Adopting an older dog - any tips?

seven-day-weekend

I'm not a 'dog' person but have had two dogs.

The first one was a retired racing greyhound. Nellie was going to be put down even though she was only three as she had stopped winning races. I knew the registered trainer who told me about her, and he personally trained her not to chase my cats and after that she was a really well behaved, albeit very silent , dog (apparently hounds hardly ever bark). We had her for five years and then gave her away to a chap who loved her because we were expecting our son and we did not know how she would be with small children. She lived happily ever after in the stockbroker belt in Surrey until she died at the age of 14 (a good age for a greyhound).

Our second dog wa inherited from my FIL after he died. Butch had originally been a rescue dog. He'd been thrown from a van onto the fast lane of the M6.:eek: :eek: By the time we inherited him he was nine, and for a while mourned for my FIL, but eventually realised that my husband was his new master, and then never left his side until he died at the ripe old age of 17. Butch was a Border Collie/Corgi cross.

Just said this to show that dogs can be rehomed successfully, both pedigrees and crossbreeds, even to people who are not used to dogs, providing that they are prepared to love the dog and seek professional help when necessary.

Butch died in 1993 and we've not had a dog since, although we will have one (from a re-homing centre) when we return to the UK as my husband would love one.

loopy_lass

well i cant really add to the advice of others, but wanted to say, ive never had a dog before, but... after a friends two rotties were always scrapping i for some reason offered to take one off their hands... Hence ... madam in the picture!! she was 2 when i got her and a bit unruly, you know the kind of thing, just did as she pleased etc.

With no experience and taking on a 2 yr old rottie i can hear some people saying YOUR NUTS... but, shes now coming up to 5, she is fab, she is well trained (took a long time and a lot of patience) but she will do anything for a bit of chicken or a play with a ball etc.

So basically what im saying is being patient, spending lots of time and effort on her she is a fab dog. not a lot of help i know, but it can be done..

loops

milkydrink

THE_LONE_RANGER wrote:

This made very interesting reading as for the price of my labs prices are for fully trained up to ft level and they sell very well in the well known shooting magazines i have sold to two well known people and one very well known labrador breeder and i have sold abroad scandanavia, ireland, france, and many whos dogs have retired have come back to me .
The rehomeing centres i have visited are two rspca centres one canine defence league and yes one small centre but i hasten to add rspca approved .
yes i have made my living from breeding labradors and irish woolfhounds and yes both have there problems (genetic etc ) but im in contact with many of the people who have purchased from me over the years all very happy with no problems am i ashamed of what i do for a living of course not why should i be .
i do stand by my opinion that a dog who has issues which have been with that dog for a number of years can not be changed its yet to be proved to me .
as i posted earlier an associate who refuses to buy a dog went to local rspca they approved him and gave him a(after donation )rotti ive owned them in the past not a dog at 3 years of age would i dare bring in to a house with a 7 year old child, but the rspca said he was perfect with children ???? to say this is a disgrace no matter how many tests etc it should not have been given to a family not at that age you cannot trust it . since its arrival it has ripped the garden up , shown aggressive behavior to people the other side of the fence cannot be controlled on the lead , not social with other dogs this dog is in my opinion !!!!!! and should be put down the rspca told him he was friendly ,loving ,house trained ,walks well on the lead , when he pointed out the dog jumped about a lot on the lead pulled etc they told him oh he is just excited he will be fine at your home .
so i am a breeder and i consider myself a good one who gives the best to his dogs from vet treatment to food ,to homeing, homeing places ask for at least £50 to rehome a dog with you and i think in my opinion in the majority of cases give you a nightmare . i will not be so rude as to quistion the expertise of you as you did of me other than to say i wouldnt come in to contact with the people who go to homeing centres as many do not wish to pay for a dog. so to be honest get what they deserve , as my associate said i wish id never got him and as i said ,i quistion any one that puts a fully grown rotti with family you cant be 100%sure of its past or temperment. if you have children you should bring a pup in to the house there are plenty(free) many are mongrels available in the papers that is the safest way to bring a dog in to a family house .

I don't know much about dogs, but there can be some truth in what this poster says about re-homing adult animals. I occasionally help with the CPL (cats Protection League) re-homing system. I really admire people who are willing to take an adult rescue cat on. Yes often the animals are there through no fault of their own, can be berevement ect. But sometimes they are difficult in some way or another (I mean are now difficult due to a rocky/bad start in life).
Mine is a pedigree persian bought as a 6 month kitten from a breeder, the advantage to this is you decide whats the perfect breed, age, coat, exercise requirements, attention needs ECT for you & buy the best breed, age, sex to suit you. I bought mine 5 years ago, before I ever got involved with the CPL, but if I decided to get another, even I would consider going to a breeder again, mind you if I were to get another it would have to be a kitten (on account of my cat being a dominant sort) & I would want it to be a persian (love the temprament) & you don't here of persian kittens in rescue centers.
If I were looking for a moggy I would look at rescue centers first, but would make sure I was using one that was really concerned with finding the right pet for the right owner, the CPL are very concerned about that.

THE_LONE_RANGER_4

some posters seem to miss the point i never said dont rehome a dog , i said familys should take on a pup mongeral or pedigree its up to them , with the mongeral check what its crossed with and go from there , i just think many dogs in rehomeing centres with bad issue that will not change should not be rehomed its an opinion

**purplemoon**

THE_LONE_RANGER wrote:

some posters seem to miss the point i never said dont rehome a dog , i said familys should take on a pup mongeral or pedigree its up to them , with the mongeral check what its crossed with and go from there , i just think many dogs in rehomeing centres with bad issue that will not change should not be rehomed its an opinion

Yes, that's your opinion and you're entitled to it, but from comments you've made throughout this thread I can only assume you have little to no real experience of dog rescue. Admittedly, there are still some pounds/kennels that exist, unfortunately, that will rehome unsuitable dogs to unsuitable households having not performed proper assessments on either the dog or the family just to keep the numbers in kennels down, and these reflect badly on the rescue centres that do take the time to match each dog to the right family.

I work in dog rescue and perform homechecks on people throughout the whole of East Anglia wishing to adopt a rescue dog. Almost all the dogs I deal with are placed in a foster home for a thorough assessment prior to rehoming where we can assess their suitability to live with other dogs/animals/children etc and we choose families that meet the requirements of each individual dog. We also provide a full back up service to help with any settling problems/training issues etc and by doing this it is rare that we ever have a dog returned to us.

We even rescue dogs from other rescue centres, including some abroad, where they are at risk of being PTS before even having the chance of finding a home and have a network of people travelling the length and breadth of the country to ensure these dogs can reach a place of safety before being needlessly killed by some of the more unscrupulous shelters.

It is not often we meet dogs that have issues so bad they can't be overcome with time, patience and lot's of TLC and finding the right home for them is paramount to that.

chloejane_2

Hi all this is chloes husband, I have grown up with dogs and now we have 2 of our own, my main points would be a dog is what you make it, remember that dogs originate from wolves and like to live in a pack, with an alpha male, ensure that you occupy that alpha position. Dogs do take lots of hard work and mine are not pictures of excellence !! its well worth seeking profesional advice with issues you are struggling to train out using standard methods. most issues can be trained out quickly if you know exactly what you are doing. avoid any hard training methods unless you really know what you are doing as you can cause loads more problems.
As for breeding i have apent years around pedigree dogs and mongrels, and in my opinion (and it is only my opinion) mongrels tend to make better pets as they do not have the inbred issues that come with pedigree dogs. think about all those inbred families and the issues that creates, forget the moral issues just think about the real health issues. Good breeders avoid these issues by using many different stud dogs. Poor breeders just want to make money !!!! As for rescue homes i applaude anyone taking a rescue dog. they can make great pets and often just want attention from the alpha male. you need to be aware of the issues any rescue dog has had, and what work you may need to do to rectify any isues the dog has had. Remember the people in rescue homes wont release a dog unless they think it is safe to do so.

Finally dogs are a massive commitment, they need time and attention. if you have kids you will know how much work a young untrained animal can take. if your struggling with the commitment talk to the home where you got the dog, they would normally prefer to take the dog back than see you struggle with it. I would advise that if you really cant cope then offer them a donation to take the dog off your hands.

I know i have not solved any of your problems with this dog, I dont believe anyone on a web page can solve your problems we can merely offer advice. I hope i have been some help.

Richard

Raksha

Richard, modern training doesn't rely on maintaining an 'alpha' position, as we are then talking about cross species packs, which simply don't exist. Modern pet dogs have been bred to promote trainable dogs, which is acheived by consistency - and maybe this is what has been lacking in this dogs previous life, enabling him to take advantage?

THE_LONE_RANGER_4

**purplemoon** wrote:

Yes, that's your opinion and you're entitled to it, but from comments you've made throughout this thread I can only assume you have little to no real experience of dog rescue. Admittedly, there are still some pounds/kennels that exist, unfortunately, that will rehome unsuitable dogs to unsuitable households having not performed proper assessments on either the dog or the family just to keep the numbers in kennels down, and these reflect badly on the rescue centres that do take the time to match each dog to the right family.

I work in dog rescue and perform homechecks on people throughout the whole of East Anglia wishing to adopt a rescue dog. Almost all the dogs I deal with are placed in a foster home for a thorough assessment prior to rehoming where we can assess their suitability to live with other dogs/animals/children etc and we choose families that meet the requirements of each individual dog. We also provide a full back up service to help with any settling problems/training issues etc and by doing this it is rare that we ever have a dog returned to us.

We even rescue dogs from other rescue centres, including some abroad, where they are at risk of being PTS before even having the chance of finding a home and have a network of people travelling the length and breadth of the country to ensure these dogs can reach a place of safety before being needlessly killed by some of the more unscrupulous shelters.

It is not often we meet dogs that have issues so bad they can't be overcome with time, patience and lot's of TLC and finding the right home for them is paramount to that.

i would still quistion the introduction of any adult dog be it rescued or not, in to a home with young children. there is a risk and if there is a risk it should not be done no matter how small the risk.
i would also point out the associate i know with the rescued rotti was checked by the rspca rehomeing person the only thing she wanted to hear was is the dog going to be kept in the house im bemused that a rotti or any other dog(adult) can be put in to a home with young children .as for rescue a dog from abroad as we all know there are lpenty of dogs in rehomeing stations here. all my labradors are working dogs granted my irish wolfhounds are not but any registered reputable breeder uses an array of stud dogs i travel from cornwall chorley to scotland for the right stud dog .

chloejane_2

Raksha wrote:

Richard, modern training doesn't rely on maintaining an 'alpha' position, as we are then talking about cross species packs, which simply don't exist. Modern pet dogs have been bred to promote trainable dogs, which is acheived by consistency - and maybe this is what has been lacking in this dogs previous life, enabling him to take advantage?

I understand your point, I would however maintain my 'alpha' thoughts as this does promote consistency(happy to agree to disagree on this one if you want !!!!). It allows a dog to know for sure who is top of the pack. Consistency is vital. The real issue here appears to be can this couple cope with the workload required ? Dogs are a masive commitment and they need to understand that they must embody this commitment, seek professional help or return the dog to the rescue home. I only see these 3 options as ones that are open to them at this point in time. They must talk to each other about the issues. and decide together which route they want to take.

Richard

**purplemoon**

THE_LONE_RANGER wrote:

i would still quistion the introduction of any adult dog be it rescued or not, in to a home with young children. there is a risk and if there is a risk it should not be done no matter how small the risk.

We have a policy of not re-homing any dog to families with children under 5, and where older children exist the dogs are vetted thoroughly beforehand.

i would also point out the associate i know with the rescued rotti was checked by the rspca rehomeing person the only thing she wanted to hear was is the dog going to be kept in the house

Obviously I can't comment on how other rescues perform their evaluations, but it certainly sounds far from ideal in this case, which I guess also shows that anyone adopting a rescue dog needs to make sure they are using a reputable rescue centre with full and appropriate assessments and back-ups in place