Thoughts on "many Tears" or other rescue centres in the South of England?

[diplodocus]

We're seriously thinking of getting a young dog or puppy in a few months and would be hoping to get one from a rescue. We have DCs aged 5 and 7, so are looking for somewhere that will let families with young children adopt suitable dogs. I'm quite keen to use a rescue that "fosters" dogs in a home environment and obviously we're keen to use an organisation that will put a lot of effort into ensuring they match us with a dog that suits our family (and will like living with us!). We're quite interested by Many Tears - any of you have views about them? Otherwise any other good rescue centres you can recommend in the South (e.g. Hants, Dorset, Surrey, Sussex etc.). Any advice gratefully received.

[mistlethrush]

What sort of dog are you looking for? I know that lots of the greyhound / whippet / lurcher rescues actively foster their dogs out because its better for the dogs and gets more of their characters known so that its easier to match them to the right family.

[assumpta]

Hi, I don't know anything about Many Tears. We got our lovely rescue dog from All Sorts Rescue in East Sussex if that is any help. The poor boy was covered in fleas though, but when I enquired about giving a flea treatment, they said he had been sprayed, but he was still full of them. In fairness they probably only had him for a week before we got him. He also had developed horrendous kennel cough, which took him a long time to get over. He had apparently been a stray in Ireland, then they are shipped over. The rescue were very helpful, but although it works on a 'donation', the 'donation' they suggested for our dog was £300. He was worth every penny, we were delighted to give him a home and we love him dearly. Rescue is definitely the way forward.

[Marne]

We have just picked our pup up from 'comfy care' in Dorset (bournemouth), all there dogs are in foster homes (no kennels). We have 2 dc's 6 and 8 and they have been fine about homing a pup with us, i know some rescues near by wont home dogs with children under 8. So far our expereance has been good (obviously its early days).

[diplodocus]

We're not fussed on breed - looking for a mid-sized dog who doesn't need excessive amounts of excercise but is still keen to be active. We have a good sized garden and back onto fields where we can walk him / her each day and when ready can go off the lead. It's the temperament we're most concerned about. We'd consider a lurcher (although am a bit concerned they are difficult to train on recall because they are sighthounds - is that true?) - a greyhound would probably be a bit big.

[diplodocus]

assumpta and Marne - thanks for both your suggestions. Will certainly look into thme.

[tooearlytobeup]

I adopted from Many Tears and have visited their centre a few times. They can come across as abrupt as they are very busy, but are very thorough with ensuring the dog is a match for the home IYSWIM.

I know they have been criticised on here for charging for behavioural help but I found them very helpful after we had adopted our pup. He became ill after we brought him home and Sylvia the owner offered to take him back to look after him herself until he was well (no way I would have let him go) and told me to call anytime though the night if I needed advice. This was despite her mum being critically ill in hospital at the time.

I'm so glad I convinced them we could offer a good home, we ended up with the most wonderful dog ever, and I will certainly adopt from them again when the time is right.

[diplodocus]

Thanks Tooearly - very helpful.

[higgle]

We had our first rescue dog from MT - he had beenwith them ages because he was a Staffie and they don't seem to have very many of those. They were very nice and friendly, did a thorough homecheck and contacted us later to check we were getting on OK. When we were looking again we wanted another Staffie as lovely as the first - a quiet older chap who didn't mind being home alone in the mornings. MT did not have a suitable dog so we got DD2 from Rescue Remedies, he was in foster and again we got a lovely welcome, lots of information and a great match for our family. I'd recommend both, it is also rather nice that both have forums you can keep in touch on.

[diplodocus]

Thanks higgle - and everyone else for taking the time to be so helpful. Will look up Rescue Remedies as well. A quick look at these sites suggests there is no shortage of lovely dogs and puppies looking for a home!

[LadyTurmoil]

If you look at the recent thread "Problem getting a rescue dog, are none suitable with kids?" you'll find a few links to rescues sites in the South East. Sorry, my internet is super slow today otherwise I'd paste them in here but it would take ages! As tooearly said, MT have been criticised and I do wonder whether they just help to perpetuate the cycle of crappy breeders in Wales (altho' only tough legislation and enforcement will really help, imo). I don't have first hand experience of them but they do give you lots of info on the dogs, have good write-ups from fosterers, which I think is v important. I once asked about Dorset Dog Rescue on here and a lady who worked in the rescue field said they hadn't got a v good reputation. I wouldn't recommend Allsorts in Sussex particularly. I looked after a puppy from there for a week for someone, it had kennel cough, a really foul smell and the runs - I don't think they'd looked after it v well and, in hindsight, they seemed very keen to get it rehomed and didn't really ask many questions which would have uncovered that the breed (active collie cross) wasn't really suitable for the people who were adopting. There's also www.dogpages.co.uk which has a section for the South of England, listing all rescues sites in that area. If you're keen on a particular breed, there are breed specific rescues you can find by doing a google search.

[kitsmummy]

We've just adopted a puppy from MT, it was a good experience here. Esther is a boxer x border terrier and she's fab. She was in foster and the fosterer and MT seemed to really want to ensure she was going to the right home.

Our DC are 4 and 9, so they were keen that we get a dog that would definitely be suitable for them. One dog I enquired about wouldn't have been suitable and they said so.

[blinkedandmissedit]

We have also recently adopted from Many Tears. Our adoption took slightly longer due to us applying just before Xmas, and understandably they will not re-home puppies just before Xmas. In all the adoption process lasted 2 weeks. We applied using an on-line form. The next day a lady at the rescue called us and we had a lengthy conversation. She then passed our deatls onto the fosterer who called the same day. She went through details about the puppy and asked us some questions. Later in the week we had a home check, then one week later we met our pup and took her home two days later.

It did all seem a bit daunting, but actually the questions were all sensible. We haven't had a dog before and the process has meant we have some idea of what we are doing. The fosterers were great and gave us the puppy's routine, as well as lots of advice. The home checker was great and as she's local has told us to get in touch if we need to.

As we adopted a puppy, the fosterer was very strict about who she would go to apparently. However, we are not experienced dog owners, but did do some research into training and raising a puppy. Basically, they want to ensure people are adopting that will train the dog and not return a badly behaved untrained dog to them with less chance of rehoming as it's now less cute.

They do have many ex-breeding dogs who they have strict criteria for rehoming and we wouldn't have been allowed one of those.

[diplodocus]

Many thanks for all these replies. Think that MT may suit us well, and if we end up paying for follow up then so be it. Also like the look of Comfy care so will bear them in mind. Hope to maybe be posting in a few months that we have a new family member!

[LadyTurmoil]

Good luck with your search - looking forward to updates!

[Callisto]

I'm in the process of getting a dog from Hope Rescue. They rescue dogs from council pounds and although they are based in S Wales they foster all over the midlands and SW. They have been v professional and fast acting so far.

Here is the link: [www.hoperescue.org.uk Hope]]

[Callisto]

Bugger, try again: Hope

[Scuttlebutter]

Callisto, congratulations! I have a lot to do with Hope - attend a lot of their events, and see their volunteers often. They are a highly reputable charity and I particularly like the way they insist on foster assessments of dogs before adoption. You will be in very safe hands. They have a terrific programme of events - if you are ever in S Wales, come along!

Another reason for liking them a great deal is that as well as their excellent work in rehoming, they have taken a more strategic approach on pound dogs and now GUARANTEE to at least two local Councils that they will find homes for all the unclaimed pound dogs, thus ensuring a big reduction in numbers killed. For this they are to be hugely congratulated. They are also leading the Welsh end of the campaign on BSL, and I'm likely to be attending some joint meetings with them shortly on the Welsh Govt's current consultation on Dangerous Dogs. The lady who founded them actually started out with one of our greyhound charities but she was so moved by the plight of Last Hope (only look him up if you are feeling brave ) she went on to found her own rescue and it is now going great guns.

I get very tired from hearing from certain large rehoming organisations in Wales that they can't campaign as it would jeopardise the supply of profit dogs - Hope and many other rescues demonstrate that it's perfectly possible to be good at rehoming dogs and to take a strategic view too of the issues concerned, thus ensuring we are not just providing a conveyor belt, and in effect enabling the easy disposal of dogs.

[LadyTurmoil]

Great to hear details about Hope Rescue. I don't have any axe to grind - positively or negatively - and I do have big reservations about whether they just help perpetuate the breeding/profit cycle but they do have a lot of dogs and foster all over the UK, which does make it easier for some people if they are a long way away from Wales. Scutttle is there a central register (apart from the Dog Pages site) that lists ALL UK rescues, that people can be directed to???

[Scuttlebutter]

For checking out rescues in general, several ways to go. Obviously there is DogsBlogs which lists quite a few. There is Rescue Review which is a great idea in encouraging people to give feedback on their adoption experiences - always worth a look. Big national charities such as Blue Cross and Dogs Trust will have their branches listed on their sites, similarly for the RGT which supports a lot of branches doing greyhound rescue. Ultimately, there is no fully comprehensive list - rescues vary enormously in size, types of animal taken/homed and their structure, and are not registered/licensed by anybody unless dealing with dangerous/wild animals (beware of any rescue that claims to be). Otherwise you are best probably using the old mantra "Google is your friend" Or of course asking on here!

[OwlLady]

My friend fosters dogs for the greyhound trust and previous to that the dogs trust and both would place dogs with families

a couple of my friends in Kent have adopted through last chance rescue which i think is Maidstone way

[LineRunner]

In Hampshire there is the Ark at Stubbington, and Portsmouth City Council runs its own stray/rescue kennels at Burrfields.

[Willowisp]

I got my dog from Friends of the Animals RCT. I was thoroughly vetted at home, has an interview over the phone, changed my mind over dog (for the better) & they are just fab.

We did drive 2 hrs to get doggie, but we love her & she couldn't be more ideal for us.

I did look at local rescues, but to no avail.

[LadyTurmoil]

Have you looked at www.pupsneedinghomes.co.uk/ and poundpuppy.org/doglistp.htm?1 They're in Sussex (I think) and Dorset respectively.

[LadyTurmoil]

Meant to add these too two as well: www.prodogsdirect.org.uk/#/dogs/4564213851 and www.heathlands.org.uk/ Bit further away but not impossible. They both have Facebook pages as well you can look for. Heathlands (Hertfordshire) have said on their FB page that they've got loads of puppies handed in to pounds (unwanted Christmas presents already which they will soon be putting up on their website www.facebook.com/pages/Heathlands-Animal-Sanctuary-Royston/162793817103330?fref=ts

[mistlethrush]

We seriously considered two dogs from here which looks to be a really nice rescue, with lots of info on the dogs.