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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

213 replies

RoboticSealpup · 08/12/2017 18:01

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?

OP posts:
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DeputyBrennan · 08/12/2017 18:44

Giving an abandoned or mistreated dog a loving new home is something to proud of, in my opinion. It makes me happy to see a loved and happy dog and find out he/she is a ‘rescue’.

latchkeyanddesperate · 08/12/2017 18:46

Does it wind you up because you feel guilty? I hate it when people tell me they don't eat sugar and work out every day. Why mention it? Are they just trying to show that they are superior to overweight me?

Topseyt · 08/12/2017 18:48

I can't see the issue.

Why does this bother you? Are you short of things to get het up over, so you have now seized on this?

maddiemookins16mum · 08/12/2017 18:48

Sanctimonious and virtuous is a bit ott.
Maybe they're just proud they didn't support some unscrupulous breeder or get him from someone who stupidly didn't neuter their animals.
Or maybe, as others have mentioned, being a 'rescue' is just part of his life history so to speak.

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 08/12/2017 18:49

Yabu.

It's a really important thing to home a 'rescue'.

TheWhyteRoseShallRiseAgain · 08/12/2017 18:50

I have 4 dogs and only one rescue. 2 are mongrels but she isn’t one of them.

AngelsSins · 08/12/2017 18:51

Jesus, over sensitive OP! If i get asked my dogs age, breed, background etc then I'll say she's a rescue, and that's why I'm unsure of her age. It's not me trying to shame them or being smug, it's more so that they don't think I'm a shit owner who doesn't even know the breed of her own dog. Anyway, people should feel proud of rescuing a dog, it's a good thing to do!

Topseyt · 08/12/2017 18:51

Oh, and it is true that not all dogs in rescue centres are crossbreeds. There are plenty of pedigree dogs there too.

There are even breed specific rescues.

GuntyMcGee · 08/12/2017 18:54

YANBU.

We have two rescue dogs but I refer to them as their breeds and names. We do say they're from a rescue centre if anyone asks how old they are because it's significant that we haven't had them from puppies as they're older dogs. But I tend to say what rescue place they're from rather than they're 'rescues'. They're actually my pets and the biggest and best part of my life above and beyond them being from rescue centres.
And they're not aggressive. They're love bugs who were rehomed appropriately

WineAndTiramisu · 08/12/2017 18:55

Generally it's to explain why I won't let them off the lead and don't know how old they are!

I wouldn't start the conversation with it, but you inevitably get asked how old they are (one looks puppy like but is going grey, so everyone asks!) and have to add "s/he's a rescue' to "I don't know" otherwise you look like an idiot!

Nancy91 · 08/12/2017 18:56

I say mine is a rescue because I'm still working on some of the problems she has, I don't know how old she is and because I'm proud that I gave her a second chance!

Mine isn't a mongrel but there is nothing wrong with that, it's normally healthy.

AhCheeses · 08/12/2017 18:58

We got our big fat lump of Labrador from Dogs Trust. We didn’t ‘rescue’ her though. If she hadn’t come to live with us she’d have gone to another family because she’s an amazing family dog.
Her first owners gave her up because they had a baby. They hadn’t trained her properly and she’d pull on the lead so badly that they couldn’t walk her and she greets everyone by barking at them, loudly, they didn’t want that around their PFB.
She wasn’t rescued from abuse or saved from some hideous life of breeding...
I do tell people we’re her second owners though as she still pulls a lot and barks at everyone she meets. I guess I want people to know the issues are not my fault!
She’s much better than she was but we’ve still got a long way to go!

dingdongdigeridoo · 08/12/2017 19:00

My ex-boss (who is a thread in himself) was always boasting that he 'rescued' his Pug from a puppy farm.

Turns out he BROUGHT it from a puppy farm. He saw it advertised on Gumtree, turned up and saw the shitty conditions, and brought it because he felt sorry for it. My argument that he therefore encouraged the breeder fell on deaf ears because in his mind he was a hero.

And no, he didn't report. The dog ended up having endless health problems from inbreeding.

Tanith · 08/12/2017 19:02

Is it the grammar that winds you up, Op? That trendy shortening of a description to just one misused word?

I can sympathise. My niece was adopted: we don't refer to her as "the Home".

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 08/12/2017 19:02

My DParents had a 10yo yellow lab. Nothing unusual you say?
No. But this little tubby girl was a retired Guide Dog, so not a Rescue - she had a home (my DParents were very good friends with her human partner) and she was guarenteed a home when she retired (there is a waiting list)

But my DParents were so proud of their dog who got up and went off to work every day , having the trust and safety of her partner completely in her paws.

So should they have just said "Oh yeah, chubby middle aged dog, only had her a year " Hmm

Paddingtonthebear · 08/12/2017 19:02

We bought our dog through a private advert. Which I know people frown upon but we were turned down by rescue centres for having a child and for having jobs. The previous owner of our dog passed away and the immediate family couldn’t keep her due to having cats which our dog does not like. They didn’t think she would cope living in a rescue centre plus they were told rescue centres generally won’t take dogs unless they are abused or abandoned. So we bought her and she was a happy dog who now has a happy life with us. I only refer to her as being a “rehomed” dog when people ask what she was like as a puppy (no idea) or when they talk about training (don’t think she had much training her recall is hit and miss!).

Getting a rescue dog is not easy unless you do not work and have no small children!

FairfaxAikman · 08/12/2017 19:02

There's a massive difference between bringing it up in conversation and bringing it up to signal how virtuous you are.

The latter type of owners do irritate me slightly because they generally do it in a tone that implies they look down on anyone who would buy a dog.

Love that people rescue, but sometimes the latter type can't accept that rescuing isn't suitable for everyone.

ethelfleda · 08/12/2017 19:03

YABU - I can't get wound up about thus as I wish more people would have rescue pets... important thing is the animal got rehomed! They can go on about it as much as they like as far as I am concerned!

MiddlingMum · 08/12/2017 19:04

I'm never sure with dogs. Is it still politically correct to say a dog is a mongrel, or are they all crossbreeds or poodle-doodles nowadays?

Paddingtonthebear · 08/12/2017 19:05

You have to pay for rescue dogs anyway. They aren’t free animals! We were told it was about £150-£200 by the three rescue centres we contacted.

Crumbs1 · 08/12/2017 19:06

We say rehomed. Most people assume he wasn’t bought as a puppy. We’re his third home.

You don't have a "rescue", you have a fucking dog!
Paddingtonthebear · 08/12/2017 19:06

Mongrels are dogs that you don’t know which mix of breeds they are. If you know they are a spaniel x lab or whatever then yeah you can say they are a cross breed of spaniel x lab

mustbemad17 · 08/12/2017 19:09

Paddington you aren't paying for the dog. That £200 adoption fee covers the spey/neuter of your dog (easily £200 in itself), a microchip, vaccinations, an extensive vet check & usually some intense rehab! You definitely do not 'buy' a rescue dog

MiddlingMum · 08/12/2017 19:09

Ah, that makes sense Paddington Smile

FairfaxAikman · 08/12/2017 19:10

Three terms mongrel and crossbreed are interchangeable Paddington. It's a kind of reverse snobbery to insist there is a difference.