To think there must be another way? Dog shelters

[Steppingintome]

I get it. Some of these dogs have had a crap life. These guys see dogs in some right states and they must be paired with the right homes. I get it I do.

But some of the rules just seem so bizarre!

I grew up with dogs as did DH. We haven’t had a pet since the early days of our relationship and this pet passed away 8 years ago. We live in a large house. Our children are adults/older teens. We have a large secure garden. DH works from home so is in all day. We love animals.

We wanted to adopt a dog as we go walking a lot and thought we’d meet ideal criteria. Ideally the dog would be small to medium breed, we’d consider a bigger dog if it wasn’t too boisterous and ideally the dog would be older than a year old but again, not too fussy.

All seems ok right?

We applied to the shelter. They came to do a home check and said our home was lovely. They met the kids and agreed they were older and calm so most dogs would suit. Then they asked for a reference from a vet. I said we couldn’t provide this as we don’t have a pet. They asked for a reference from an employer but we are both self employed. They asked if we had employees? I said no.

Sorry we can’t let you adopt!! :( we asked if a friend or family member could give us a ref, no it can’t be from them. One of them is a dog groomer. No sorry

We applied to another rescue. Straight no because they are still building on our new build estate. Even though our street is finished and they are nowhere near us now.

Wtf am I being unreasonable to think something has to change? No wonder they are all overrun?

Yanbu.
This sums it up for me.

YANBU ,I actually think it’s got worse since Covid and having to apply online and wait for them to match you with a dog . As an example my sister applied for a ‘small/ medium’ dog with Battersea ( London) about 18 months ago . She’s always had dogs , no children , wfh - still hasn’t heard from them ! There was a thread on The Litter tray topic a couple of days ago and someone got declined from 2 large rescues including Battersea because they have a cat proofed garden and cats have a right to roam - utter madness . That said I disagree with importing rescue dogs from abroad due to the lack of checking for diseases that we currently don’t have in this country .
Have you considered puppy walking or fostering for the Guide Dog people , they accept children and it would be a good way to get a reference for the future or potentially a failed guide dog .

YA certainly NU. Cats’ Protection is the same, rules that very few potentially excellent owners can meet.

😂 poor Simone she must be scared to leave the house for fear of rescue dogs

Have a look at Spaniel Aid UK, some dogs need to be the only dog or are happy being only dog whilst others do benefit from having other dogs around them. There are some lovely natured dogs in need of good homes such as yours.

Thanks for the replies. I’m sorry so many of you have had similar problems.

It makes you think you are just doing something wrong or your home isn’t good enough! You see the adopt don’t shop posts online and think you are doing the right thing.

like I said in my OP I get they have to be sure. The vet refs are probably to make sure you look after your pets health and the other refs are probably to say if you are a decent person etc or earn enough to look after the dog. But disclosing how much we earn and getting a reference off a friend who’s a dog groomer could do that surely??

We are now doing some breed research and will probably end up getting a puppy, which was not what we ideally wanted when there’s so many older dogs that need homes :(

Whereabouts are you OP?

Look for smaller independent rescues/breed rescues, this one you've tried sound ridiculous, I'm a home checker and have never asked for employer references, many students and OAPs foster/adopt.

To add, please feel free to PM me and I can recommend rescues.

That sounds insane and very intrusive. Try Hope Rescue. They are based in S Wales but have dogs in foster all over the country. I've had two from them, one when DD was 6yo, and I've fostered for them. They will homecheck, but it's to get a feel for you as potential owners rather than make you jump through ridiculous hoops.

I agree that there are 1000's of unhomeable dogs in shelters atm and imo, all bull breeds should be pts as soon as they go to a shelter. They are too unpredictable, too big and the people attracted to them are usually a certain type who probably shouldn't have any dog. I'd also ban all imports of dogs from anywhere and have a two year ban on any dog breeding in the UK.

Have you tried Many Tears? They’re very sensible usually.Many Tears

There is too many animals in shelters because people don't take the responsibility seriously so I presume the rules are there to minimise the chance of return animals?

Please don't buy a puppy, there are so many dogs desperately in need of a good home in rescues right now. Try to persevere and check out some of the smaller rescues if Hope is too far x

Re Battersea. As I said I’ve rehomed from them 3 times. I always follow up the initial contact with a phone call or email a couple of days later. I wonder if it’s like Judaism and you have to knock three times.

I agree op the reference thing is nuts, I can just imagine my bosses face if she was asked to do a reference so I could get a dog 🙄 likewise my vet.

You can see why people get dogs from abroad or buy a puppy.

We got a local puppy from a family 20 mins up the road in the end. I went and visited him every week and got to know the family so was happy it wasn't some puppy farm.