Really annoyed at Dog Rescue Centres

[ProfCoxWouldGetIt]

Just want to start by saying that they do a great job, and if I had the money/space I would adopt every dog I could.

BUT

I've been scanning dog rescue places locally looking for a puppy to adopt, DP has finally said he'll consider a dog, but doesn't want an older dog, he wants to enjoy the fun (and hard work) of a young pup.

I've tried desperately to find a young dog (Ideally max 6 months)but not one will allow us to rehome a young dog because DD is 2.5, now I know they have to be careful, and that puppies can get very over excited but we're aware of this, and DD is so gentle and loving when it comes to dogs (and our exisiting cats) and we'll take the necessary precautions and obviously never leave DD and the dog alone.

I just can't understand why we wont be given a chance, as a potenial new home, when we can offer so much to a rescue dog, and they're obvioously crying out for homes.

Some of it might be that puppies are really easy to get adopted, but they struggle with older dogs or even young ones that have been surrendered. A lot of people don't realise what they're taking on with a dog, and end up giving them up when they're at a difficult age (adolescence), and the older they are, the harder it is to re-home them.

The rescue wants to make damn sure that puppy doesn't come back as a poorly trained adolescent who then languishes in a kennel getting more stressed and anxious. This is more likely to happen in a family with small children, so I hope you understand why they don't make exceptions. Everyone going in there is saying the same as you, and they have to go with their previous experience.

It does seem a bit arbitrary - they may find that's what tends to be best in general but I'd have thought they'd look at each family individually.
Hopefully someone will come up with a suggestion...

But older dogs can be fun too, you know - if you can't find a rescue who'll let you rehome a pup, can't you persuade your DP to have an older one? (ours was 10 months, still very playful but by then known to be good with kids, a bit calmed down and housetrained)

So, so many young dogs that are rehomed to families with young children get returned. I'm not trying to imply that you will be the same, or that you are not prepared, but the reality is that most are not. A dog being returned is A Big Deal and seriously harms their chances of being rehomed again.

Have a look at the other thread about the realities of having a puppy; it's more work than anyone ever expects and can be totally incompatible with having young children. Rescue centres are understandably not keen when they have so many families promising so much who turn out not to be prepared for it.

I do sympathise, I have my own issues with rescue policies and whatnot but I really can see where they're coming from on this one. Could you not wait until your DD is a little older or consider an older dog? An older dog of a sedentary breed (see the greyhound/whippet/longdog thread ) or an older SBT that's been well assessed as having a calm, trainable personality would be more likely to slot in with your lifetyle.

Also depends if you go to a proper rescue or a 'pound'. I didn't realise that's what Cheshire Dogs Home was when we got our puppy. Our 9 week old pup was practically thrown at us even though we had a 15 month old DS. We were actually there looking for a dog that was older!

I'd also consider looking at an older dog. In the past I've adopted a 1 year old and an 8 month old, and they were plenty 'hard work' and lots of puppy fun for ages.

I'd happily get an older dog, and have often fostered cats in the past who were literally on their last legs, but needed a comfortable place to live out their last few days.

But DP really is keen on the puppy idea, part of his reasoning is that we can then ensure the right training is in place so it doesn't chase the cats and knows how to behave with young children, and I can appreciaite he doesn't want to pick up someone elses problem dog.

I do understand where the rescue centres are coming from, but I do also find it annoying that they wouldnt even consider taking it on a case by case basis.

I'm fully prepared for the hard work that having pups entails, I have had pups previously, before meeting DP, and I've made sure DP is well aware of the amount of effort required, but he's finally come round to the idea and is rather excited about getting a dog.

I know waiting is another option but most of these places won't rehome to families with kids under 10 (8 the youngest I've seen, 13 is the oldest - and that's not limited to young dogs) and I would love DD to grow up with a dog and i feel our family is missing and important part not having a dog.

One of the reasons we'd like a dog is we're an active family and spend a lot of time out and about, so the few (older) dogs I have seen that are considered ok by the shelters, are all too old or not a breed suitable to taking part in our active lifestyle

I've actually just commented on this on another thread. Saw a lovely dog on a local website that would suit us perfectly. Unfortunately they don't rehome to anyone with children under eight years of age. I can understand that some people might end up with a child getting a nip or worse and the dog being rehomed, but it's a shame they can't judge each family on it's merits.

We are thinking of getting a lab as my dh shoots and wants a new dog for picking up. We will probably get a dog through a recommended breeder through the shooting fraternity, but the lab on this website was pedigree and a year old. Would have been perfect. And would have enjoyed a long and happy life picking up birds as is it's natural ability. Not saying it won't end up in a lovely home, obviously, but it definitely would have had one with us.

Another problem, MrsJasonBourne, is that a lot of the big-name rescues won't rehome to working homes. I know the RSPCA won't.

Why is that do you think? Not all of us that like to go picking up occasionally leave our dogs outside in a kennel all day. Do you think they're basing their decision on some old fashioned stereotype because if so they really ought to make a home visit and see that this is not the case!

(scratches head, perplexed)

Ethical issues because of the shooting thing, I think - they oppose shooting, hunting, fishing etc. as involving animal cruelty.

Sled dog racing is also out, apparently, a huge shame for the adolescent husky our local centre has in at the moment, already been returned from one home, going to struggle to find another! She'd slot right into a working kennel but nope, they won't have it.

Hmm...... our dog was taken to the rescue when the family with young children who got him from their neighbours as a puppy got fed up when he grew into a big dog. And funnily enough there were an awful lot of other dogs that were about the same age as ours, with the same story to tell. People love puppies because they are cute, they don't much care for bigger dogs who may have as many bad habits as puppies unless they've been trained.

Why not go for a dog of about a year old? There are loads of them IME. And you might not have to deal with house-training as a bonus! DH wanted a puppy too but he fell for ours as much as everyone else did and has no regrets now.

Have you tried National Animals Welfar Trust? They seem good and don't have a blanket ban on families with children - they judge each dog on their merits.

Ethical issues???

They do know that game meat is as free range as you can get and usually organic too?

Sorry, won't hijack thread by ranting on about that.

A good rescue might be able to pair you with a yearling who is already trained not to chase cats. Mine was from a breeder rather than a rescue per se, but he was socialised, cat-friendly, child-friendly and housetrained. I still put in time training, but from a solid base.

Another thing, I was in nearly the same position as you, OP. I'd had puppies before and knew how much work it would be. DH had never had a dog, but was keen, and I thought I'd impressed upon him how much hard work a puppy would be.

If we had it to do over again, an older dog (as originally intended) probably would have been better. The housetraining, adolescent defiance, chewing, boisterousness, etc. was really hard for DH, especially on top of having a toddler. And he wasn't the one that was home all the time!

We definitely had some arguments and sullen moments over the dog, which were due to DH being impatient for our dog to be like older dogs he'd met and liked.

Oddly, now the dog absolutely adores DH, I don't get a look in. He's finally being more like what DH expected at 1.6 years, and it would have been nice to get here a bit sooner.

Many Tears Animal Rescue will do a home check and will rehome to families with young children if they consider the family suitable. If they don't find you suitable they will tell you why.

They have a number of puppies on the site right now.

Good luck!

Rescues are not generally 'crying out' for homes for puppies under 6 months - in fact there's often a waiting list. It's the older ones, unfortunately, who really struggle to find homes.

I do agree that they should look at potential homes on a case-by-case basis rather than a blanket rule that you can't have x type of dog because your child is under n years. Sadly thought these rules and restrictions are often based on experience - while I'm sure you can offer a great home to a pup, so many people fail to do so, and given that young pups are in such demand, I guess they can afford to be picky.

Sometimes though if you talk to the rescue owners, they are prepared to be flexible if you're an experienced owner and they can see you have the time to devote to training a pup.

Anyway, an older dog (i.e. older than 6 months!) doesn't necessarily mean an elderly dog incapable of keeping up with your 'lifestyle'. IME there are a lot of dogs that come into rescue somewhere between 6-18 months. Not all rescues are 'problem dogs' either, and many have lived with children before and are good with them.

I have had both a puppy (we got him at 8 weeks) and a rescue dog we got at age two (whippety lurcher, my current dog)

The pup was untrainable and was a nightmare dog right up until his untimely accident aged 5. No amount of puppy classes, one to one training sessions etc discouraged some of his habits which made life tough.

The two year old on the other hand has responded fabulously to training. We are in the process of moulding him into exactly the kind of dog we want.

So your dh is wrong if he thinks only pups are trainable.

Also, you only have one child. Rescues may be worried that if you take on a pup, and then you have another child, the pressure may be too much and the dog will be rehomed. Not saying you would do it but am sure they have seen it many times...

Finally, go to smaller breed specific rescues. They are more likely to judge you as a family regardless of the age of your child. And as such they will be able and willing to match you with the right young dog for you.

Thanks all for the advice, I've had a look at NAWT - but the dogs they have are all over 10, which really is getting a bit too old for us, there's the added concern that with that age comes a lot of health issues, which a new insurance policy won't cover, and we wouldn't get a dog without insurance.

I hadn't looked at Many Tears, because I wrongly thought they were based in Wales only, but have had a quick scan of their site, and will see if DP and I can spot a match for us. Although they do seem to be keen to rehome with another dog, and I really don't think we have the space for 2 dogs (as much as I would love to have two)

Re the older dogs, I have been looking for dogs up to the age of 2, but trying to find a match on one the will live with cats and DD has proved almost impossible, it does seem like some websites don't actually categorise their dogs properly so I may be missing some.

Will keep looking, and hopefully the right match will come up.

Thanks again for all your comments

Prof, just to give you some idea and to endorse what others have said. In a survey last year, of people who'd bought a pedigree pup in the previous two years, 19% no longer had them - almost one in five - that's a pretty high figure. There is also a solid stack of academic research into reasons for relinquishment of dogs - the arrival of a baby, and especially the arrival of a second baby are recognised triggers for relinquishments. Once a dog has "bounced" back into the care of a rescue, it becomes progressively much harder to home it the next time around.

Having said that, I know there are many reputable charities who will home to adopters with young children - for instance, many greyhound ones do. Just as an example, take a look at the Greyhound Rescue West of England website here - there are young, cat and child friendly dogs on there. A lurcher, for instance, would be likely to be more lively than a grey and would enjoy an active lifestyle with your family.

This is just one example of a charity that will work with families - I know many more. If you would like to indicate roughly where in the country you live, I'd be happy to recommend one, or you can PM me if you prefer.

I'm afraid that although I live in Wales, I don't recommend Many Tears, though I don't particularly want to hijack your thread on the reasons why.

We got our dog from Many Tears and we have two children under 5. We are in the London area, so it involved a trip to Wales, but it was worth it. She's bloody lovely and is officially our Best Buy of last year.

There just wasn't any London rescues that would consider us, because of the children and also because the dog goes to work with my husband for part of the week. We had a tough time convincing any rescue (including Many Tears) that the dog would genuinely be with my husband on the days that I work and not left at home.

Its definitely harder to get your dog froma rescue if you don't fit the profile of their ideal adopter. We persevered though, because we really didn't want to buy a puppy from a breeder or pet shop.

Have shown this thread to DP, and I think he's coming around to the idea of an older dog, we spend most of our holidays in Wales, so a trip there to visit a dog really isn't an issue for us, especially if it's the right dog, although would be loath to make the trip if they hadn't confirmed we would be able to adopt, as that would get everyones hopes up and probably end in tears.

SO now we just need to figure out what type of dog we want - thread to follow.

Thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to reply and share your views.

Prof, DogMouse comes from Many Tears - and I was never going to drive to Wales!

I first spotted him, and his litter sisters, on their website - and noticed when he was moved into foster in Kent, which is only an hour's drive away (and apple country, which probably explains it )