gets lots of walks she doesn't crave them like some other dogs and hates going out in the rain. And she is large .... so don't rule out large dogs as they aren't all more of a handful.

I would say keep an open mind, as the dog will choose you. And a good rescue will offer alot of support.

We went to Dogs Trust after asking about A B C we saw on the website, all turned out unsuitable and we came away (after falling for) with the odd looking oldie with the dodgey eye!

I would say get a rescue dog everytime if you can access a good reputable centre. A good one won't let you take on a dog you are not able to handle.

catkins

Merry_Wanderer wrote: »

We soon after got a rescue lurcher (mostly greyhound) and she is a dream. So easy going, sleeps all the time, very affectionate with people, never barks, tolerant of kids visiting us and playing with her, doesn't jump up or run around the house, and although she gets lots of walks she doesn't crave them like some other dogs and hates going out in the rain. And she is large .... so don't rule out large dogs as they aren't all more of a handful.

I agree. Lurchers and greyhounds make excellent pets and are far to often overlooked in rescue.


They tend to be very easy going and calm unlike lots of other breeds. People always name Labradors as being such a good breed with children but the ones I have known certainly weren't and they are far from calm.


My friend has a lab a month older than my dog (mine is 19 months) and whereas mine is now on the whole a calm laid back dog who walks really well on a loose lead, hers is a crazy mad thing who just won't walk well on a lead despite her going to training every week (she still goes I don't)

System

We are now on our third rescue dog. The first from the USPCA in Belfast followed by one from Battersea and now the third we have had for 3 months after the death of dog 2 came from the Dogs Trust.

Lola was around 14 months old when we got her in November but no history is known as she originally came from a rescue centre in Ireland to our local one. best guess on breed so far is Boxer/Ridgeback cross and she is absolutely gorgeous and loves cuddles on your lap, although she is a bit big for it.

Katiehound

All my dogs have been from "rescue."
Of those only one has had issues, he hadn't been assessed by the centre having only arrived hours earlier! When I went to dog training they reckoned that he had never been given any boundaries- was only exercised off the lead (didn't react well to a lead) and certainly didn't know the word "NO"! He's now 15! In other words his upbringing was totally inadequate.

Puppies are a huge amount of work- don't underestimate that. I wouldn't even consider one even though I have had to housetrain and train some of my rescues.

There are some lovely dogs out there, many in rescue for no fault of their own so I think you need to keep an open mind. Puppies in rescue tend to go very quickly as do small breeds of dog, sadly it is the larger breeds that tend to be unwanted.

Many years ago I went to a rescue centre and a dog picked me! Every time I walked past the kennel he howled (he didn't do it to anyone else!) Needless to say he came home with me!

I have had one fantastic dog (Katie) from rescue who went on to be a PAT dog and an education dog for the Blue Cross. We worked on the charity stands at Crufts & Discover Dogs as well as meeting over 11,000 local children- rescue dogs can be every bit as good as a puppy!

Paradigm

I'd consider rehoming a young dog... if they made it easier!

I looked into rehoming a DDB from a breed specific rescue but, after downloading the application form, I couldn't decide if I was being questioned by the rescue centre or interrogated by the Russian secret police.

While I appreciate they have the dogs interests as a first priority the hoops they wanted me to jump through were enough to put me off completely.

Buying a puppy from a reputable breeder is far easier & I can see why people go down that route..... I will.

krlyr

I think one difficulty is that there's no set standard or set procedure for every rescue. Absolutely anyone can set up a rescue - I could start one tomorrow. The only real limitation would possibly be your local council, you may possibly have to follow some restrictions in terms of number of dogs you were 'boarding'. Also accounting for your income through donations, and any rules if you registered as a charity.

This means you can set any rules you like. Not rehoming to households with children under 2, under 5, under 10, even under 16/18. Not rehoming to homes with dogs of the same gender, that's a rule I've seen. Not rehoming to full-time workers, or even to part-time workers. Not rehoming to people in flats, people without 6' fencing, the list can go on and on.

Because of this huge variance in policies, some people do find it tough, and may be rejected by several rescues. However, also because of this variance, it's likely there will be a rescue somewhere that will happily rehome to you. It may mean going a county or two away, or even the other side of the country (many rescues operation nationwide), but chances are, at least one rescue out there will rehome to someone in your living situation.

Like I say, I'm not against going to a reputable breeder either, I am happy for people to support them - they're the future of healthy dogs with good temperaments - but I hate it when people get so disheartened by a few rescues that they feel a rescue dog isn't an option at all.

Sagaris

Both our dogs are rescues, as was our previous one.

We now have 2 beagles, eldest was rehomed due to previous owners having a young baby and not enough time for her. Second was a difficult case, at the age of 19 months we were home no 6 - we got him through Beagle Welfare, the lady who was looking after him was VERY keen to emphasize he wasn't the easiest dog out there, she was 100% honest and said he had multiple problems due to being shoved from pillar to post in his early life.

Boy, was she right! BUT we persevered, he's 4 now and a joy to have around! He loves children (they both do) and do not have a nasty bone in their bodies.

He was renamed by the rescue so that he would have good associations with his new name - he answers to it well. I would recommend training classes as soon as you can - we went back to basics with both of them, our older beagle was 5 years old and in the puppy class! Beagles can be quite stubborn (and a nightmare around food, they will steal anything!) but the right titbits will soon produce good results.

Best of luck with your new dog - let us know what you get and don't forget the photos!

adouglasmhor

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.

Spiteful vicious rubbish. Even a mistreated dog can be retrained in most cases so nothing like the majority.