To be sad that more people don't consider rescue dogs?

[Keletubbie]

Overly emotional, flicking through Facebook, and several local shelters are at capacity and appealing for homes for their residents. Rows and rows of sad looking middle aged dogs. Breaks my heart.

We're currently at canine capacity so none of them can come here (probably ) but I can't fathom why nobody wants them... 😢

Toofat our DDog is a staff cross lab we think. He runs around like a loon and then curls up by the fire / radiator all evening. He will let the DCs do anything to him and has never once hurt them, he is the best. (Although he destroyed a lot as a puppy and I am always covered in dog hair, and he will steal sandwiches from the kitchen table when your back is turned for more than 10 seconds...)

Good rescues will make you jump through hoops, but it is only in the best interest of the the dogs and sadly people who are desparate for a dog do find this frustrating. Bad rescues don't assess their dogs, hand out dogs to anyone who asks, and give little or no backup when it goes wrong - this is largely what gives all rescues a bad name.
I am fostering a gorgeous dog at the moment who is fine with cats and children, but would be lost without another dog in the house as she has had so little life experience. I can't recommended that she lives as an only dog as I know it would be a struggle for her, however well intentioned the new owners were.
The right rescue dog will come up for you eventually, but it does take patience.

Tit puppy farms are a huge problem in this country. But if rescues refuse to take dogs from them these dogs will most likely end up dead. Puppy farmers aren't ethical people who make the best decision for their dogs.

Bubble. That's lovely.
I am happy to jump through every hoop going if it means the dog gets the best home. And rescues like Black Retriever X know exactly what that is as they have had the dog in foster.
I want a dog BUT I want to be a forever home for a dog and not a failed attempt at homing an unsuitable dog.

We would have loved to go for a rescue dog, but none of the centres, even the little local independent ones, would consider us as we had young children.

We looked for 18 months/2 years for a rescue, and despite the fact that I was at home full time, we had a huge garden, lived on the edge of miles of countryside walks, had my parents round the corner who would dogsit if we had to be out for any length of time, we weren't considered suitable as my youngest child was 3

We weren't overly fussy as to the breed, as a child I'd grown up with Heinz 57s from rescue centres as did DH, so we had no real breed preferences but we just gave up in the end

Good post Titclash

We need to look at ways of making breeding dogs much more difficult and much less profitable. I think you should have to pay for a license to own an unneutered/unspayed dog and selling a puppy bred from an unlicensed dog should be an offence.

Industries like greyhound racing should be banned - a ridiculous number of puppies are bred every year but only a small number will be successful and,even then, their career will be short lived. No thought is given to what happens to these dogs when they are deemed unsuitable or unfit for racing.

I currently own 2 rescue dogs - staffie X and a greyhound both are wonderful pets but agree with PP comments about some of the ridiculous expectations of some rescues. However, I would not have had a rescue dog when DC were small.

Because people don't really know their history and a lot of those wanting a dog are people with young families, which rescue centres refrain from helping.

Puppy farmers are not ethical, they won't stop breeding just because rescues won't take unwanted stock in. Some of the dogs are dumped anyway, others will just 'dispose' of them by drowning or worse means.
Regulation is needed, awareness to the public who provide the supply is needed more.

Jumping through hoops is acceptable and even expected.

Moving those hoops above jumping position is not.

For example some rescues want dog experience, someone at home all day, no other animals and no children before they even entertain you.

That saying there are some lovely independent rescues who are happy to work with the family

Re puppy farms there is one rescue who takes all the ex breeding bitches, ex studs and unwanted puppies whenever the farms say so.

This puts me a bit uneasy as it says to them, breed as much as you want. We are here to help you when you need it.

Flip side is though, if they didn't take the dogs there are more or less likely to be killed and I don't mean by euthanisa either.

I think smaller rescue centres are a bit more forgiving on people's circumstances.
I got my cat from a small rescue, he'd had a rough start and been back a few times for rehoming, so they were understandably nervous about finding his next home. He took a long time to settle but it's certainly love on all sides.

It breaks my heart too. I want to give all of them a home.

We always had rescue dogs growing up - the first dogs I can remember were two Jamaican street dogs my mother had rescued. I always swore I would only have rescues. I don't even like puppies! Too much constant work!

Then we had DD who was petrified of dogs. There was no reason for her to be petrified - her older brother has always loved dogs - but she would scream blue murder if one approached her. Despite this, she was desperate for a dog and I kept telling her she couldn't have one because she was scared of them!

We ended up getting a specific puppy for her from some friends of ours and despite my feelings about this, it has been the best decision we've ever made. She's now dog obsessed and I try to justify it to myself by saying that she will probably go on to own numerous rescue dogs which she wouldn't have done without this puppy.

I still don't like our decision and have made DH swear that all future dogs will be rescues!

This lovely dog can be homed with primary school-aged children.

She is a long-stay, probably because she is a staffie

We jumped through hoops for our rescues, and rightfully so. Lots of dogs in rescue have had a tough start already without being rehomed and returned again and again. We've had our collie since she was 8 weeks old, mum was a 'failed' sheepdog called Sal, Sal was given away to a teenager who then found herself pregnant and homeless so she gave her dog to a local rescue. By the time Sal hit the rescue at around 1 year old she was pregnant herself.

Our spaniel was around 5 months old when he was kicked out onto the streets, who knows what his 'crime' was (probably being a young spaniel). Again adopting him wasn't easy, the rescue had already rejected our application for another dog they had on their books and rightfully so but when the Spanner came to them they knew we were the right family for him. He's been hard work but well worth it.

I think lots of people who want to walk away from their animal wouldn't go to the lengths to find a good home so more dogs would end up in the wrong hands. I am not sure that fining people for asking rescues to help rehome their dog is the right way to go.

But that dog can't be walked without a muzzle, hardly what you want in a family dog.

We don't have a dog yet but the shelters we looked out had none that we could rehome. Both of us work full-time, we are ttc and have cat. Those three things meant that none of the dogs we were suitable for, save one who'd already been rehomed. We've looked several times over the last few months and it's the same every time.

It's far easier, imo, to match to rescue cats than dogs.

If we could get a rescue dog or pup we would, but with the strict criteria we have there's very little chance. I think that's probably a common problem and it's better not to take on an animal then not meet its needs.

But that dog can't be walked without a muzzle, hardly what you want in a family dog.

How does having a muzzle stop it being a family dog?

Grumpy with other dogs to the extent you need to muzzle it.
I agree with Anomaly. There are always idiots who let their dogs run loose up to yours. If your dog grumbles, a fight ensues and your hold gets caught up.

I actually can't understand the rationale of 'I'd rather get a puppy. You don't know what you are getting with a rescue dog'. It's bollocks. A good rescue will have skilled behaviourists who can give you a very good idea of a dog's temperament. A puppy is more of an unknown - you don't know if it's going to grow up to be nervous around children, or have separation anxiety, or be aggressive. All of these traits will be pretty apparent in an adult rescue.

My parents got a very expensive designer cross bred because they wanted to know what they were getting. The dog isn't reliable with children, which is a pain with grandchildren around. There are plenty of rescue dogs who are solid with kids - my cousins rescue staffy cross is the most bomb proof dog with children I think I know.

I would love a rescue dog, but the shelters here won't rehome when there are children under 8 in the house. End of the matter, really. If they feel that's the best thing for the dog, maybe they're right.

Flying in strays from other countries is a bugbear of mine. What a waste of time and money. We have plenty of strays of our own, and these dogs usually come with a load of extra warnings about the behavioural issues of them being true, feral strays, making them even harder to rehome than the average British mutt.

About to go and collect our new dog from her foster home. Ridiculously excited. The local dog sanctuary had so many conditions on letting anyone adopt that I can see why they are at capacity. The foster network was recommended to me. They've done a thorough home check and interview which we passed with flying colours thank god. They seem far more pragmatic.

Points against us with the dogs home was cats, kids, not having had a dog for a while.

Sparkle that's great.
Quod I'm afraid not all rescues offer such dedicated behaviourist help.

Some do though sparkle, it's great to hear a positive story. I can see why some rescues are so tough in re homing having seen some of the stories in the doghouse lately. Puppies bought on a whim, wrong breed, locked in crates for hours and they end up in rescue. It's so much easier to buy a dog and not think it through.

Yes I can see why they are cautious but agree it just pushes people into getting a puppy. I knew a puppy wouldn't be right for us but might have gone that route through desperation if it weren't for the foster network. They offer lifelong support as well and have seen them help lots of people that have hit a bump in the road in training their rescue. They are a bunch of righteous wimmin on FB - they rock