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?

YABU. I have cats 3 are rescue cats , and as others have said I don't know their ages or where they came from.

It's the modern term for mongrel
It most certainly isn't. We had a poodle who was a rescue dog when I was little. My brother has 2 Staffie rescue dogs. He has had a Doberman (and no he isn't some macho idiot- he is just good with dogs, knows these dogs are difficult to re-home and lives in the middle of nowhere with plenty of space for this type of dog and a rescue cat)

PEOple ask me how old my cats are and I say 13 but they have been with us 3 years. If they are a cat person and we are chatting more I tell their story.

I am happy I rescued older cats that are difficult to rehome and I want to encourage others too as well!

I only mention it when someone asks me how old/what breed my dog is, then I have to explain that he's a rescue dog and I don't know exactly.

I actually got stopped by an old man on one occasion who proceeded to disapprovingly lecture me about irresponsible breeding of designer dogs (our rescue dog is a type of "doodle mix" which are very trendy in my part of the world.) I was pretty annoyed and made a point of thoroughly agreeing with him about reckless dog breeding and made it clear that I had adopted my dog from a shelter. He didn't even have the grace to apologise to me, he just huffed and walked off.

'How did she lose her ear?' - don't know, was like that when we got her at about 8 years old

'Can my toddler come and stroke your dog smack your dog in the face thinking he likes it?' - please don't let him, as far as we know the dog has never been around small children and is bigger than your toddler - we don't know how he'll react

'Why does he have a stupid name?' - no idea, blame the useless tosser who had him before us

'Your dog is skin and bone and manky looking and unhealthy - what's wrong with her?' - she's recovering from erlichia and babesia from being infested with over 100 ticks when we got her, she's starting to do better now and we think she'll make it.

Or alternatively, we go up to someone to ask if we can introduce our dog 'please can we let your dog meet yours, she's a rescue and we're trying to start socializing her. We dont know her history but we're trying'.

All honest comments. Not one bit sanctimonious. Just responses to questions that are asked and giving truthful responses.

Procrast ooooolukathislittleface!

starwars no offence taken.

I say I rehomed my dog, if it comes up and is relevant to the conversation, and like previous posters I mention it because he’s a very beautiful, very cute pedigree of a breed that has many health issues associated (I’ve the vet bills to testify to this) and I suppose I do want to make it clear that I didn’t personally choose to buy /encourage the overbreeding of this type of dog. It’s a wonderful breed with many advantages, particularly good with children, but my dog’s previous owners were examples of people who bought in good faith but didn’t really think it through.

Generally he’s just my dog though, I don’t refer to him as my ‘rescue’ (he didn’t come from a rescue centre but directly from his previous home), nor have I with previous dogs who did come from a rescue centre and had been horribly mistreated. I’ve no issue if people do though, I see it as being proud of their dog and wanting to promote rescuing/rehoming etc - where’s the harm?

Bet you hate Christmas, The Simpsons, Friends, The Royal family, snow, people holding hands, and Valentines Day too eh? And you must fucking LOATHE kittens and babies, and you probably eat dolphin on toast.

Seems like I touched a raw nerve with some heroes dog-owners there.

I do like a bit of dolphin, actually.

Touch a raw nerve/say something daft to get attention. Potato/potato

Another friend of mine adopted a dog that had previously had his tail docked AND ears cropped by the original owner - bastard. She gets comments and nasty looks on a regular basis when she's walking him as people just assume she was responsible for doing that. People should ask before making assumptions!

Maybe people tell others their dog is a rescue when asked as it explains or gives warning why the dog might be nervous or anxious or not perfectly trained at that point. shrugs

Our cat used to like being "2nd Hand" (she had shit first owners who let her have 4 litters in the first two years of her life then 'got rid' - hate that phrase , like they're a bag of rubbish- of her because they had dogs). We got her from a Cat Rescue .

My guinea-pigs are all Rescues/ Rehomed . Some of them just unwanted , one was dumped, couple ex breeders.
They dont mind being rescues as it explains their tardy behaviour and they feel quite smug that I drove all the way to get them not just the local [email protected] I had to be okayed to have them not just pay the £25 that P@H charges.
And yes, I paid a fee for all my animals

Mine is described as "a rescue" because I don't have a clue how old she is, she can be nervous of other dogs, has separation anxiety, and looks a bit scruffy. It's much easier to just say she is a rescue!