Rehoming - why is it so !*~#£"&$"* difficult?

[MrsJackAubrey]

I want to offer a loving, safe and stable home to a rescue dog. You'd think I was asking to adopt the next in line to the bloody throne!

The hoops I'm asked to jump through are bad enough, but these at least make sense. I have fenced our acre of garden specifically to meet the requirements ffs at huge cost (mind you it does look lovely).

So I see a suitable dog - I leave messages as asked, and get no reply, at rescue centres. (and I mean no reply EVER). I email, ditto. I Facebook, and am asked to phone.

And I'm happy to take a Staffie! An older dog! I'm not asking for a picture perfect Cavalier with superb manners and a love of cats.

I'm resorting to looking at puppies, and I do NOT want a puppy when there are so many dogs needing exactly the kind of home I can offer.

Any advice? Or perspective? Because I'm getting really really annoyed about it

How about a German Shepherd, beautiful dogs, I have 2! GSDRUK are a specialist rescue, though they do have other breeds. Always helpful and informative, they also look for foster parents if that's something you would be interested in.

Second GSDR, they rehome all over the UK and shepherds are amazing dogs

I also have heard great things about black retriever x rescue.

My mum works in Staffie rescue, and even she thinks it's ridiculous. Says it all really!

There was a thread on here last month from someone in a similar situation. Really frustrating!

Here's the thread
http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_doghouse/2586556-please-can-i-have-a-mini-moan-about-the-difficulty-of-rehoming-a-rescue-dog

Black Retriever Rescue
Silver Fox Dog Rescue
Balkan Underdogs (adoption approx £300, socialised, tested, spay/neutered etc)
Help Pozega Dogs (ditto above)
Griffon Adoption Group UK
Helens Poodle Doodle Rescue (Cyprus rescue, adoption £400 flights to Heathrow)
Greyhound Rescue In KT12, ex-racer greyhounds for adoption

We had the same trouble trying to find a cat .

We didn't want kittens and had an older cat at home. Tried 4 rescues, but nothing that could live with another cat. Loads of kittens.

Ended up having to buy 2 older pedigrees from a breeder.

Pressed to soon...

Pro Dogs Direct
UK Romanian Dog Rescue

All have FB groups - would recommend you join these -as they're usually more updated than websites. Get chatty with them, ask them to keep an eye out. Be proactive as small rescues often exist with a few volunteers so you have to be the one to work hard looking and pestering (in a nice way). They simply don't have the time.

I hear you MrsJackAubrey. I felt similarly frustrated when looking for a rescue dog earlier this year.

Someone recommended Many Tears to us on this forum, which while in Wales, seemed like a great organisation with a nice collection of dogs, including puppies. While many need to be rehomed to homes with another dog, there are lots that can go as only dogs.

We have the loveliest puppy from Many Tears now. He's just turned 20 weeks and I can't take him anywhere without people telling me how gorgeous he is!

You need to visit a kennels. All RSPCA and Dogs Trust shelters are open for public visitation as are many local authority kennels. Find your nearest ones and go. Unless you live in the Hebrides or are looking for a very specific breed it shouldn't be too difficult.

Vet, I really wouldn't advise getting a dog from a LA pound. Local authority pounds are very different to rescues. Yes, you can just rock up and walk out with a dog - there is no homecheck, minimal paperwork. BUT the flipside of this is that dogs are given only a very cursory assessment in kennel conditions and if the OP is anything other than a highly experienced dog behaviourist I would never recommend this. Also, you don't get the same sort of back up that you get from rescues.

Dogs Trust are highly reputable. As others have said though most rescues are run by volunteers - there simply isn't the time to respond individually to every enquiry, especially when many of these aren't serious or are incredibly vague (I'm not suggesting this is OP).

Best option is to pick two or three rescues that you feel comfortable with (e.g. right breed etc) and follow either their FB page e.g. EGLR or their forum with threads for each dog in foster. This allows you to see the progress made by a dog in foster, and can allow you to rule certain dogs in or out e.g. doesn't like cats, adores children.

Hope Rescue have an excellent website which sets out in great detail the adoption process, and I've only ever heard very good things about them. Although based in Wales, they adopt nationwide.

We've just adopted from the Blue Cross, and they were brilliant – I would highly recommend them. They always returned our calls and their website is updated twice daily I think. You fill in your details and requirements online once, and then it is kept for them to look at every time you are interested in a dog. We had several dogs that we tried for but that didn't work out for one reason or another, but eventually they called us telling us that this one had come in and they thought we'd be interested. We were! We don't have any dogs already, but I work from home so am always around.

I hate the craze to rescue foreign dogs. It's only going to encourage puppy farms in countries where they may be less fussed about welfare, it then puts dogs through the stress of travel across Europe, plus the risks that they'll introduce all sorts of diseases. Vets are increasingly seeing puppies that are too young to have legitimately been vaccinated for rabies and given passports. It's a disaster waiting to happen.

I have mentioned a mix of rescues, some UK-only and some operating in the Balkans (mostly). Many other threads have gone into the difficulties people have had adopting dogs from rescues in this country.

• Larger UK rescues are so risk-averse they will not comtemplate adoptions where children are under 5 (or sometimes older).

• UK rescues are sometimes way too strict regarding owners who work. Many have made it clear that they will make alterations/accommodations and have still been turned down. While it's clear that the best possible home should be found for dogs, it seems that sometimes dogs are left in rescues when perfectly reasonable homes could have been found.

• I only recommend rescues that I've fostered for or know people who work extremely hard in those rescues. Some of them are only FB contacts but I've seen the trouble they go to (over a long period of time) and am pretty confident as to their good intentions. These rescues provide good backup, have sorted out help from behaviourists when necessary, have taken dogs back when things haven't worked out and have been incredibly understanding in many different circumstances.

" These rescues have fundraised so that dogs in kennels can be well socialised, taken for walks every day, or are in foster homes so that they can be assessed. They operate spay/neuter programmes in the home countries, thereby helping preven the increase of dogs in that country.

• They extensively test for any possible diseases in their dogs before adoption is contemplated, will cat-test, child-test, will talk honestly about any issues the dog may have. Will always carry out homechecks, will provide good communication with the adopter and back up for any issues, however small, that may arise.

There are many, many rescues in the UK who do not adhere to such high standards.

Scuttle I suggested that the OP visited rescues to get an idea of what she's looking for. I didn't specifically suggest that she adopt from a local authority shelter, however having worked with a large number of UK rescue organisations and seen some frankly terrifying 'behavioural assessment' and advice given, I remain unconvinced that LA shelters are actually any better or worse than many 'rescues'. There is an enormous spectrum out there.

OP is complaining that it's impossible to adopt but hasn't actually visited anywhere - I'm making the point that if she's that committed to adopting then she needs to go visit a rescue. It's certainly not impossible, but not something that can be done by phone/internet.

I'd just get a puppy.

Twooter, you're badly misinformed. There is no need for puppy farms in Romania which has a huge stray dog population as a result of Ceausescu's policies in the 1980s. The dogs are transported in purpose built vehicles and while it may be briefly stressful for some of them it's better than a short life of starvation and abuse. Reputable rescues ensure all their dogs are appropriately vaccinated - it's not in their interests to cut corners as it will only reflect badly on them in the future.

Bit off topic, but how do those dogs get here?

We have one via a reputable rescue she was originally from Croatia. She has her passport, but I never thought to ask how she physically came to the uk?

Plane seems expensive and stressful. Would it be ferry or via channel tunnel?

Ours came in a van from Romania with 15 of her pound mates. They crossed Europe via the channel tunnel in 48 hrs. The van was air conditioned, had two drivers and a dog handler. Then they went into kennels for quarantine and a rest for two days before being collected. Yes the dog was tired, but soon re overhead after a sleep. She'd spent the previous few months in a rank cage anyway, with very rare hours let out by the volunteers.

The dogs were health checked and vaccinated to defra standards before coming over. They most certainly weren't bred for money. All I paid was £150 for travel. The charity raises the money for everything else (ie vets).

I've two UK rescue dogs as well. The Romanian rescue had more home checks and after checks than they ever had.

One of ours came from the RSPCA and the other (an older girl) came from Dog's Trust and were both adopted when my youngest dc was under 3 years old. We did find though that they would not discuss potential dogs over the phone, or by email and we actually had to go down to the kennels to take a look and ask which dogs would be suitable with small children (and we obviously couldn't walk out with the dogs on the same day as reserving them, we had lots of visits to see how the dogs were with the dc, how ddog2 was with ddog1, how they were on walks outside the kennels etc etc). Dogs Trust also make you attend a session on looking after your rescue dog.

We did have to make quite a few visits before finding dogs we (and they) felt would be suitable for a home with children, but it was well worth the time and effort of looking extensively and waiting for the right dogs.

We recently offered a foster home to another (elderly) dog, but that was turned down only because the rescue wanted to hold out for a forever home, but will be happy to offer a foster home for a third dog too. Sighthounds - they are more-ish, what can I say?

However, don't give up, the right rescue dog is sure to be out there waiting!

We got out rescues from many tears but the lovely lady who fostered them for many Tears also rescues Romanian street dogs and looks to re home them alongside a small group of volunteers. The dogs are all socialised, groomed, neutered etc before being homed and although homes are of course vetted, I'm sure she'd get back to you as she is always getting us to share on Facebook dogs needing homes. I can PM you her details if you like. I've met a few of the foster dogs and they are so gorgeous and rescued from the most appalling conditions - many are skin and bone at the start.

Hi there, I'm finding myself in the same position! It is frustrating when they don't reply to you etc but I'm learning fast how it all works! We've been home checked by a local rescue but they have no suitable dogs at the moment. I've got several FB groups I'm watching - Romania, Serbia etc but we want to be able to meet them first so unless they are in UK foster it's a non starter!
Musicposy would you PM me with the details of the lady you know please? Thank you.

I'm waiting for news of the third dog I've applied for. Expecting a no!