Does anyone have a rescue dog from Romania? Bad idea?

[ThisIsNotAIBUPeople]

Me again! We are thinking about getting our first dog. We have 2 DS aged 10 and 15, and 2 cats. I am at home Mon, Tues, Weds and out of the house 8-4 Thurs Fri. I can come home in my lunch hour for a quick walk or let out in the garden, my Dad will also come and give it a walk on the days I work.
I'm looking at rescues in the area and found this one which rescues dogs from Romania
https://www.dogswalkthisway.com/dogs-walk-this-way-rescue.html
Its really important that we find the right dog to fit in with our family, I really want to get it right and can't risk ending up with the 'wrong' dog, that would be worse than no dog. This rescue seem to be good at knowing the dog's personality and whether they are children and cat friendly. Any thoughts? Really bad idea? All comments and advice very gratefully received

[ThisIsNotAIBUPeople]

Should also add, they do have kennels and some go into foster homes here, so I don't think you get them directly from Romania if that makes sense.

[ThisIsNotAIBUPeople]

www.facebook.com/dogswalkthiswayrescue/

[Beamur]

No personal experience. Anecdotally have heard of problems with dogs being less socialised than claimed.
I do know several people with dogs from a Spanish rescue and the dogs are lovely, so not all foreign rescues are the same. The reason these people adopted from here was some personal connection plus availability of small dogs which seem less common in UK ones.
Any reason why you are looking at Romanian rescues rather than UK?

[Teacakeandalatte]

I'm on a dog training group with a trainer who specialises in helping Romanian rescues. From what I have read they can have some issues due to very often being former street dogs.

[ThisIsNotAIBUPeople]

Thanks Beamur I am struggling to find a rescue near us that has a dog to suit our family, most are not cat friendly (those that appear on their websites anyway). This charity has kennels in Grayshott which is around 1/2 hr drive from us so that's part of the appeal, but obviously would travel for the right dog.

[cricketmum84]

I have a friend who got a dog from a Bulgarian rescue. She is a gorgeous little thing and they have had no problems with her at all. She's a bit more greedy than other dogs but that's just because she was on the streets for so long and had to fight for food.

[zafferana]

I just wouldn't want to encourage this crazy business (and it is a business - this bringing over of all these street dogs from Romania). We have more than enough rescue dogs already in this country needing homes, without these do-gooders bringing in van-loads of dogs from elsewhere. I read an article a while back (I'll see if I can find it), about the diseases these dogs have that we don't have here in the UK. These are mainly strays too who've lived on the street - they often don't make good family pets.

[SquintEastwood]

My friend has one and it's fine although it's taken a hell of a lot of (ongoing) training as they suspect he was more a stray street dog than a wandering pet.

Personally, I think there are enough dogs here that need rehoming and rescuing.

[zafferana]

www.theguardian.com/global/2019/jan/08/they-look-cute-but-should-we-rescue-romanias-street-dogs

[ThisIsNotAIBUPeople]

Teacake yes that's a concern, we would be first time dog owners so no experience of helping a dog with issues.

[OpheliaTodd]

I’ve known some fab rescue dogs from abroad but it totally depends on their background.

I’ve also met ex street dogs that quite frankly would have been happier on the street. They don’t always assimilate well into houses.

[ThisIsNotAIBUPeople]

Probably bad idea then I sort of suspected that really.

[hopewardrobe]

I have 2 rescues from Romania. Yes they have been hard to train and one in particular is very nervous of men and parked cars. I have had them 2 years now and I wouldn't change it. You need lots of time and patience but they are incredibly rewarding. It is a massive commitment.

[FrenchyQ]

We do... Ours was in a kill shelter and only had a week left to live, he'd spent hid first 2 years in a shelter with no one wanting him.

It was a smooth process for us, a lady from the rescue came and home checked us.
We've had Titan 2 years now and he's taken a lot of time to get him to be comfortable with us, think it was a year before he willingly came to us for a fuss and he still isn't keen on other dogs (bar our other dog).

Obviously all dogs are different and there are good and bad points of rehiming from another country but it was the right thing for us.

[ThisIsNotAIBUPeople]

Really interesting to read your experiences, thank you. @FrenchyQ ** did you feel they described the dog accurately to you? Did you find them supportive as a rescue? Thanks

[LiveInAHidingPlace]

zafferena most rescues in the UK are unnecessary strict.

OP you can also look into adopting from Korea, thousands of dogs in need there.

[Ticklemeelmo]

My friend has a Romanian rescue dog and it's the sweetest, most well behaved dog I've ever seen. Never barks, she brings it to the pub and you barely notice it's there

[limitedscreentime]

We have one - arrived when kids were 1 and 3. She's been great but did have separation issues to start with which have only resolved with time and patience! The main issues are with dogs which have been on the street (you may never be able to let them off lead, esp if you don't have experience of training dogs) and the shelters - some are very good and the dogs are well socialised, others are less good and more likely to have issues with the dogs and others are quite simply trying to make money and don't really care about the dogs. Our shelter also had the stimulation that if the dog didn't work out for any reason, the dog had to go back to one of their foster homes - I think this was a good sign of the responsibility they take for their dogs.

If You decide to go ahead, I would look to get one born in shelter (ie no experience of being on the street, or lack of human kindness).

I am very pro rescue, but to be honest if you are first time dog owners and you have young kids you are going to find it hard, especially if you're not at home all the time. I think most UK rescue dogs come with issues too, and not all shelters are honest about them. I would look for an older dog, maybe one who has had an elderly owner die or maybe be no longer able to care for it than a rescue or a puppy who you can't be at home for. Going through a breed society rescue might be a good idea.

[MarigoldGlove]

My friend has been looking for a rescue dog who can live with cats for almost a year and eventually found one who was perfect for her. He was three hours away from where she lives but she went to see him anyway and the RSPCA had no difficulty getting her home check with a local to us volunteer.

If you are looking at dogs as far away as Romania then you could consider dogs in non-local,rescues too.

[zafferana]

Yeah, well if you read that article I linked to @LiveInAHidingPlace you can see why the importers of Romanian dogs aren't fussy - those dogs aren't anyone's idea of an easy pet and they often carry diseases that don't exist in this country. No responsible UK individual is going to give house-room to such an animal. The only people who do are the type who are willing to look the other way.

[limitedscreentime]

Stipulation not stimulation!

[coles85]

We have a Romanian rescue and she's amazing (I've just had a baby and we've had zero issues).

The rescue we got her from were very thorough in helping us find a dog that suited our life and experience. She's friendly, house-trained, has never nipped or bitten nor had an accident in the house. She was understandably a bit anxious at first and took some coaxing to walk etc. but certainly no major issues. The biggest problem we have with her is her laziness and her appetite (she loves her food and the only time she's shown signs of aggression like growling and showing teeth, is when her food has been "stolen")

If you use a good rescue charity they'll make sure you get a dog that suits you - ours was in foster in the UK which made me feel more confident as I could chat to her fosterers.

To the poster who said it's a "business" to make money - we paid £250 for a dog who was vaccinated, spayed, had a valid passport and had been legally transported from Romania then looked after in the UK...I fail to see what profit they're making from that!

Feel free to message me OP if you want the details of our charity. And good luck! Rescue dogs are amazing and I'll always have one!

[ThisIsNotAIBUPeople]

Good points from all. Thank you. Yes I had thought about an older dog, so that their personality is known. I am no way rushing into anything (read too many stories here about people rehoming the wrong dog and not knowing what they were getting into) and prepared to wait as long as it takes. Even with the cats and my working pattern, there must be a dog out there somewhere that could live with us successfully!

[limitedscreentime]

Sorry, but 'diseases which don't exist in this country'?!! If they carry them (and I'm pretty sure the vets who manage border quarantine law and regulations are pretty on top of any 'foreign diseases') then they are most certainly already 'in this country' so you've completely contradicted yourself already.

[Fallofrain]

My dog is a romanian rescue dog that was given to a british rescue because the romanian rescue outright lied about his traits.

Other than the whole prioritising uk rescue dogs theres nothing inherently wrong with a romanian dog. I dont know that charity, so cant comment on how it works, but working with a uk rescue.The issues tend to be:

1. lots of money changes hands, there are sometimes questions about the ways charities source their dogs. A lot arent actually charities (which isnt necessarily an issue)
   
   
2. happy to accept any home, if your a decent home this isnt much of an issue but we get a lot of people in difficulties because their application criteria is basically you buy a dog. We see people who should never of been given a dog in the first place or wrong dogs for the.( eg ive seen 12 hour shift workers given puppies, a family with a young baby that was encouraged to adopt 3 large breed dogs within 6 months to help the initial dog "calm down)
   
   
3. Being told they are easier than uk rescue dogs. weirdly all their dogs are miraculously good with children etc The dogs being marketed as something other than what they are. Lots of the dogs are street dogs yet when they are homed new owners aren't warned about life with a dog thats never had loving human contact before, or lived in a house or heard a washing machine. The dogs are often frightened, and take a long time to adjust which is hard if your new dog is terrified, not house trained and takes against your child .
   Ive seen dogs where the assesment that it was good with children was based on a child entering its kennel once and the dog wssnt keen but didnt snap, thus it was homed with a young baby as a "good with kids" dog.
   Also while waiting to be home some are left in outdoor pens for what can be years, 6 years on mine still had odd quirks. The dogs arent always that grateful to live inside!
   
   
4. some of the breeds have fairly distinctive quirks eg podencos will chase like greyhounds but little consideration seems to be given . Our current podenco we foster was homed with lots of small furry things.
   
   
   
5. lack of aftercare support. For a lot of the organisations they disapear after they give you the dog. Ive seen them give some shocking advice at times, and they wont usually take the dog back leaving uk rescues to mop up issues.
   
   
   Alot of these issues could be countered by a good setup though. Just make sure that you can get a honest representation of the dog. If they say its good with children, ask how they know this. Have some long research into what its like when a dog isnt used to humans, or a house or household noise. There will always be people whos dogs were perfect from the word go, but also people who years later still have dogs that cant be left alone in the house. If they try and minimalise the impact of living on the street, then steer well away