Adopting a dog from an overseas rescue centre. WWYD?

[BogeyNights]

We are looking to adopt a rescue dog after years of talking about it and waiting until the time was right. I don't work and my kids are both going to be at High School in September. We feel that we are ready to take on the responsibility.

We've considered puppies, but think that we'd rather adopt a rescue dog instead. One has come to our attention from Europe. I've seen a video, it's a puppy of about 4 months and he is of course very lovely & cute.

I'm in conversation with the centre, but I want to make sure my eyes are wide open before I commit fully to adopting from overseas.

Can anyone share their experiences - good or bad - with me?

Obviously it's risky as we will never have met the dog. I'm led to believe that the costs are set and include the transport, passport, immunisations etc. Is there anything that I should specifically ask whilst we are still in discussion with the rescue centre?

Thanks in advance.

Of course, Booboo, there are as many bad stories as good. But I would say that not all UK adoptions are successful either.

As I said, rescues abroad are running spay/neuter programmes alongside rehoming, so it's not either/or. If they can find willing adopters, of course they're going to rehome as well.

Again, if you read my post, UK rescues are turning people down for often fairly trivial reasons. A lot to do with not wanting any bad PR if things go wrong. Of course, all possible caution should be taken if rehoming with children, but I don't think most rescues working abroad take this lightly. There are good and bad rescues in the UK and abroad, it's not black and white.

Bagel getting a pet always involves risk but there are ways of stacking the odds in your favour. If you are a first time owner it's even more important to be careful as you will be learning as you go along but everyone has to start somewhere. If you have DCs, especially young DCs that may make understandable mistakes like shouting near the dog, disturbing the dog while it is eating, etc. you have to be even more careful.

So what do you choose?
A dog who's mother and litter mates are known or one with no known family background?
A dog that has been brought up in a home or one that has had to survive on the streets?
A dog that has been assessed in a foster home or one that has been in kennels?
A dog that has been socialised by the foster family or a feral dog?
A dog that has had some basic training by the foster family or a dog that has had little interaction with humans other than being shouted at and beaten?

The theory of dog rescue is moving, cute faces, desperate stories, pleading eyes...the reality if often a very difficult to manage, dangerous situation that limits your life and ends in tears. I have seen this again and again with dogs and even worse with horses, where people 'rescue' animals headed for the meat market and end up with half a tonne of trouble which they then try to off load to the next naive person down the line.

I've had nearly 30 dogs in the last 2 years from abroad, whether it be foster or adopt. I repeatedly got turned down for UK rescues because the age of my children. All rescue dogs come with issues but bring a dog up the wrong way and a bought puppy can develop issues too. There's a few rescues I highly recommend, there is always rescue back up. They have UK based admin and the dogs do not go into quarantine. They are checked, including the paperwork at the airport and the animal control centres in this country are very thorough. Rescues abroad do not have animal rights or charities like they do in the UK and all their funds are raised by donations, auctions and also comes out of the volunteers pockets on many occasions. Good rescues will also make sure the dog and family are suited, they are very honest and open about each dog and their needs. They work so hard to improve the life of these dogs that there only concern is to make sure that their dogs are happy and loved

Sometimes it's not as simple as 'overseas dog = street dog'. We were incredibly lucky to have re homed a Romanian puppy, via a rescue charity, straight from a family home.

Thankfully for her she has never known life in the public shelters or on the streets and has settled into family life with no problems whatsoever - friendly, great with kids and cats, sleeps all night.... she has settled into into day care when we need to leave her for any reason and loves to play other dogs. She's also perfectly happy to be left alone, although we've only done so for an hour as we don't want to do too much too soon. She's just a fabulous family dog who happened to come from Romania.

We were careful to make sure that she had been fully assessed. she had been living in a foster family in the U.K before she came to us so we felt confident that there were no behavioural problems.

All in all - we love her to bits.

I would advise if you adopt from a foreign agency, go through one that fosters dogs in the UK first. That way, you can meet the dog first. We adopted a Romanian girl. Didn't see her before we took her apart from photos. She is the sweetest, gentlest girl, apart from reactivity with other dogs. A trait I specifically did not want and was assured she did not have. We are working on it with her, but it's a pain. I didn't go through a UK rescue because of blanket rules about children's ages, some insist any other dog already owned has to be neutered, and, the situation in Romania is truly awful, dogs rounded up, shoved in kill shelters and left to starve. I'd adopt again from Romania or Portugal/Greece/Spain etc but I'd get one I could vet myself. Also be aware that although they have to have health checks, some have health issues that aren't spotted until over here.

I adopted a Romania dog three years ago from Safe Rescue for Dogs www.saferescuefordogs.com/. They quarantine the dogs, which arrive in the UK neutered, chipped and with all necessary vet treatment administered (including heartworm treatment which was mentioned up thread). They then put their dogs with a foster family so their behaviour and needs can be assessed before they are adopted. Potential adopters have a home check and sign a contract with the charity. Support after adoption is freely given. I would say that adopting from a group like that is a pretty effective way of stacking the odds in your favour.

Ellie cost us £175, the joy she gives us is priceless.

Have sent you a PM Tortoise