To think buying a puppy is far more sensible for most people than rehoming a dog

[rainyoutside]

I’m a big advocate of animal welfare but AIBU to be concerned at posters who relentlessly push people considering having a dog towards rescue?

For one thing I don’t even know any rescue centres who will rehome to families with young children. But mn insist that they do.

Greyhounds are often pushed on here as an ideal first dog. They are absolutely huge. We would need a new car if we adopted a greyhound. Then it’s insisted they don’t have a strong prey drive. Er - they were bred for hare coursing. I’m sure there are some exceptions, just like there are some Labs who hate water and some stupid border collies, but it’s in the breed descriptor.

Looking on the dogs trust website, out of hundreds of dogs available for rehoming there are nine who can live with primary aged children. Add cats to that filter and there’s none. Zero.

It’s bloody heartbreaking. A MNetter linked someone yesterday to what she enthusiastically described as a brilliant rescue centre in my area so I had a look out of interest. Every single dog was reactive and had a history of biting. I can’t believe she suggested it to a woman with a 7 year old.

Rescue is one of a number of options when it comes to dog ownership and AIBU to think it’s daft and irresponsible to make people feel bad about not rescuing when there just aren’t suitable dogs available?

please don’t assume all the dogs in rescue have significant behavioural problems.

I agree. Some reasons some of the fosters came into the rescue:

• older dog, large breed, had been owned by pub owners and pub was repossessed they went into small flat.
• lovely dog, owner had toddler and 1 bed flat. then she got pregnant and they decided they couldn't do 2 kids and dog in the flat.

-dog belonged to homeless guy, who sofa surfed. Then he got together with a girlfriend with kids and she wouldn't take the dog. Lovely dog, had obviously been well loved.

• Great dane puppy, was rehomed as owners couldn't cope, as they had basically forgotten you need to actually train a puppy... She was lovely natured though, just needed a load of training and she was BIG
• dog with and eye problem, owner couldn't afford it, so gave her to rescue so she wouldn't be put down. He woudl need medical care for ever though.

-labrador, 1 year old, very (very) high energy, underwalked and undertrained. Not sure how easy he would be really, due to his high energy levels.

• 2 puppies, lovely mum, came into rescue from the streets, gentle dog, looks like she was a pet in the past, toatl relief to be being looked after. Fosterer adopted mum, puppies were as gentle as mum and rehomed.

I know many rescues have issues, but not all.

Couldn't find a rescue center that was rehoming full stop at the moment!
After loosing our much loved 15 year old cat at the beginning of the year the time was right to get a new addition to our family.
Have a 3 year old and it's very important to me that she grows up with an animal in her life. She was amazing with Dave (previous cat) so knows how to treat animals and would be supervised. I'm a sahm and we have a garden and cat flap.
Of the numerous centers in our area those that were actually rehoming that I contacted said no when I asked about adopting a kitten or younger cat because of my daughter.
So we bought an amazing little kitten who is now a wonderful 13 week old attack monster and the two are inseparable.
No regrets about not getting a rescue who I might not have known it's full history or the reason it was in the centre. In fact I probably wouldn't bother even asking next time - but hopefully that's a very long way off

This article has some really interesting points on both sides of whether rescues are too intransigent in their criteria.

www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2018/02/02/millions-of-dogs-need-homes-why-is-it-sometimes-hard-to-adopt-one/

If you’re going to blame anyone who buys a puppy, even from a legitimate breeder, for puppy farm horrors, then some responsibility has to be bourn by the rescues who will only release dogs to retired / independently wealthy child-free people with giant gardens.

There are so many people on this thread alone who have been refused by rescues so end up buying, and giving dogs wonderful lives. If they were given the chance to do that for a rescue pup, they wouldn’t have bought.

People keep saying well I got MY dog and I had young kids ... When?

I don’t mean pre Covid, I mean, are we talking 2017 or 2007? As things have changed.

If I had preteen aged children I'd be very cautious about taking on a rescue dog. A puppy of a suitable child-tolerant breed would be a much safer option.

Not speaking from personal experience, but I feel the same applies to adopting children. You spend years jumping through hoops to be approved, but a couple can hop into bed and produce a child with no assessment at all. No-one insists you have to have a certain lifestyle before you have a baby.

Yup I agree. I think its quite irresponsible. Woman in my street adopted a greyhound, it snapped at her 2 year old so she gave it back. It was then removed in a household with another child and bit that child. He needed stitches.
Very few rescue animals should be removed with children. Animals are unpredictable, especially if they've had a rough or unknown start in life, and children are unpredictable. The guilt tripping on mn is ridiculous.

Rehomed, not removed!

We got our puppy in June after being on our breeders waiting list for over a year.

When I decided I would like a dog about two years ago I narrowed down a few things that were needed for a dog to work for us, but also for us to work for a dog. National rescues (like dogs trust etc) wouldn’t home to us for various reasons including having a young child, having a job, having a cat, not having a private garden. We did get approved by one small rescue, but a dog suitable for us never actually came up. Apart from that particular rescue all others were a blanket no because I had a child under the age of seven.

Yep, we had this exact same problem, couldn’t find a suitable dog that was okay with cats and children (we don’t have any kids yet but plan to in the next year or two) and a centre that was okay with them being rehomed to people who work full time, despite us planning to have a dog walker come every day at lunch time (so dog wouldn’t be left alone longer than a few hours). In the end we gave up and got a puppy.

Agreed, OP. For me, one of the main issues was being able to select a breed. The dogs trust near us was overflowing with various bull terriers when we wanted a dog. We'd done our breed research and wanted a golden retriever. The chances of a golden retriever turning up in a rescue are tiny, so we bought a puppy. Absolutely the right choice for us.

YANBU.

Where I live it is extremely difficult to get a rescue dog, people who are approved are going two years without getting a look-in.

And it is more and more difficult to meet the requirements. The ones around kids are so annoying - typically in the past we've often had two - mine and mu husbands. My husband normally gets a puppy because his dog is a working dog and there isn't really another reliable way to find the right sort of dog - they are larger dogs. I have had rescues, I am just as happy not having a puppy and I usually like a larger dog, often a pit-bull mix of some sort. We have never had to return a dog, or give one away, or had any problems with our kids when they were babies or toddlers.

Nowadays we won't be considered for larger dogs because of having a young child, which was not a rule when our other kids were small. There are more and more intrusive requirements about vetting and care as well - not just the things that are accepted as good animal care by all or most, but it seems they want you to be willing to take on almost any medical bill that might come up, animals needing invasive care etc, which many people might not think are even a good idea from the animals POV. With cats, they won't rehome cats to places where they will be allowed outside, regardless of whether there are traffic concerns.

I find myself in a difficult position because I am not at all a fan of the purebred dog breeding system and I don't really want to support it any more than I do puppy mills. What I really want is someone whose nice dog has some accidental puppies with some other nice dog.

I also think that the fact that dogs are either difficult to qualify for through a rescue, or purebred incredibly expensive breeder dogs, probably has a lot to do with the flourishing of the puppy mill industry.

It does seem to be a bit of a power trip, to be honest. And most cats are much happier if allowed out. I'd consider it cruelty to keep them in, unless they actively don't want to go out.

@rainyoutside

I take your word for it tappering

But

here

“Strong instincts to chase other living creatures that run”

I am well aware that sighthounds are bred to chase. I've spent years adopting, fostering and volunteering for a greyhound rescue. But not all of them will do so. Hence why many young greyhounds are abandoned or killed - because they won't run.

The lucky ones get a shovel to the back of the head - which is at least quick. The unlucky ones get tied to railway lines, or thrown out near motorways, or tied up in remote areas and left to starve to death - because they won't chase. Not all greyhounds run.

But the thing is, if you adopt a greyhound, unless it's been fostered so you have some information about the dog, you have to be prepared for it to run and have a prey drive. If that's going to be a real problem you will avoid the breed. (Though arguably any dog can turn out to have a prey drive.)

@Goosefoot - yes, although good rescues will know the dog and be able to tell you what they are like. Lots of our dogs spend time in foster homes so that they are house trained and able to cope with stairs (lots of ex-racers have never been in a house before). It's quite common to be able to let potential adopters know whether a dog is cat/small furry/pet chicken safe, for example - and those greyhounds do exist!

Our dalmatian came from here

www.dasdalmatians.co.uk

Fully assessed regarding cats & children, all previous vet history and (anonymous to a degree) owner given. Full disclosure regarding any behavioural issues given.

A lifetime of support & advice if needed.

We have a child and getting our dally from here was the best decision we made for all of us.

@Spotsoflove - ooh I love a dally dog. I've just looked at the page on adopting a deaf dally - they look so sweet and it's lovely that there's support for these dogs.

@IJustWantSomeBees

Yes, YABU. It's sad that the majority of adults care more about the thrill of getting a dog than stopping an industry that perpetually exploits them. If no dogs are available to you it is probably because your home is not a suitable environment for a dog, and sense would conclude that it is then best to simply not get a dog. But our society really doesn't care about animals so I'm sure most people will concur with you

This, 100%.

@Tappering

They’re the absolute best 😍
So affectionate & easy to train whether unilateral, partial hearing or completely deaf. Are you on any of the Facebook pages? Personally I would only go through DAS as Sue helped me SO MUCH with my previous dally where the others failed me, but that’s a personal issue x

Dalmatians UK
The Best Dalmatians UK

@MissBaskinIfYoureNasty

Completely agree OP. The thing that makes me laugh is that, on paper, we should have been the worst candidates for getting a dog. We had a 6 year old, a 3 year old and a 9 month old when we got our puppy. We put a lot of bloody hard work into our girl with training and teaching our kids how to behave with her and two years on we have an absolutely fantastic dog. Two couples who got pups from our breeders litter returned them after 2 months because they "couldn't cope" 🙄 Its unfair that families are written off when I actually know more single people or couples who have given up in pups and/or rescues.

What a nonsense statement. Loads of families give up dogs because they cannot cope with the stress of a puppy / kid chaos combo

@Spotsoflove - no, I'm wedded to my lovely greys and their various FB pages But a lady near me has a beautiful spotty boy and he's gorgeous and so friendly!

If no dogs are available to you it is probably because your home is not a suitable environment for a dog, and sense would conclude that it is then best to simply not get a dog

Bullshit.

Being unsuited to owning a rescue dog is not the same as being unsuited to owning any dog

YANBU, obviously.

If I was looking for a dog, I definitely wouldn’t consider anything which had pre-existing physical, medical, temperamental or psychological problems, or anything over four years old. These criteria rule out the the majority of dogs requiring re-homing at any given time.

I was far too lazy to get a puppy and I was too wary of unscrupulous breeders. It took me two months to find a rescue. We went breed specific and yes she is a greyhound. Our children at the time were 6 and 8 and the rescue sorted 4 hounds for us to choose from who were deemed to be suitable to home with kids. We had someone come and check the back garden and the following week we went and chose the dog. This was 3 years ago.

So I don’t think you’re unreasonable to say you haven’t found the right rescue but for us as a young family the rescue route was definitely the right route. And I would say greys are brilliant first dogs. She’s our first as adults and has been supremely easy. Yes, large(ish) although not massively more so than a lab and doesn’t “feel” big as she is so calm.

Good luck with whatever you get.