Rescue dog from Romania. Anyone else did this. Any tips.

[Worryabouteverything]

We are thinking of getting a rescue dog from Romania.
We have tried in this country to be told our fences too low and bungalow is not suitable to adopt.
Fences are 6ft so can't be made higher. Whether the charities are very fussy or what.
We lost our last rescue in January. We think he was about 16 and he had no problems.
It's a rescue we want not a puppy.
We are both retired. Both in very good health. We even have a back up if taken Ill etc our ds is willing to step up.

Anyone else did this. Have you any tips.

A good friend of mine has had a beautiful rescue dog from Romania for 5 years. I am sure there is some exploitation going on because sadly there always is. But if you do the proper homework I can't imagine that the majority of them are making any money from this. Obviously you'll be looking for a pet passport, ideally not adopting a puppy, certification of health checks and possibly an agreed fostering period. You will not be looking for someone in a dodgy raincoat handing a 4 week old puppy to you in car park! There are some Romanian rescue charities registered with the UK Charity Commission so that would be a good start.

If you are looking to adopt from abroad you could look at Niall Harbison who runs Happydoggoland in Thailand. He runs a genuine charity for street dogs in Thailand which mainly focuses on neutering stray dogs with the aim of reducing the population by half during his lifetime.
Occasionally he puts suitable dogs up for adoption. Liam Gallagher has adopted a dog from him.
The charity operates a strict health clearance for any dogs being adopted internationally.
He, and his team, do fantastic work.

https://x.com/NiallHarbison

I've got one. Good as gold, no behavioural problems at all, and not seen a vet in over 6 years apart from routine innoculations.

They asked for a £250 donation which included the £80 for the passport, and spaying, vaccinations and transport. I can't believe any puppy farm is making a profit at those prices.

A good friend (the only other person I know with a Romanian dog) has had a similar positive experience.

You need to be realistic and honest about your reasons for being refused adoption in the UK.
Did you try to adopt from one place, or several? If you only tried one place then go elsewhere. If you tried several, were the reasons the same? If you are trying to adopt a specific breed, are you being considered unable? If so, reflect on that and go for something smaller.

Living in a bungalow is not a reason for refusal. I live in a flat with no garden and adopted twice with a foster between the two.

A 6ft fence is obviously not a reason for refusal. Is it weak? With gaps?

Going overseas because you’ve been refused here is not the answer.

I’ve got two friends with them. They are the most placid dogs you’ve ever come across. Just lovely dogs.
however, one of them is struggling to find a vet to take hers on because of the diseases that I can’t spell mentioned above

My rescue is from North Macedonia and she's been nothing but a delight despite spending her first few years on the streets.

To balance some of the blatant hysteria and bias (I believe often from Breeders) on threads like this, I’ve adopted 10+ “foreign” dogs over the years. No significant behavioural issues, all easily managed, no health conditions other than the ones the rescue detailed and I was happy to take on.
Personally, I would adopt a dog from anywhere rather than buy one. So many need good homes, irrespective of country of birth. I also have UK rescues too. My foreign dogs are in no way different, other than the rather odd fact that they have all been immaculately clean in the house from day one, whereas my UK rescues usually need house training.

Don’t do it. Dogs in Romania are rarely kept as pets as we know them, but left outside in a kennel
or chained up in the yard. A lot of the dogs that are brought over here are feral - completely feral, left to fend for themselves in some village. They don’t know how to be pets. If you can get a puppy, it may work out, but most of the time it doesn’t. The dogs can’t adjust to life, they can’t be let off the lead and often have to be muzzled.

We did, in 2021 when the big UK rescues had the pick of everyone who was working from home and wouldn’t entertain us despite having dog walkers in place and days in the week at my mum’s, plus me being a teacher and at home 13 weeks a year.

I was picky about my rescue though - I didn’t want one ‘straight off the happy bus’. We also wanted an older dog.

Our lovely girl was 7 when she came over and was fostered in Romania and fostered here. We knew pretty much what we were getting and she’s been perfect - barely barks, can be left, so affectionate, walks beautifully, not reactive. Everyone loves her. We saw a vet the other day who almost refused to believe she was a rommie.

No medical issues apart from the usual stiff joints that all older dogs get.

I do know we got very very lucky and probably wouldn’t be that lucky again!

Agree - what is that about? I totally expected them to crap everywhere but seriously my two can keep their legs crossed for hours, know exactly when it's time to go out and be 'good girls' - they are so smart!! As for being feral 😂they do like being in the garden but took 24 hours to realise that a sofa and bed are the greatest thing ever! Mine are Carpathian Shepherds, beautiful gentle giants, great with children, absolutely brilliant, I don't know why we're not breeding these instead of mixing poodle with everything these days 🙄

There is nothing about my post that was ‘bullshit’ and I don’t currently own a dog. Ignorant, pointless post.

We have a rescue from Bulgaria. He's fabulous and the charity we got him from is excellent - run by a wonderful British couple. All of the dogs have lifetime back up (from UK based people). They've rehomed over 2,000 dogs in the UK to date.

Please give the real reason you were refused by multiple UK rescue organisations.

Cannot believe you need your own Guantanamo-style garden fence.

My neighbour & her boyfriend (both early 70s, don’t live together) share a young female rescue dog from Romania. She looks similar to a collie (they’ve had an older rescue collie from the RSPCA before) but is basically a mongrel; and sadly her prior owner had cut her tail roughly in half and possibly caused other trauma to her :(
They’ve owned her for about three years; she was extremely anxious at first and would just run off so needed some training; also has needed lots of love & reassurance plus at least 2 walks daily.
Now she has calmed down a lot and is a friendly sweet dog, but will try to chase cats & wildlife so my neighbour really has to watch her. Luckily I have an indoor cat anyway!
Basically I feel that any rescue pet (I’ve had rescue cats) can be a project. I’ve had 2 aggressive cats & 1 ultra anxious cat. All 3 ended up being lovely & affectionate but needed me to be understanding and patient.
The rescues try to get to know their characters, you don’t see their true self until they’re in your home.
As I just said, you do really have to be patient with any rescue animal & I do believe that dogs should have some training from a professional too plus plenty of exercise.

So what’s your plan, @Worryabouteverything

My friend did and she's a lovely sweet dog. She was nervous at first but is fine now. I believe the dog came from Romania but was then sent to a foster place so they knew she was good with children ect. Some people can't get dogs here because they are so strict with the criteria. Many shelters in UK won't let you adopt if you have children or cats for example. We looked for a rescue dog but coudktn get one and they wouldn't give to households with a child under 10. We got a puppy instead. So adopting from abroad is actually better ethically it's taking a dog off the streets rather than giving money to breeders. I didn't even think of it when I got my dog but seeing my friends dog I would consider. There is a great charity called galgo del sol who adopt podencos ( like greyhounds) that are abandoned race dogs in Spain, they are very cruel to them.

I have a Romanian rescue. It was the front door I had to worry about. He spent 8 years in a cage, so he really wanted to escape. That urge stayed for a couple of years, but he’s fine now. He’s never seemed inclined to jump a fence though - he’s a lazy boy. I’ve had him 4 years now and love him to pieces.
Do you think there is something lost in translation as 6ft fences are pretty high?
Paws to Rescue are a good charity…

For the record as it was said that my dogs likely came from some sort of scam, it’s why I advised checking the charity out in advance and talking to other dog owners as I did through the closed facebook community. I was reassured by my interactions with this charity, I saw video of my second dog from when she was picked up/chosen from a public kill shelter in Romania. Both dogs came from the same one, I’d seen footage of it on YouTube (not created by the charity) when researching the first one which tallied with the video for the second dog, by chance, my builder was from that town and knew it. Both dogs were picked up from the shelter and fostered in Romania, I corresponded with the fosterers and saw pictures/footage of the dogs there. Through the community on Facebook and interactions with the charity I knew what would happen if the home didn’t work out- the charity will work with you/behaviourists and rehome if it all breaks down. I signed a contract saying that I had to gain permission if the charity to rehome or put down the dog. It was possible to meet a dog in the UK for adoption if that was your preference as they had a small number of fosterers. The amount I paid would have covered not much more than vets bills, food during fostering and transport so if it’s a money making scheme they aren’t doing that well…

I know a few Romanians. They tell me there is a real problem there with stray dogs roaming the streets in packs- no need to breed them in a dog farm for the UK market. My builder told me his mum doesn’t walk alone at night as she is wary of the dogs.

i was told a little about my first dogs history- she had been in a domestic home and handed to the shelter as ‘they were moving and couldn’t look after her anymore. And that added up - she was house trained when she arrived, I was told she was about two years old, my vet agreed that that was about right although hard to be precise.

I appreciate that half or all of what I was told and shown by the charity could be bullshit, but I don’t consider myself to be a gullible person. I’ve had a very positive experience. I wish the dogs had not had to travel in a van from Romania, but they are healthy happy family dogs who are having a great life. I was happy to save them having been rejected by RSPCA etc due to living in a flat. My family have only ever had rescue dogs, it’s what I know.

So I repeat my advice, be fussy about the charity and get to know what you can about the dog before you commit. There are risks but again, my experience has been very positive.

It should be illegal to import dogs from abroad.

Most of them end up in rescues over here or having to be destroyed due to the fact they have 0 social skills and end up agggressive.

The charities are nothing more than money making rackets. All of them.

And let’s just look at it like this.

If you bought a puppy from a breeder over here, never met it, and it was delivered to your door by someone claiming to represent the breeder, or worse you had to meet it somewhere on the motorway/at the air port etc you would be handed your arse on here and told just what is wrong with that.

And yet people pay upwards of £500 for an unknown dog apparently imported from unknown circumstances (plenty of these so called rescues are actively bred for the UK trade), and you never meet the dog until it’s dropped off at your door or you go and meet it at the airport.

Why is it considered perfectly acceptable to do that when it isn’t for a UK bred dog of any type?

The trade in imported animals needs to be made illegal.

Most of these dogs would be better off humanely euthanised than shipped abroad where they’re likely to end up in rescue anyway.

Or not bred for the so called foreign rescue trade in the first place.

People who think these charities are legit need to get their heads read.

Most rescues want a 6’ fence so that’s not the reason you have been rescues. Also not all uk rescues have fixed criteria. Similarly not all will refuse young children. Some will look at individual dogs and match them to families.

I adopted our Romanian princess 5 years ago. We used a rescue we adopted from previously who are based in the uk were bringing over pups. I didn’t even know which one we were getting! I just wanted a dog who needed a home. She arrived smelly and terrified from the transport at 6am and I loved her immediately. It took her a little while to feel the same but not long. That said, she is an anxious girl even now 5 years on. In the beginning we couldn’t touch her (4 days), and it was about 6 weeks before we could take her for a walk. Gradually we built her confidence but she can be reactive and I could never let her off lead. When she is scared she ignores me completely. Even now only a handful of people can touch her but she has stayed with friends and at a lovely doggy hotel and has coped well. It just takes her a while to come round and quick meetings don’t offer that so they are a no no.

Not all romies are like that, the girl we had before was super confident and something of an escape artist. We were her second UK home.

I would be wary of using a rescue that didn’t offer full uk rescue back up in case of issues. Ours were manageable but you really don’t know what you are getting when you get a dog from abroad.

if it helps, I would do it again. She is the worst of her siblings in terms of her anxiety but she loves her walks and is the most loving dog with us. She just has a very small circle of trust!