To find a UK family to adopt our foster dogs?

[Bobbeldibop]

Sorry to post on AIBU, I want to reach as many people as possible.

I read time and time again on mumsnet how hard it is to adopt a dog from UK shelters. I'm sure there are reasons, that's not my question.

We live in Cyprus and have 2 rescue dogs we found abandoned on a hilltop while walking our own dog. It has been almost 2 months and we simply cannot find a family for them. There isn't any space in shelters or sanctuaries here. We cannot send them to the local pound as they will be put down after 15 days if nobody claims them. We have formed an attachment now and really want them to go to nice families.

We have a large dog and several cats as well as small kids so cannot and simply do not want another 2 dogs. They are so loving but we haven't got the mental capacity for 2 more animals.

AIBU to think there must be a way for Cyprus dogs to be more easily adopted to UK families?

I have tried contacting charities via Facebook but everyone tells me all shelters are full. We want to go via a charity or shelter so home checks can be carried out (although I have also read about ridiculous hurdles which make no sense!).

Please if you know of any charities or shelters who could facilitate pet adoption from Cyprus to the UK help us!

Thank you for reading.

It’s really not a good idea for dogs to be imported to the U.K. We’re already seeing strains of disease that weren’t present here a few years ago, and this problem will only grow if we bring in more dogs.

It’s not unethical to put a dog to sleep. It has concept of time passing or what it means to be alive.

All the PTS comments are a bit weird.
A lot of psychopaths in these boards.
Op is there not anyone in the whole of Cyprus or a closer country that would adopt them?

It is unethical. They haven't harmed anyone. If you became homeless would be ethical to put you to sleep??

We take regular pictures of them like with all our pets, will have to take more videos. Good point.

Does anyone have any idea how to manage an elderly female dog who presumably spent her life hunting feral cats to not lose her mind when seeing our cats? As soon as she sees them she gets extremely excited. So far, we've kept them apart but we need to introduce soon as the logistics of keeping them apart is a nightmare.

My plan is to leash the dog and constantly reward her with roast chicken while my husband shows her our cats. But surely we can't reward her going mental? I'll probably have to look into finding a dog trainer. We never had these extreme issues with our own dog who we got as a puppy so was more easily trainable.

OP have you tried posting on twitter? I think you'll get far more help on there.
I wouldn't introduce the dog to your cat.

Yes the disease aspect sounds worrying.

It's a difficult topic whether or not dogs should be PTS if unwanted, in shelters etc. If only all dogs could find a loving home. Some countries and/or some people unfortunately see dogs and cats very differently and don't seem to care about strays. Not every stray dog is found or fostered and I think PTS is preferable to a miserable death in 40 degrees heat on a mountaintop all by themselves. Sadly that is what happens all too often.

Have you heard of yappy ever after?

No I haven't tried twitter. I can make an account and try,thanks for the pointer.

Why shouldn't I introduce the dog to the cat? Do you think the dog is too set in her ways now to be retrained

Yes - you want to counter condition, so yer basic classical conditioning but here you're changing an existing emotional response instead of creating a brand new one (a la Pavlov)..

See cat = get treat - over time, if the treat is good enough and you're consistent enough, the sight of cat becomes a cue to look to you, you provide the goodies.

Long term, this means clever management and once you get that altered emotional response, you put in something else before the food reward, some of the time... so sometimes 'see cat' = 'free treat' and sometimes it means getting to do something fun, having to earn the treat, going with a person to do something else... which puts the reinforcer on a variable schedule and actually increases the dogs desire to focus on you.

YOu will need to practice this in a variety of locations around your home, building up the difficulty (static cat vs moving cat, 1 cat vs 2 cats etc etc), and I would still ensure the cats and dogs cannot mix if you're not supervising - but a reasonable level of tolerance can be achieved!

sorry just checked again, I thought they used to do international adoptions but doesn't look like it.

No I hadn't. I just looked them up and will find out if they take overseas dogs. I'll contact them. Thank you.

@Bobbeldibop

Twitter has tons of people with loads of connections. There are dedicated pages on there with international adoptions for dogs.

I'm not an expert in introducing cats to prey driven dogs so can't say whether it's a good idea or not, im just going by my own fears I suppose and would hate to hear anything bad had happened. But of course if others say there's a safe way to do it then they probably know more then me.

Thank you. Yes this is the plan. Fingers crossed it'll work...!

Sounds good :D the actual mechanics is pretty easy stuff - its the management and ensuring everyone sticks to the same script that is difficult for most people.

@ell87 I'll definitely give twitter a go. And I totally get what you mean. Well have to be careful. Meetings only on leash for the foreseeable future.

How day you speak for anyone other than yourself!

@WiddlinDiddlin haha yes it's good in theory. We will see how it goes with a boisterous toddler in the mix.... And the second rescue dog...!!

What are they like? Are they from the same litter? Are they well?

For everybody saying rehomed from abroad is wrong - I rehomed my dog from abroad after not being considered suitable by several UK-based charities to adopt a dog. I was rejected twice by charities and this was for dogs with additional needs, not puppies that would be easily rehomed.

My dog has a great life including lots of training and sport. He's had more vaccinations and health checks than most UK rescues and he lives a better life than most other pet dogs too. If UK rescued continue to reject people like me, people will continue to import dogs from abroad.

My friend has a rescue from Cyprus and its an absolutely wonderful dog that is has brought that family so much joy. They were repeatedly declined by uk rescue charities due to having young children

I know it’s hard work but you are amazing for rescuing them and not having them PTS.

No advice unfortunately but could you try other countries too in Europe like Germany?

I follow Takis Shelter on Facebook which is a rescue centre in Crete that I’ve visited before and although they have a lot of UK adoptions a lot of them are to other European countries too.

Ignore those saying that we don’t want any more of the dogs here, they are animals who deserve a life too and it is really amazing what you are doing.

This it’s so sad. And people seem to have the same view of people too :(

There was a fairly recent thread about the state of rehoming dogs, and the many crap reasons why people are turned down to rehome a dog in the UK (including iirc a wealthy woman with a large enclosed garden, at home most of the time, who was turned down because she lived in London)

Many posters adopted from abroad because they simply couldn’t here, despite having the space and time.

OP I hope you find a good home for them!

Not from the same litter, one is a black setter mix and about 7 months old, melts into your lap as soon as he sees you. So extremely loving. Pointy teeth tough!! He's going through the puppy biting phase. Yay.

The other is a smaller brown pointer mix, about 8 years old. She's only recently dared to lift her tail up to wag it. But she immediately runs to me for head scratches and shuffles closer every time I reposition. She doesn't dare relax fully though, so always standing, never throwing herself on her back for belly rubs. Not yet!

I have posted them all over Cyprus dog rescue Facebook groups. I can share the link privately if interested.