Should everyone be forced to show they aren’t able to rescue a dog before they can buy a puppy?

[Coffeealwayshot]

Just that really

I see my local shelter is full again and saying they will need to euthanise if they can’t find homes.

Everyone I know (bar 2 or 3) who has a dog has bought from a breeder.

Im not rude enough to ask people if they considered a rescue. I know some say they were turned down but some that they just wanted a puppy or a specific breed.

So my question is as above?
I get we can’t say no breeding at all but should taking on a rescue be the only option for those who are suitable and reduce the breeding to just cater for those who can’t have a rescue dog?

This is a lot of the issue IME. I have two rescue cats, both strays. Both rehomed privately because rescues won’t consider us with young kids. They’re both quite capable of fleeing the room if the kids annoy them and many people grow up with kids no bother.

When I lost my rescue dog I was declined by all other rescues because I worked FT. The fact my office was a 5 min walk and I had always left at lunch and took the dog out for 20 minutes across the park opposite was of no interest to them. I also used a dog walker or doggy day care so the dog was kept occupied and in company. I walked my dog 3x a day usually!

They’re not objective and are often ran by retired women who have an unrealistic view of what life looks like for many people and only want to rehome to people who live like they do. Which would be fine but supply outweighs demand so the consequence is dogs sat in kennels.

Nobody is going to want to pay for these people doing the assessments or any kind of enforcement. It would be better if people had to get their dogs spayed or neutered unless a very strict license for breeding, but again it’s enforcement that’s the issue.

Sorry, but working FT and leaving the dog alone all day bar 20 minutes at lunch is a damn good reason for not relinquishing you a dog. Likewise shoving your dog into day care all week. A good breeder wouldn’t have sold to you either under those circumstances.

If you’re going to away from the house 70% of the week, leaving your dog in the care of someone else or alone, then you shouldn’t have a dog.

We had an idea of the breeds involved and looked at traits, needs and potential pitfalls. DNA shows all the breeds mentioned at rescue. What I mean by picky, is if you want pure breed rough collie for example, you will be waiting a while, collie cross, more likely.
I have absolutely no regrets. We have had, over 35 years, 4 wonderful dogs, 3 'crosses', 1 pure breed.

There is truth in this, although the rescue we dealt with did allow us to have dogs with young dc and working full time as long as had plan for dog not being alone all day. It’s a greyhound rescue.

Also I do have some sympathy for the retired dog ladies because dogs ‘bounce’ back all the time unfortunately and they are the ones who have to deal with that.

What if the owner and the rescue can't agree whether the owner is suitable? Most people could probably find a rescue dog that the centre says they are suitable for. But does the potential owner's opinion count for nothing?

If I say I'm not compatible with the dog they say I am, do I just never get to have a dog?

Potentially, I can see how "if there is a dog available that meets all your criteria, you should be obliged to adopt it rather than buying from a breeder" could be a reasonable stance. But given that one of the criteria often is "a puppy or very young dog with no history of trauma", in reality almost no shelter can provide that. And it would be completely impossible to implement.

Some reacues are prohibitively restrictive when trying to adopt-I had one rescue refuse to even home check (30mins away!). This is the crux of the issue, in some cases at least. There needs to be a lean towards positive risk taking-any dog, whether rescued from a shelter or bought as a puppy, carries some degree of risk.

We did find a very sensible, long established, breed specific rescue and adopted, ours is 7 and was sadly over used for breeding. She is the most gentle, sweetest dog you could meet. We didn't know much of her history but she was physically in bad shape and didnt know what a treat was and frightened of everything when she first arrived. I would 100% rescue from this particular rescue again. Watching her blossom has been one of the most rewarding things ever.

I don't think you could enforce rescue first though. And as unpopular an opinion as this is, part of the problem does lie with some rescues, who sometimes seem to not want to rehome dogs. And pop up rescues are not making the situation easier.

This is repeatedly raised on here and other social media platforms. We wouldn’t be allowed to rescue, we both work full time but my DH’s shifts mean the dogs are never left for more than 4 hours bar 3 times a month when they have a dog walker. We like a certain breed and get 2 at a time. This is looked on with horror by some, certainly wouldn’t be allowed by rescues. We’ve never had ‘littermate syndrome’.

YABU to ask, as many pp have said, there are loads of reasons people can’t/wont rescue and don’t get me started on importing from abroad when our rescues are full.

I don’t agree. Plenty of people manage in those circumstances and it’s better than being stuck in a kennel. Not all dogs need constant attention day in, day out. It’s largely breed and personality dependent.

I really wanted a rescue, but have 2 kids under 10 and shared access to the back garden.

My only dog requirements were no staffies/bully type breeds, no greyhounds/ whippet type breeds, nothing too insanely hairy, must be able to to long walks, so nothing stupidly small.

In our 3 local shelters in 18 months only 3 dogs became available that were ok with children under 10. One we were going to take, fab heinz 57, but the shelter didn't like it was shared access to our back garden. So, we bought a puppy.

That depends on the breed. There is a shortage of some breeds. The Kennel Club has a list of native British Dog Breeds that are considered vulnerable/at risk. These are old, traditional, working and sporting dogs that ethical breeders are trying to keep going. The backyard breeders and pet dog breeders of modern crosses are responsible for this decline in pedigree dogs. So yes, for some people, who choose a particular breed, there is a shortage of dogs, and it is worrying. Not all breeders are "greeders", and it's a nasty, insulting term. Ethical breeders who carry out health checks and breed for temperament (and do home checks on buyers) should never be compared with BYB's or puppy farmers. There is a world of difference.

Tbh every person who has ever said that usually has a damn miserable dog. There’s a big difference between your dog being okay with being abandoned 7+hrs five days a week and your dog being happy about it.

I guarantee 99.9% of dogs left alone for that amount of time that are ‘fine’ are not happy.

And that’s what responsible pet ownership is - making your dog happy. Not ‘fine.’ Not ‘managing’ but happy.

So using dog walkers, doggy day care etc isn’t “managing.”

I don’t agree that a better alternative is to be sat at a rescue centre or PTS. I think PTS is better than a life of absolute misery but if it’s a case of compromise it’s not a great alternative.

Why? You're penalising the wrong people here.
Restrictions and penalties should be on the backyard breeders who churn out designer crossbreeds.
The show dogs from top kennels aren't generally the ones cluttering up rescue centres.
People who ethically breed numerically small breeds, carry out health tests and home checks are not the ones that cause the problems.

Why get a dog if people need to use dog walkers or day care multiple times a week?

I often see posts of people saying ‘my dog can’t wait to go to day care or see their dog walker’ - failing to realise that a dog that really loves it owners doesn’t long to get away to daycare or the dog walker.

And to clarify - I have no issue with dog walkers or day care. I’m glad someone can provide the dog with the love and exercise it deserves when the owners can’t.

Because you can see there’s dogs desperately needing a home and enjoy the companionship 🤦‍♀️. Why subject a dog to a death sentence or a life sat in a stressful kennel environment for fear of admitting that the ideal home doesn’t exist for most, if not the vast majority of these dogs.

Approx 23 dogs are PTS each day in the UK - some reports suggest 11,000 each year. If one can be sat on my sofa, walked 3x a day. Spend their weekends with me walking and hiking I think it’s better than making it 11,001 each year. But of course.

People wanting to rescue a dog in what you consider sub-optimal conditions are not contributing to the supply of unwanted dogs.

Looking at the available dogs at Battersea, there are a lot who are potentially unsuitable / risky. Who is going to re-home an American bulldog / cane corso / lurcher of unknown origin.

I’ve bought all of my dogs from a breeder, one of them was 2 yrs old (returned by previous owner) the rest were puppies.

I tried to adopt a rescue dog on two separate occasions, the 1st dog we met was lovely, got on with our kids and dogs. We were then told she had dreadful food aggression. Something that at the time we didn’t feel we could work through.

The next time, after meeting the dog a few times, lots of chats between ourselves and the fosterer we received a call to say the dog had growled at her fosterer. They were going to further assess the dog and come back to us. A few days later I had a call to say the dog had badly bitten the foster lady . Totally out of the blue he’d bitten down hard, this wasn’t a warning nip, and she had to go to hospital to get it checked out.

Adopting dogs can and does work wonderfully for many. But not everyone who gives their dogs up are totally honest with their reasons, as the fosterer told us, they often don’t know the history and have to trust what they’re told, and of course then there are the stray dogs who have absolutely no history at all.

If people are happy to adopt a rescue dog and it works for them and their family / lifestyle then great and many do, but I don’t think anyone should have to justify their choice in getting a puppy from a (responsible) breeder over a rescue.

"I often see posts of people saying ‘my dog can’t wait to go to day care or see their dog walker’ - failing to realise that a dog that really loves it owners doesn’t long to get away to daycare or the dog walker."

At daycare or the dog walker dogs have the conpany of conspecifics, usually a fairly stable bunch of the same "friends". Absolutely nothing wrong with that.

But they are. Because they then go out and buy puppy farm puppies that they then dump when they realise they can’t cope.

Breeders and rescues should 100% be picky about who they give a dog too. The problem is defective puppy farm dogs with poor genetics, terrible resilience and owners and people who think their desire to have a puppy is a ‘right that must be fulfilled.’

It’s not.

I had a husky previously and he loved his husky friends at daycare. I cannot play like a husky and am confident he enjoyed that time.

A a husky owner who can’t keep up with them. What a surprise. Now all your posts make sense.

Anybody who is pro rescue is not going to buy a puppy from a puppy farm. I used to foster and rehabilitate dogs for a husky rescue pre kids. I am not so stupid that I’m going to go and buy a cockapoo from a breeder and contribute to a problem I spent years trying to help (in a very small way!!)

Rescues-

No, because whilst in principle I understand the reasoning, this is one of the things that make living in a free country what it is. Freedom to choose. Rather than the government telling you what you need to do, or what you should choose.