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.

@SnorkeMor this is so hilarious, thanks for posting that image 😂

But that's essentially what I read myself.

Do you wish for them to stay together, are they bonded? Is there one you could imagine keeping more than the other?

@maplelatte thats lovely to hear.

Exactly this.

Yes I will also try Germany as I'm German myself so may be easier at least language wise. Thanks for the suggestion!

We’ve got far too many unwanted dogs in the U.K. already. We don’t need more from other countries.

Try lost paws dog rescue and rehoming. They used to have a base in cyprus but now operate through other rescues. Might be worth a go.

No I don't think they should stay together. The elderly dog really should go to a home where she can get lots of attention and cuddles. The puppy bulldozes into her to get cuddles from us. She still sneaks back into our arms but receiving undivided attention would be better for her.

Honestly, if we literally cannot find a single person on this earth who would be willing to take them we will have to keep them both as the alternative if PTS is not possible for us.

We'd be happy if we could find a home for even one of them. My husband prefers the puppy because he's more lovable and easier to train, but I'm sticking up for our elderly lady. She's not that old but trickier to train I guess. And less cute looking when you don't know her.

@thunderlump thank you!

@Stroopwaffels a family with small children are unable to get a uk rescue dog and are consistently declined so no, not exactly this.. you don't need to rescue them so try and relax. Im actually interested if thats ok with you? I sincerely hope you don't have animals and if you do i pity them

Taught my elderly staff to eventually love the cats after spending her whole life trying to kill them but she still would chase any cat who wasn’t ours so only helpful when it comes to your own cat don’t have faith she’s cat friendly if you do manage to! It’s easy enough tbh but feels neverending and took us 6 months until they could be without any barrier or leash between them and now they snuggle up constantly and she barks to let me know he wants in! We did it by first starting off as far away from cat as possible and getting her to look at us then rewarding instantly for eye contact then moving on to a sit once it meant she’d pause to listen to me when using the look at me command rather than ignoring me and lunging excitedly. Then moving on to a lay down command and simply putting her back into either a sit place or lay down

@Crzy thank you that's so encouraging to hear. And well done for managing what sounds like a tough situation. 6 months is a long time but they'll pass regardless so we might as well try our best and give it a go. Thanks so much for this story!!

The problem with importing dogs from abroad is the potential diseases they bring in that we don’t ordinarily have here . Also many are unsuitably rehomed and end up back in the uk rescue system , which is overloaded as it is .

Posted too soon and unsure where the place came from! But eventually you should be able to instantly redirect her into the command and over time she will stop, the whole chase part makes it so tempting to them when the cat moves it’s a habit that they need to get out of I will say mine was probably worse than yours as she defo wanted to eat him at first! What really helped me was having her on a short training line attached to one of those leash belts once she’d listen to the redirection as then it allowed me to be able to keep everyone safe and keep her at a distance where I could quickly intercept when I saw any signs and redirect. You want to be rewarding her for focus on you around cat at first and then move onto rewarding for calm behaviour around cat. If you’re willing to put in the work and see if it means they can stay with you it is defo worth it thought I’d have to rehome dcat for the first while but I’m so so glad I didn’t as a few years down the line they’re inseparable and ddog let’s dcat do things to her she’d never allow another dog to do and the cat most definitely is the one in charge rather than her

Gross

No problem! It is so discouraging and you just want to give up because you feel it’s unfixable and it’s so overwhelming having to micromanage interactions when you can see no end but in a situation like this it’s defo worth a try especially as it could take a long while to find a home for the older one. Tho having had a foreign rescue myself who I miss dearly you may come across someone similar who has experience with them previously and would love to get to experience that again. Good luck op!

Try dogs 4 rescue in Manchester

@Crzy thank you so much. Your story truly gives me hope.

Compared to our own dog, our 2 rescue dogs really try their hardest to earn our love even though they don't have to. I wonder if it's some sort of distorted attachment behaviour from previous trauma. Poor souls.

Thank you! I will look into this, too.

i adopted my cypriot dog to the Uk from Cyprus pride House might be worth trying them as well she was one of the sweetest dogs ive owned, the problem with adopting from Cyprus is the expense as dogs can only be flown into UK and need proper travel crates for the plane which makes them expensive from here to adopt

Because of the extra high unnecessary costs of importing those animals to the UK from overseas. They need to be dealt with in their own countries. I rescue cats in the Uk - we get never ending pity appeals for funds to bring cats from overseas to the UK. I rescue a pedigree breed - you would think that alone would stop the need to rescue but it really doesnt. Just to get a cat neutered here, vaccinated, checked over by a vet can be £100's. Thank you - I am not paying for travel costs on top. PTS- sorry it really is the best.

Good grief! Why put the burden of two unwanted dogs onto UK charities?Shelters here are full of dogs that can’t be rehomed. You really need to rethink this, OP.

@socialdilemmawhattodo Many people are happy to pay the costs associated with importing dogs to the UK from overseas - we were and will happily do so again in the future. For cats, definitely not.

You took them in, fed them and let the dogs form an attachment to your family. You should keep them now. It would be very hard on the dogs to send away from you. They haven't done anything wrong. It would be difficult if they had bitten your DC or were troublesome dogs.

yes I have friends who have done that with dogs. Apparently our dogs in shelters are different breeds to those from overseas. I think it's awful and contributes to animal smuggling/puppy farm breeding. But why not cats? My pedigrees are beautiful and true. They are not cross-bred.