To ask how you manage to have a dog?

[TwistedBirkenstockBlister]

DP and I were briefly talking about rescuing a dog but it has become apparent that the poor dog probably wouldn't want to be left alone for five hours a day.
We also have two cats, two kids and most animal rescue places wouldn't consider us which is fair enough but there are so many dogs who need good homes. Who are these ideal owners they are looking for?
Thinking of all the people I know who have dogs few fit the profile of 'childless, home all day, well off, fit people with loads of outdoor space.' So therefore what's the answer?
Obviously the long term answer is to spay and neuter and try to stop people getting dogs on a whim. But on the whole 'adopt don't shop' matter, if they turn away so many people then those people will just turn to puppy mills/ gumtree.

Yes I agree with this, we are currently looking for a rescue dog but get turned down because I work 3, 5 hour days and have a child! It’s hard work so we are now looking in to getting a dog from a breeder which isn’t what we want to do but we are left with no choice.

Well, we're childless. My partner works shifts and I have a 9-5, which luckily supports flexible working. I use that flexibility to WFH whenever my partner has a daytime shift.

We've also got him enrolled in daycare just in case our shifts overlap and we can't be at home, and if we ever travel for work at the same time, we'll have to put him in kennels.

It hasn't been easy, but it can't be any harder than sorting childcare!

@tmh88 I hope you'll have made arrangements so that your puppy won't be left alone for more than a short time while it's young, and no more than around 4 hours as an adult?

I don't mean to be presumptuous, but it always worries me a little when people opt for a dog from a breeder because a rescue doesn't think they're suited to a dog in their current circumstances - although I do get they can be overly cautious re: children with rescue dogs.

I think statistics are quite weird on this - there's only about 8 million households where everyone in the house works full time out the house

So the vast majority of households have more variability in working patterns (actually even yours does OP) and I think rescues are looking for those people

5 hours a day should be ok if you got a dogwalker in to break it up - it depends on the dog. The limit is usually 4 hours, but a dog with separation anxiety cant be left at all until its been trained to deal with being left alone.

So true. We have a rescue dog, but fit the "childless, home all day, dog proof garden" profile you describe (we're retired). Equally, I have a friend who out-and-out lied to a rescue charity to get her dog. She works from home mostly, but goes out on business for a maximum of 2-3 hours most week days. Otherwise, they are perfect dog owners, but the larger rescue charities would not let them adopt. Such a shame given the number of dogs out there in need of good homes.

I also know someone who got a "perfect" friend to adopt on her behalf and then took the dog over from there. Again, she works PT so wasn't considered suitable.

Both animals are in good, loving homes and very happy.

It's a complex issue.

Me and exh worked for ourselves and had a good business. We ran it from home. Getting a dog would have been very difficult from a health and safety point of view. The business grew, I worked from home and we wanted a dog. So we moved the business out.

Ds was 4. And we visited lots of rescues. All the rescues felt we were ideal. Large secure garden, experienced with dogs, i worked from home etc. But all of them said they virtually never got dogs in that they would rehome with a small child in the house.

So we got a puppy. The plan being we would rescue a dog when ds was older.

So we got the dog. Everything was great then our marriage started falling apart. Was shit. I ended up going back into employment and exh started planning his day around the dog so she wasnt alone for more than an hour or two or went to his office. We had employees who produced the food product in a factory at this point.

Then we split. He decided he disnt want anything to do with the dog. Luckily for me my best friend, who I was moving down the road from wanted a dog. Her mother also lives with them so the dog would rarely be alone.

So now we dog share. She has the dig during the day at first as she was a sahm. Years down the line, she stays with us 3 or 4 nights a week and if me and dp are both working the following day I drop her off at my friends and the she will stay there a few nights. When they are away we have her stay for the time they are away. And they have her for us.

She now has 5 adults and 3 kids, aged 5 and up (ds is now 9) that dote and adore her.

Honestly, fuck knows what I would have done when me and exh split up if my beat friend hadnt have wanted this set up.

Are dogs euthanised in this country just because of lack of capacity in rescues? In America they euthanise 5 million a year so I imagine they're a lot less picky than we are. I'm not saying that there's not a genuine reason for rescue's to be picky but surely living in a home environment like mine is nicer than being in a kennel?
Dogs life would be like this
Monday: 9-3 I'm out, dog walker in at 1
Tuesday: someone home all day
Wednesday: 9-3 I'm out, dog walker in at 1
Thursday: someone home
Friday: 9-3 I'm out, dog walker in at 1
Weekends: family home both days.
We have a huge garden and a massive wooded estate five mins away. Dog would be walked twice a day.

It always worth emailing rescue centres in your local area with your situation and criteria. They know the dogs and could potentially give you options.

My husband and I grew up with rescues, but ended up getting a puppy from an ‘accidental’ litter (Funny little mix breed) as the rescue centres didn’t want to rehome a dog with us due to us renting and working full time hours, so totally understand the dilemma. But it definitely worth asking first!

@goodwinter No it wouldn’t be left I did explain on the forms I have filled out to a lot of rescues that the dog would be able to come to work with me and I would work from home not in office while the dog was settling for as long as it needed but they’re more reluctant on rehoming with a child in the house which is the struggle. I have an extremely flexible job but yet to find a rescue dog to home to a house with a child they all seem very reluctant! However some forms you fill out are too basic and the local shelter won’t take calls will only take forms and find a dog suited to you, I do get what you’re saying about the rescues thinking we’re unsuitable but I feel such a loss from the dog we had to have PTS nearly 2 years ago now that I want to love a dog again but I do find rescues make it too hard but I wouldn’t ever say they aren’t doing what they see best for the dogs I just think they can be over cautious when children are involved. My dogs illness was sudden he was older but really fit and one day woke up and couldn’t get onto his feet his back legs had completely gone and I still miss him so much he was a rescue but before I had a child I got him at age 1, so it’d be lovely to do it again and we are very much in the early process with just looking at breeders not even contacting yet because we don’t really want too and are considering waiting until DC is older to be more considered for a rescue! Swings and roundabouts really!

We were turned down by rescues because we have a child and are not home all day. So we bought a dog that needed to be rehomed when previous owner died. It was risky but it has worked out fine. Dog comes to work with me daily.

Battersea estimate that 20,000 dogs are put down every year, but I think that's an underestimate.
'No kill' shelters are not the answer. They'd just fill up with dogs that can't be rehomed at all, for one reason or another. I'm opposed to importing rescue dogs from other countries, as long as there are dogs in the UK that need a home.

I think some rescues can be overcautious, certainly the ones in our area turn down perfectly good potential homes.

I also think that the doghouse board can get quite shout to anyone who doesn't get a rescue dog (often without considering the idea that someone may have done their research properly and have their own reasons for choosing to go through a reputable breeder rather than rescue) and they can be quick to argue that the decision is either nobly rescuing a dog or immorally going to a backstreet puppy farm.

However, rescues make valid points on some things:

• time away from dog: it's not reasonable to leave a dog for hours and hours on end. There are loads of threads on here where people seem to think leaving a young dog at home all day is acceptable because 'DP/I will come home at lunch to see them and give them a walk', which translates in reality to "we start with this unworkable situation and good intentions, but best case scenario is they get a 20 mins quick walk and worst is some days we are too busy to deal with them".

• children and other pets: it's reasonable to think about age of children and other pets when making a decision about a dog. Again, a dog may seem great if you've got a 10 year old who promises they'll walk it, but the reality is no dog care should be expected from a child. Equally, a dog may seem nice when you're a young family, but how will the dog fit in when you're fitting in the kids social lives and clubs?

Where I think you are being unreasonable (and this makes me doubt whether a dog is right for you) is that you seem to think that rescues turning a few good rescue homes down will push those rescue families to puppy farms and Gumtree. They won't. Responsible aspiring dog owners wouldn't say "I want a dog and they won't give me one so I'll go on gumtree". That attitude is absolutely of someone who isn't suited to having a dog.
A responsible potential dog owner would say "ok I'll reflect on that, I can see why A BC might have reservations, but if I do D E F then it's still fair on the dog, I'll spend a lot of time and effort researching reputable breeders or rescues from breed specific charities to make the best decision for the dog".

@goodwinter the dog was age 1! Not me just read that back and it looked like I was 1

@TwistedBirkenstockBlister
Yes dogs are euthanised in the UK, we have a massive unwanted dog problem, pounds are only obliged to hold for 7 days and unless they work with a rescue the dogs are PTS. There are many small rescues who match individually rather than blanket rules, if you PM me your area I can recommend some. I’ve worked in rescue for years and the abandonment and abuse never ends, unfortunately the UK public think it’s jjust the sanitised Dogs Trust rescues that exist, the smaller rescues do the real work with little support especially financially.

You have to physically present yourself to the rescue and share your story with the staff. Some will still refuse. Some won’t, but might not have anything that matches you at that particular time.
Older dogs in rescue will have experienced some kind of trauma and the needs of these dogs can be very precise and hard work.
I rescued a 9 week old puppy from an SSPCA rescue with a 9 month old, although I was a SAHM which helped.
It takes leg work, don’t go by what their website says.

@Inebriati that also bugs the life out me! Just last week my local paper published a story about a woman crowdfunding for vet bills for a ‘rescue’ cat shipped over from Egypt 🤦🏼‍♀️

@loulou
Your point about older dogs suffering trauma is inaccurate; seniors end up in rescue due to owners death, replaced by a pup, couples splitting, yrs some have been badly treated but not all. Smaller rescues who work on a foster basis visit you as they don’t have a centre, there are 100s out there, not just DT and RSPCA.

It's a good thing, however a huge responsibility. I had to retrain my dog she used to pull on the lead, try and run off. Bark at men and bark at other dogs. So my advice would be to research where your dog has been before eg owners and why it's up for adoption.

My step daughter and her mum have a little dog. They are out of the house from 730am till at least 7pm Mon to Fri. I hate thinking about it, they tell me its fine!

@LouLouLoupee You think how much quarantine cost, add the cost of flights and vet bills - I bet it was enough to run a small rescue for months.

@Inebriati it's so ridiculous. Just rescue one of the lovely animals here in the U.K!

I’ve recently rescued a 9 year old American bulldog. Garden isn’t massive but it’s secure and my partner and I both work from home.

We got our dog from a small rescue. They are more pragmatic about rehoming with children and working owners. We waiting 10 months for a suitable child friendly dog to come up (a good rescue will match pets to owners rather than let you choose the cutest). We organised dog walker and daycare. Dog is fine.

My email always rescued dogs from abroad. She used pays in excess of 1k per time. Her reasoning is that those dogs will be put down.

She genuinely seemed to believe dogs in the uk wouldnt be put down.but then she often switches the blinkers on when she wanted something a particular way.