To not know what to do - dog related

[Dogconfused]

my partner and I want to get a dog but cannot decide between trying to get a rescue or a puppy. Pls can people offer advice/opinions?
we have thought long and hard about the pros and cons of each…
Rescue pros

• helping a dog in need
• helping a charity
• Dog may be less needy than a puppy
• can get clearer idea of dogs character
• cheaper

Rescue cons

• don’t know genetic/health/physical history of dog
• Potentially harder to train than a puppy
• Would be from abroad so (low) risk of parasitic disease (would be tested for these)

Puppy pros

• more choice over what we get and when we get it
• more knowledge of puppies past and parents health etc
• potentially easier to train as stating from young

Puppy cons

• not helping a rescue
• cost is higher
• potentially more needy at beginning

we have given it a lot of thought, but cannot decide what option is best for us (and the potential dog). We are definitely in favour of rescues but want to make sure we get the right dog for us.

for context, we are first time dog owners who have no children or other pets. We have a large garden and live in a town. We enjoy longer walks, paddle boarding, beer gardens etc. We would want a dog to come out and do things with us. We would want a small dog as our car is small.

if we got a rescue it would be from Romania but from a charity with a UK presence and support system. If we got a puppy it would be from a licensed breeder with lots of research into them etc.

Sorry that’s long but didn’t want to drip feed.
all opinions gladly received!!

My neighbour's rescue dog is a joy. Looks like an Alsatian cross of some sort, but smaller. Very mellow. He's bombproof with cats ,other dogs, kids, just not bothered by them. He doesn't like change in his routine or long walks, is all.

Our Romanian rescue is gorgeous and has no real issues. He needed lots training and time but all dogs do!

Do lots of research on the rescue, there are good ones. Most of all read the description of the dog carefully and only commit to a dog you can cope with. The rescue we used, all the dogs go into foster homes first so they can be properly assessed.
As I said in my earlier post I would be doubtful a decent rescue would approve a shared garden. I'm happy to share the rescue we used via message.

We got a puppy first and then a couple of years later a rescue - could that be an option for you?

And now just unpleasantness 🙄

i haven’t claimed any expertise and you’re perfectly free to sneer at ‘facts and figures’ if evidence makes you uncomfortable.

it’s a shame though as I find informed discussion is usually more helpful than uniformed opinions and unpleasantness.

@ThereIsNoSuchThingAsRoadTax tend to agree with you. Not a dog but we're currently fostering a blind cat from Cyprus & he hides constantly, hisses at us and doesn't much like people. We're trying to get him ready for his forever home but it's going to takes ages (years I think!) & the charity are now starting to think they should have just neutered him, stitched up his eye flaps and released him back on the streets (with his colony). He'd survived 3 years and although as a blind cat he may have lived a shorter life it would have been happier than the one he's currently living. He's been in UK since Dec living with another foster family initially. He's the most shut-down cat I've ever known and I used to be a vet nurse. He's used to living outside in a lovely warm country and now he's in rainy England and will have to be an indoor cat (unless someone has a catio etc). On the dog front I would choose a sightly older dog that's already in a foster home (& probably a retired greyhound) if I was looking. 💖💖 from a breed-specific UK charity.

So do I.

they can be great.
they can also be dreadful and the trade in ‘rescues’ is a genuine concern

as are chronic zoonotic diseases such as brucella and leishmaniasis

I've had experience of all options that you mention. If you are considering children in the future, I would NOT rescue, or I'd avoid a foreign rescue. A puppy is a far safer bet.
A good UK rescue with support would be the best option for rescue (Dogs Trust, Blue Cross, Battersea etc) as you need a charity with money behind it and BACKUP if things go wrong. Many of the foreign charities mean well not simply don't have the resources or money to help if things go wrong, which they frequently do. (I've had two fosters that were meant to be dog friendly, child friendly and cat friendly-neither were any of these things).
A decent breed charity in this country is also an option but check their credentials (ie are they registered via Companies House in charity sector-are their financials healthy) etc.. they will often pay for any pre existing conditions the dog may have and will provide lifelong backup.
If you do go down the puppy route, make sure you do your research, ie avoid any Facebook, Pets4Homes (online) sales and source a breeder who health tests both mum and dad, and ask to see the paperwork for said sire and dam. Good breeders often have waiting lists.

www.champdogs.co.uk/

is an excellent source for breeders who health test. Simply being registered with the Kennel Club means nothing in the way of health guarantees. Good luck.

Hi there

Definitely team rescue for me, but I just wanted to add that there are lots of benefits with going with a smaller local foster based rescue. When visiting a dog in their foster home you get a much truer picture of their personality than in kennels. I got to see my dog with children, when the door bell rang, around meal times etc etc. His family had fostered him for 3 months so had an insight into his quirks. As a first time dog owner this really helped me.

Good luck and enjoy your new dog.

I think you need to look at your own posts before calling me unpleasant.
And I think stating that you have "years of experience" suggests you think of yourself as a bit of an expert.
You also neglect to back up your facts and figures in any way.
But we agree on one thing, informed discussion is definitely the way to go.
We actually agree on more than that and if you bothered to read my posts properly you'd see that I am cautious about adopting from overseas, or am at least suggesting people do proper research, so as to avoid the problems you mention.

Have a look at Many Tears on social media for a UK rescue.

I do think that with the cost of living how it is, a lot more people will be giving up their pets as they won't be able to afford them.
Rescues are probably going to be overwhelmed with much loved family pets.

@FurAndFeathers Please do you research. Leishmaniasis is NOT zoonotic. The only vector for transmission is the sandfly, which we do not have here in the UK. Pointless scaremongering helps no one.

OK I am going to say something and then put on my hard hat and run.

personally I think the world would be better off if we actively culled a lot of dogs.

I would be quite ruthless. Any dog with aggression towards people. Any dog that has such bad behaviour issues so they are left in a rescue for years. (where are all these mythical homes of people who are home all day and experts in difficult dogs?) Any dog that has not been socialized properly.
We should not be trying to rehome dogs who have never lived in a house etc etc.

People constantly say that it is the worst thing that a shelter does to kill a dog. I think that often the best thing for the dog might be a quiet, kind end.

I am an animal lover, I have a dog (a rescue) and a cat.
I just don't have such a horror of death as most and don't think is it always the worst thing.

People always say this, but when our first dog died we searched rescues for another as we didn't fancy the puppy phase again and there were never any suitable dogs. Almost all of them require adult only homes, many require another dog in the household (e.g. from breeders) and normally there are only a couple. I searched the link you sent and there were only 10 dogs available within a 50 mile radius to me and over half had special requirements like those mentioned above. Our local dog charity only ever seem to have bit bull type breeds which is not one we would consider.

Anyway, OP - if you can find a suitable rescue then I'd go for that. Youngish, but trained to some extent would be great! However if you aren't an experienced dog owner I wouldn't go for a potentially problematic dog because some behaviours and traits can't be fixed and it's unfair on both you and the dog to get a dog you will struggle to manage. Shelters seem to be quite upfront about these things, so I think the main thing is just to be realistic about what you can handle.

You state con of puppy " possibly more needy at the beginning". You are wrong. Puppies are exceptionally hard work. Not only are they needy for say the first 6-9 months, training is almost a full time job incl toilet training getting up every hour every day/night to let them out, the tidying up when they have inevitable accidents, destructive and biting phases, adolescence. The list is endless. Do not underestimate! I speak from recent experience

I’ve had experience of both. Our dog was from rescue, 6 months old was picked up by them as a stray. He was challenging when he was young (biting/nipping, destructive) but he mellowed out and became the worlds best dog and we miss him so much since he got poorly and pts age 14💔
my sister has a dog from Romania. She’s a good dog, daft as a brush as they say. She had to be trained to walk nicely on a lead and not bark madly at other dogs (cured now) she also has a health condition and almost died, she’s on medication and special food for life for it (I believe it’s to do with her home country the disease) but apart from that she’s a lovely 5 year old dog who wouldn’t hurt a fly.

i haven’t had a puppy so can’t say much apart from what I’ve learnt from friends who say it’s like having a newborn. Being up in the night with the dog crying etc . Our dog was nippy and destructive at 6 months old so imagine a full year or more of this puppy behaviour

And yet dog-dog transmission in the absence of sandflies has been reported in the UK.
https://www.bmj.com/company/newsroom/first-reported-uk-case-of-likely-dog-to-dog-transmission-of-leishmaniosis/

which indicates that sandflies are NOT the only route of transmission @Buildingthefuture

diseases have this funny habit of evolving.
It helps to keep abreast of the research. Ignoring emerging risks helps no one 😊

https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-016-1551-0

also transmitted to other dogs through bites

Rescuing dogs from abroad?

Sounds more like a convenient and profitable business model than charity. Certainly easier than hoping locals bring dogs to you. I expect the charity keeps some people in well paid jobs.

if we got a rescue it would be from Romania
No. Just no. There's no need to import a rescue.

We took in a Rommie rescue about ten years ago. He wasn’t brought in to order, we took him in from a fosterer whose circumstances had changed. He was a sweet little boy but had issues with other dogs and some people (particularly anyone wearing a hoodie or work boots). We just adapted to his needs and never forced him to do, be or go anywhere he wasn’t comfortable. We didn’t take him anywhere where he would come into contact with other dogs and we kept him away from anyone who visited. It took him about three years to settle in and feel safe and be less jumpy. It took a bit longer for him to sit next to one of us on the sofa. He was with us around seven years before he fell ill and passed away. We were glad to have given him some peace and comfort for the time we had him. So I think I’d say if going for a rommie rescue be patient, you won’t have a full history for them or know what they’ve been through (or even know their actual age- we didn’t!), but also don’t try and mould them into some idyllic version of the dog you imagine in your head because you probably won’t get that at all!

There is a lot of puppy-bashing on here. If you are prepared to do your research, be patient and be consistent with training, puppies are incredibly rewarding. They are sweet, bonkers and frustrating in equal measures, but the puppy stage doesn’t last forever. You just need to have the right home situation, have properly researched what breed (and breeder) is right for you, be committed, be willing to learn and accept that you are not always right and to want it above everything else. I have never had a rescue, so I can’t speak with authority on the subject, but anecdotally, of the people I know who’ve had rescues, just as much work is required to be put in (albeit maybe differently).

I’m aware of 2 Romanian rescues who were PTS because the family who “rescued” them didn’t compute that they wouldn’t just slot into their family and how much investment they would need. Getting any dog requires a significant lifestyle change. You should also think about when in the year you get the dog. From experience, toilet training in winter is pretty miserable!

Nearly all of many tears rescue dogs say "needs another friendly dog in the household" which OP doesn't have.

Adopt don’t shop

We got a rescue, originally from abroad (not Romania) but already in a foster home in the UK. We are first time dog owners with a cat and one adult dog-loving DC still with us. I researched very carefully and narrowed the selection down. There were no UK rescues that would have us for the reasons stated. She does have a dormant health issues unfortunately but is truly the most perfect dog for us. She was quite shy at first but is a real sweetheart and after six months I cannot imagine life without her.