Home visit for rescue dog.

trollopscarletwoman

Tomorrow I'm having a home visit from a representative of a dog rescue centre to view suitability for a dog we have in mind.

For those who have had one what are they usually looking for in terms of suitability?

Thanks.

krlyr

From my experience of having a home check, they pretty much wanted to make sure I was who I said I was and lived where I said I was, and that my garden was big enough and secure enough for a GSD. They didn't even walk in the house!

From my experience doing a homecheck, my mind was on everything. Their proximity to a very busy road (my wing mirror got clipped whilst I was parking there - passed my concern on to the rescue simply from a 'must stress that the dog never gets the chance to run out the front door as he'd be dead in a minute on that road' way), the layout of their house (they had a young child, so I was thinking how easily they could keep the two apart if needed), the garden size & secureness, and their general attitude - they came across as lovely people, who'd not had dogs before but had obviously done a lot of research and wanted to do their very best.


So it really can depend! But they're not generally there to judge you as such, they just want to be sure you're the best home suited to the dog you want, and maybe pick up on any concerns or particular issues, just to ensure you're aware of them. A good rescue should work with you - so if your fencing was too low, they should suggest what you could do to improve it, if they felt your house not suitable for the dog you had in mind they should expand on why. So don't think of it as a test you might fail, but as an exercise to match you to the right dog.

trollopscarletwoman

krlyr wrote: »

From my experience of having a home check, they pretty much wanted to make sure I was who I said I was and lived where I said I was, and that my garden was big enough and secure enough for a GSD. They didn't even walk in the house!

From my experience doing a homecheck, my mind was on everything. Their proximity to a very busy road (my wing mirror got clipped whilst I was parking there - passed my concern on to the rescue simply from a 'must stress that the dog never gets the chance to run out the front door as he'd be dead in a minute on that road' way), the layout of their house (they had a young child, so I was thinking how easily they could keep the two apart if needed), the garden size & secureness, and their general attitude - they came across as lovely people, who'd not had dogs before but had obviously done a lot of research and wanted to do their very best.


So it really can depend! But they're not generally there to judge you as such, they just want to be sure you're the best home suited to the dog you want, and maybe pick up on any concerns or particular issues, just to ensure you're aware of them. A good rescue should work with you - so if your fencing was too low, they should suggest what you could do to improve it, if they felt your house not suitable for the dog you had in mind they should expand on why. So don't think of it as a test you might fail, but as an exercise to match you to the right dog.

Many thanks.

The dog we have in mind is a yorkshire terrier/Jack Russell cross, 5 months old.

I'm alright on a couple of points thoughtfully raised.

Medium sized garden fully enclosed by six foot walls. Semi- detached with full size side gate padlocked on inside.

Cost is £120 dog having being been vet checked, neutered, and a bit of dental work done. Don't know if its been chipped-no idea if there's a minimum age for that.

I'm told that vets do chipping for free on occasions.

elsien

I've done home checks for a breed rescue.
There are the more general questions about checking the garden is secure, how long the dog will be left for and arrangements for if he's regularly left for more than a few hours. Do you understand and are prepared to deal with the issues a rescue dog might have, that behaviours might not show up straight away, and what you'd do if there was a problem such as aggression. Will the dog have the run of the house when you're in/out, have you considered the cost of vets bills. Then in my case, checking they understand the quirks if the specific breed and understanding they can't be house proud and things will get eaten/broken.
There aren't any right or wrong answers, just checks that you've thought properly about the commitment and that it may not all be plain sailing.
And checking they're not putting a dog with separation anxiety with someone who's out a lot, or a bouncy hyper dog with someone who's after more sedate walks, that sort of thing.

pink_princess

Our visit was very informal, just asking about other pets and the length of time the dog would be alone.
They also asked about arrangements for when we go on holiday and if we have any small children.
All basic things really.

ian103

Weve just had two home checks, both very infomal but mainly to check garden, fencing availability of walk areas etc.

The place we are are rehomong the dog from had a fairly lengthy form but there were no real difficult questions, but they wanted to be sure that we could have a dog (necessary permissions etc from Landlord if required etc) and where the dog sleep.

Once home check OK we could meet the dog, we went for a fairly lengthy walk with him, we went back to fetch our other dog and then took them out together.

We get the new dog tomorrow, so mayhem from tomorrow onwards as we will have an 8 month old dog.

zaksmum

When I had a home check I was asked where the dog would sleep, if there were any rooms the dog was not allowed in, and if someone would be home all day with the dog.

The lady commented on photos of my previous dogs that were on display and said she could see I was a capable and experienced dog owner.

She checked the garden was securely fenced and that was about it really.

Katiehound

trollopscarletwoman wrote: »

.

I'm told that vets do chipping for free on occasions.

Just in case you need micro chipping (not you personally you understand!!) Dogs Trust has an arrangement with lots of vets for free chipping throughout this year. See this map for details
http://www.chipmydog.org.uk/participating-vets/
eg vet in my town is doing specific day for 2 hours whereas Vets4Pets can do it any time and staff in Pets at Home (without the vet bit) may also do it.

My very new boy was chipped for free at Vets4pets, Penrith, had a health check and a booster vaccination for £15 yesterday. The "girl" in the shop said if the vet was fully booked she could do the chipping for me , hence my comment above.
Bargain... worth a delay for my homeward journey and a lovely vet too!

trollopscarletwoman

I have been accepted, hooray!

The questions asked were what lots of posters have suggested such as security, how long the dog will be left, owner or tenant, (owner) will the dog live outside (absolutely not) do you have pet insurance (not in the past).
Where will the dog sleep-anywhere it wants.
Do you have any other pets-no.

She hinted at in the future consider fostering for the charity as I have the space. (see how Yogi gets on first).

The dog is already chipped so don't have to worry about that.

Something I forgot to ask was whether he's had all necessary injections.
He's 5-6 months old.

tea_lover

Yay! Exciting times

Kayalana99

I am a bit miffed tbh as I enquired about a dog today and asked quite a few questions only to be asked to do a home visit so they are coming today... I would of preferred to find out about the dog first(I do know the bare essentials from the post they have been putting up) as I wouldn't want to waste anyones time but I didn't want to seem rude pointing out they were ignoring me & want to put them off letting us have the dog...if we wanted the dog...gah

Only thing is the dog needed a 6ft fence and ours are about 5ft so I told her this in case that was a deal breaker but we do have a 'gap' to the neighbours garden which I didn't mention as we were just enquiring and now I think its going to look like we intentionally lied about it ... although tbf if we were allowed the dog we would get another fence panel put in anyway asap.

Oh well.