Romanian Rescue Dogs

SootySweep1

Hi
We've been hoping to get a dog for a while.
I've been looking at local animal rescues but so far I've not been able to find a suitable dog.
I'm keeping an eye on pets4homes but to be honest with all the issues around scammers I'm very wary.
I am aware of a number of charities that rescue dogs in Romania and bring them into this country & I am considering adopting a dog that way.
Has anyone any experience good or bad of adopting a dog this way ?
There are quite a number of different charities any recommendations? 
Jen

sheramber

 Choose a rescue who foster the dog and assess it before rehoming.

 Avoid ones where you collect the dog off the transport van with no idea what the dog is like.
These dogs have  usually had a traumatic time.
Some are feral , never having  lived in contact with humans. They  are caught and transported into a world they know nothing about

 Contact the rescues and get a feel for them. Do you like what you hear? Do you feel confident about the set up?
Is there back up if you have problems and what kind of back up?

 Are you prepared and   feel capable to deal with any behaviour problems which arise?

There are good rescues giving the dogs a future they wouldn't have had but do not go into it with rose tinted glasses.

MovingForwards

Also check your proposed vet will treat a rescue dog from Romania as some are very selective about which foreign countries they will treat rescue animals from.

Most rescue groups post on Facebook.

theoretica

Not Romania, but a friend had a lovely Galgo - a greyhound from Spain.   Another friend decided against a Romanian rescue as the particular rescue she talked to would let dogs with completely unknown temperaments and experiences go to families with kids/pets/little experience and she wasn't comfortable with that.

SootySweep1

Hi
We've signed up to adopt a puppy from The Responsible Dog Rescue.
The puppy is currently 16 weeks old.
I wouldn't take an older dog because I know we don't have the necessary experience
Jen

Jenni_D

There are lots of animal rescue centres around the country - some of which function nationally, and some which also deal with rescue dogs from Romania. Many Tears Animal Rescue is one such organisation. They're mainly based in Wales but are involved with dogs from around the country, arranging fostering and subsequent rehoming. I assume you've also tried the Dog's Trust?

One thing to be aware of is that many rescue places prefer people who have an existing dog, especially if the dog being rehomed is ex-breeding - the resident dog is needed to teach the ex-breeder how to be a pet, as they've never experienced living in a family home.

Good luck with your search.

Jenni x

Jenni_D

Sorry - I didn't realise that you were the OP who had replied. I hope all goes OK for you.

princeofpounds

I took in a rescue from a Romanian organisation. We weren't even looking for one, rather for one of a specific breed mix. But we saw a dog we liked on a Welsh rescue organisation's website and it turned out they were cross-promoting one from Romania, so we decided to give it a go.

The experience was pretty good. They sent video of the dog interacting with the keepers and other dogs to help us make a choice. The cost was quite reasonable compared to UK dog shelters. They sent someone to assess our living conditions - not Bogdan the Romanian builder but someone who had a long-term relationship with the shelter as a customer, was an experienced dog keeper and had received some training, so we could have a long talk about it. 

The shelter is mainly financed by a UK charity. I had a look at the charity's published accounts, and they looked credible - the staff costs were proportionate to the number of staff on Romanian wages. The transport costs were about right for the man and dog-van set-up they have. I looked at how they were representing their shelter in their marketing vs. how it appeared in the Romanian press and on google maps, and it tallied up. Don't expect the luxury of Battersea dogs home, but having spent quite a bit of time in developing countries I could tell it wasn't bad from a functional point of view. 

They bring the dogs to a couple of shelters in the UK where they stay for a short period then you can pick them up. The dog had been spayed and received vaccinations.

My only criticisms are:

a) the dog had fleas when she arrived. Given the throughput of the shelter, I suspect it would be very hard to control it effectively. Either that and/or their budget is such that I think they are making choices between flea treatment and getting dogs out of the kill shelter.

b) they do email asking for donations a lot. 

The dog herself has been great. If you get a dog that hasn't been psychologically damaged, they are often remarkably well-socialised with people and other dogs given they amount of contact they have with them. She has been fantastic in the house. Training was a bit of a slow process given her age and being used to an independent life, but apart from chasing squirrels and refusing to jump into the car she's good now.

There's a lot of prejudice about the whole thing from people whose only recollections of Romania are the street dog and orphan problems they had in the 90s, and the fact that the charity sector dealing with them wasn't clean. Plus some of the larger more corporate dog charities have always been somewhat cool on foreign operations as it competes with their own business (and it IS a business for them). It has improved substantially but I'm not going to claim it's all better now. However there are a good number of perfectly credible if relatively cash-strapped organisations operating, and a bit of due diligence will always help.

Jenni_D

What you've described sounds very like Many Tears ... although I might be thinking of someone else but can't remember exactly who. I often see posts about Romanian rescues on the Bichon Rehoming group I'm a member of on Facebook.

Jenni x

sheramber

There are good and bad rescues in this  country as well.
Research should always be done beforehand.

Fighter1986

SootySweep1 said:

Hi
We've been hoping to get a dog for a while.
I've been looking at local animal rescues but so far I've not been able to find a suitable dog.
I'm keeping an eye on pets4homes but to be honest with all the issues around scammers I'm very wary.
I am aware of a number of charities that rescue dogs in Romania and bring them into this country & I am considering adopting a dog that way.
Has anyone any experience good or bad of adopting a dog this way ?
There are quite a number of different charities any recommendations? 
Jen

We adopted a Romainian rescue from our local RSPCA. He was a Springer / Collie / Lab mix, jet black. We adopted him at eight months old.

Amazing service, they had his doggie passport and records of all his vaccinations, they also paid for his neutering.

Unfortunately it didn't work out, there were behavioural traits that we simply didn't have the scope to help with, and the RSPCA didn't know his behaviour was quite so bad.

I work from home so was able to keep half an eye on him most of the time unfortunately he just couldn't learn the difference between "Good chew" and "Bad chew"; or rather, if he was being watched, he'd happily play with his toys and things we gave him - big bones, rawhide bones, fluffy toys, squeaky toys, teething rings, all sorts... but the second we glanced away he'd turn to eating carpet, wall or cable.

It's our failing - we didn't have the scope for completely chew-proofing our house, we currently live in a two bedroom terraced house and while we do have a back garden we need to be able to trust the dog in the house, and any time we weren't looking he'd play tug of war with the wiring for the heaters and twice he ripped the Virgin and BT cables clean off the wall, and had away with the trunking I had installed in an attempt to dog proof it.

I know these things take time and while we had the patience and love ready for him to learn, we couldn't run the risk of him electrocuting himself when our backs were turned for five seconds. We did exercise him a lot - three times a day at 45-60 minutes a session down to the river and park with extra long sessions on Saturdays and Sundays in the country parks around here. 

The RSPCA know more about the little fella's behavioural traits now and will be better able to find him a better home off the back of this experience. He has a heart of gold but needs someone able to provide an entirely dog-proof area of the house for him where he can't harm himself by chewing absolutely anything accessible. 

Why have I written all of this?

Because I implore you and anyone else to consider the lives these little creatures have led and don't underestimate the task you have ahead of you with unusual behavioural traits that may take a lot more than you considered to train out of them.

Don't underestimate the task ahead of you. What we did wasn't fair on doggie, it didn't show him stability, and I'd hate for anyone else to have to go through the same. For the sake of the doggo.