You don't have a "rescue", you have a fucking dog!

[RoboticSealpup]

Is this a recent phenomenon? It seems like everyone who has a dog that wasn't bought from a breeder feels the need rub their virtue in others' faces every single time they mention the darned mongrel. "My poodle Henry -he's a two year old rescue - loves cheese!" It's like veganism but with dogs. Don't they realise how sanctimonious they sound?

In this house "he's a rescue" is the short version of "no, we don't know why he's woofing loudly at your dog but he was an ex stud dog on a puppy farm so his history is unclear and this is why we keep him on a lead".

Always mentioned that mine were rescues. Round here it seems to make people think twice about letting their spoilt dogs yap in their faces; apparently here rescue is synonym for 'temperamental' and it worked a treat!

I do find the term rescue amusing. All of mine are actual rescue dogs, from rescues who took them from shitty situations. Some people seem to have decided that buying their dog off a seller on scumtree means they rescued it. Er...no

I wasn’t awear all rescue dogs were mongrels

Mine is a rescue though. A genuine dumped one. We say she is if asked where she came from/why we don't know her exact age like we do our other dog/her background (most do ask as she is unusual breed and colour). I don't announce her as a rescue from first word though, I xall her her name. I don't see an issue to be honest.

What a thing to get aerated about.....

I always say I have 'rescue' Persians, because I feel I have to defend why I have an overbred breed!

Similarly in my house it means "We've only had him for a month, he has very poor recall and that's why he's on a lead, it's not that he's about to attack your dog." Ours appears to be a pure bred springer who might be 5 years old but again I can't answer the age question either, I know little about him other than his owner died. I'm not virtue signalling I just want to explain why I have a springer spaniel on a lead! I also don't want another puppy (I've had 3 before) so I'd rather home an adult dog, I don't want a pat on the back for it!

With you OP. This is a rescue dog.

I say it when people ask what DCat's name is. To explain she came with that name as she's a rescue. (She knew her own name so I couldn't change it!) Ie - it's not a name I would have chosen.

I'm glad they do really

The more common it is, the more people might think seriously about getting a 'rescue' themselves.

OP, you have an inferiority complex. People can do great things and they are allowed to tell people about them, there's no reason for you to get defensive. And yes it is a great thing to save an animal's life by adopting them.

isseywithcats Fri 08-Dec-17 18:10:56
as someone who works in rescue (cats) i love it when someone says their dog is a rescue dog and usually ask how the dog ended up in rescue, i love rescue dogs, i spit feathers when some nob head says its a pugchi or whatever stupid new crossbreed between two pedigrees is in fashion and rather than giving a rescue dog a chance of a new life they go to a backstreet breeder and pay pedigree prices for essentially a mongrel, thus encouraging the money machines who dont care about the poor dogs they breed, dont get me wrong i have nothing against proper breeders who breed to promote all that is good in their chosen breed

Did your son manage to find homes for the (Staffie, I think) puppies he bred a few years ago from his pet?

From experience a dog bought at 12 weeks old from a breeder is VERY different to a rescue dog, so saying they are a rescue in a conversation about them is justified. It also gives a heads up as to why you don’t know their exact breed or age and why thy might be behind on their training. Conversations usually go;

‘Oh lovely what breed/age is she?’
‘I don’t know actually’
‘You don’t know?!’
‘Nope. She’s a rescue’

So whichever way the conversation goes you’ve got to say it regardless!

No different from dog owners who frequently mention their dog’s “breed” when posting photos.

Eg “blue whippet”, “wheaten terrier”, “cockapoo”

It's just the default now - we recently got a kitten and I feel morally obligated to only ever refer to it as a "rescue kitten". Anything less and someone somewhere would judge the shit out of me.

Erm, this bothers you? Really? I have a rescue. I constantly have to explain because she is highly reactive to dogs. I’m not doing it to sound virtuous, but so that people understand why she is going ballistic if their offlead dog approaches.

It's the modern term for mongrel.
Nope, that's Cockerpoo, Labradoodle, etc.

My three rescued Spanish Galgos say hi OP.

Grammatically impossible.

We have two rescue dogs. One is frightened of small children and men and can be aggressive to other dogs. This is improving very gradually.

I prefer to tell people he's a rescue dog than have them think that he shakes and flinches when people move quickly or pick up wooden objects around him because of something we did to him.

Quite apart from the sanctimoniousness of needing to proclaim they have adopted a dog from a sanctuary, MrsPestilence has it. It is an abuse of the language.

It is not a rescue dog. If you must use that god awful term, it is a rescueD dog.

If you are using rescue as an adjective, it means a dog that is rescuing. It's a St Bernard in the snow with a barrel of alcohol round it's neck rescuing a fucking reckless middle class off piste skier.

It's another dire Americanism that has crept unbidden into our fine language because its more important to show the world how worthy you are like Meghan Merkin with her #adoptdontshop hash tag.

What's the point in doing a good deed unless everyone knows all about it hey?

I sometimes say it as people ask me what mine is and I have no clue!

I then add in he's a rescue so people don't think I irresponsibly bred him

DancingHouse have you actually visited a rescue centre? Plenty of pure breeds to choose from because their owners bought them as a fashion item and then realised they actually have to look after them. Or greyhounds that aren’t needed for running anymore. Or pure bred Staffies that have been bred over and over again.

more pics might help here! here's my "rescue" :)