Rescue dog - for first time dog owners?

[LtGreggs]

We're in the early stages of thinking about getting a dog. Haven't owned a dog before, and didn't grow up with dogs. Two DC aged 10 & 12. They are keen, but it's really me who is driving the idea and dog would be 'for me' rather than them.

I've started having a look at rescue centre web sites and almost all seem to say individual dogs need a home "with experienced owners". Is it silly to think about a rescue dog (rather than a puppy) as a first time? Surely the puppy stage is harder & needs more experience??

Advise me, dog people?

I fostered a rescue dog. Rescue gave him to an inexperienced owner. He had a break down and had to be pts. So it's a no from me.

Some rescue dogs are not welfare cases. Some are there because of owner's ill health etc. We have a rescue dog and he would definitely be grand for a first time owner. He came from the pound and was definitely someones former pet. A reputable rescue should be able to match you up with a suitable one.

Is it because rescue dogs have difficult past history and thus need more experienced care (like fostering children, I guess) - and is this thus the case for almost all rehomed dogs?

Do almost all first-timers start with puppies then?

Or - am I crazy to think about a dog at all, given we have no experience?

Thanks pebbles - I guess I should go and actually have a chat to them, rather than just browse.

It's about getting the right rescue dog. It has many advantages as in toilettraining all done and personality known.

However many dogs are in rescue for a reason so you need to be able to rely on the rescue to be stringent. Register with the dogs trust and be prepared to wait and keep going back. Be thorough and honest about your set up and expectations.

In the meantime research what you need to offer a dog in terms of feeding.veterinary care. Insurance etc and what breeds you may like. Don't discount the faithful old crossbreeds they tend to be really hardy and healthy.

Be wary if rescues that don't question you and allow you to choose ant dog. They mean well but often their priority is to move the dog on and this can lead to heart ache.

I have had two rescue dogs. One was a handful but we knew this. My current rescue is a wee terrier and we've had him since 6 months. He's about 6 now and the 'perfect' dog.

If never have another puppy. Too much hard work

Scuse my fat fingers!

Stay away from any rescue that doesn't ask a boatload of questions. They should be matching you up to a suitable dog and offering a lot of support.

Rescue dogs can have issues because of the reason they have had to be rescued, so are not always suitable for first time owners. Our beautiful girl, who we've had now for three months, is a case in point. She was v v submissive (not as good a trait as you may imagine, a nervous dog can become an aggressive dog quite quickly). She would only walk if at least two out of the three of us also went. She was v v scared of (in no particular order) her lead, upstairs, buses, the ironing board and the hoover. She knew the words for "go to your bed", but had no idea how to play. And these were just the most obvious problems.

I suppose an analogy would be the difference between fostering a baby and fostering a teenager.

Our beautiful girl goes from strength to strength, but she is hard work, no question about it. There's also no question about the joy you feel when you can bring a dog that has had a hard start in life, back to enjoying their doggy life.

Personally, I think people that go for puppies as first time owners are crazy as they are such hard work, and it's so easy to get things wrong.

I foster for a rescue, and we have many dogs suitable for first time owners (and of course some who need experienced owners, or to live with other dogs) and with children. Not all dogs have a difficult past - the owner may have just realised they can't cope with a dog, had a relationship breakdown, had a health issue, or any number of other things that is in no way the dogs fault.
I foster for EGLR and all our dogs are in foster so we do know them really well. I had a couple of 5 months old fairly recently who had been seized from a horrific situation, but the boy turned out to be so chilled and fantastic everywhere I took him he went to a family with twin 4 year olds. His sister needed a quieter life with lots of confidence building so she went off to a home as an only dog with an experienced older lady to be totally spoilt

My first dog was a rescue off the streets - no history at all!
She was a lovely first dog despite having a few challenging behaviours. I learned a lot about dogs from her.
I think if you decide to get a rescue, look for one that will support you in your journey and find a good dog training club to help you understand your dog. (Mine came from Battersea they were fab in every way! )
don't get a puppy unless you have read the puppy survival thread from start to finish!!

I rescued my dog from abroad, no issues whatsoever, she is the perfect dog (I guess we were just lucky). Bit of separation anxiety, a few issues with the cat, but other than that, she is brilliant

LEM - what would you mean by 'faithful old crossbreeds' - do you mean crossbreeds in general or do you advise specific mixes to look out for?

One local rescue had about 20 dogs currently listed - every single one said either lurcher cross or staffie cross!

I haven't got as far as a specific breed - but am imagining medium size (labrador size max), and we could offer a good amount of exercise. Quite a few friends & neighbours have dogs, but I think all have taken puppies and selected a specific breed or poodle cross.

Really does depend on the dog.

My first dog was a ex racer greyhound. Soft as anything so apart from not being housetrained initially it was all good. Next dog was six months old when we got him and was a psychopathic aggressive bundle of fury who nearly destroyed my marriage over the next two years (I’m not exaggerating). Next dog was an ten week old puppy because I couldn’t face the risk of another dog with issues! However a lot of friends have had rescue dogs and had no problems at all.

I got a rescue dog from dog's trust, they were fab. I was inexperienced owner and worked full time (but had a dog sitter lined up) they were very firm about talking to their adoption team and being guided by them rather than just wandering around the kennels and picking one I liked the look of. She was the perfect dog for me and although she was a bit older we had five happy years together. So yes I'd recommend it if you are willing to take advice and wait for the right dog. They don't all have traumatic backgrounds or behaviour problems.

Any breed really but be aware that as lovely as staffies are (one of my favourite breeds) they are crazy with boundless energy and STRONG!

Thing is each dog is an individual so try and get as much history as you can as a dog in a kennel situation is going to behave very differently in the home.

Our boy is a rescue staffie and is the most fantastic,gentle,loving and loyal dog we have ever owned.He is amazing with my children and is their best friend.He was in rescue for nearly 2 years before gave him his forever home and it was the best thing we ever did.There are so many staffies in rescue that are waiting far too long before they are rehomed.

You won’t get an accurate picture of what rescues have available from their website... they tend to use the websites to advertise dogs they know will be harder to rehome.

I grew up with dogs and accidentally acquired a rescue dog from a friend. He's tricky, and three previous owners couldn't manage him. It's been a massive learning curve.

I've changed my whole lifestyle for my dog. I've been on courses to understand dog training. I've read extensively on dog behaviour. I've engaged professionals to help me with him. I've put thousands of hours of blood, sweat and tears (literally, all three) into this dog. I'm still learning, and he's still a work in progress. It's taken an enormous level of dedication, and I think a lot of inexperienced owners could have done him more harm than good (I've certainly made mistakes along the way!)

For a first time owner a rescue dog can work well, but be prepared to put a lot of time and effort in. Select your dog carefully, and know your limits - for instance, think very carefully before taking on a dog with issue around fear and anxiety (but teaching things like recall shouldn't be a major issue). That said, you can mess a puppy up if you don't know what you're doing. Swings and roundabouts - to a certain extent you pick your poison.

Thanks all - really helpful advice and food for thought. If we do go ahead, I'll put a lot in to getting advice and matching with a 'first timer' dog. Your stories do make me think that this is more likely to be right for us than a puppy.

Have decided I'm going to spend the next few weeks imagining I'm doing everything with a dog added to the mix and see if I can imagine myself into the lifestyle impact...

Oh my word, I only have to read the puppy threads on here to be grateful every minute that we got a rescue as our first dog instead of a puppy - they seem like such hard work - I'm way too lazy for that.

We definitely wanted a dog, we definitely wanted a rescue. I did a whole heap of research and was slightly miffed to discover that the best fit for us would be a greyhound. I'd never considered a greyhound as they are so skinny and apparently characterless.

Wrong - very skinny but plenty of character. Also perfect for a first time owner - well ours is, and our rescue gave us four to chose from who would have been OK for us. She was toilet trained, she's so calm round the house I can't tell you, she walks beautifully on the lead, she's been the perfect addition to our family.

DH who grew up with labs and was desperate for a spaniel (which I vetoed on the basis we live in the middle of a city and I'm not going for a 6 mile run every day of the week, nor am I doing masses of training) and who really couldn't say he liked greys at all, said back along that he would never get another breed now. They are brilliant pets and so many need homes.

Anyway, something to consider.

Our dog was a rescue - about 8 months old which was perfect - housetrained and not too chewey, although he did chew the ikea shoe rack! He was fabulous and was like a brother to my DD who was 11 when we got him. He was a collie cross. The history was he had been living in a flat where they were not supposed to have pets so thats why they had to rehome him. I dont think he had been mistreated in any way but he was thin and dont think he had been taken for proper walks at all, or flead! Best dog ever and we sadly lost him in march after 14 years. I registered with our local dog rescue place and actually went up every week and walked some of their dogs - they often need volunteers to do this. Got me used to different dogs and gave me brownie points as a potential owner too. Good luck.

Look at smaller rescues (although not all are good) and join their Fb groups. You can pick up a lot from the chat on them. Look at rescues like Help Pozega Dogs and Wags n Wet Noses Rescue (awful name but a good rescue). They do very stringent medical testing, will cat test for you, socialise their dogs in shelters and with fosters here and abroad where they are based. It will give you a good idea of what to ask at other rescues, even if you don't adopt from them, although they are both good rescues and have some lovely dogs.

Joining the Fb groups mean you'll see "popular" dogs, ones that are family dogs as they don't usually even get as far as a website because they're snapped up and rescues don't have the time and resources to keep a website up to date.

I would go for an adult dog (preferably over 3) rather than a puppy any day of the week - puppies are hard work, as are "teenage" dogs. It has to be the right dog though - so not one that requires experienced owners. Our first foster dog (having never owned dogs as adults either) was an incredibly easy 6 year old lurcher. She hadn't been "mistreated" (in her eyes at least) but had been used to hunt so couldn't be anywhere near cats but was amazing with people including children.

I have just got my first dog at 70. Because of our age we wanted an older dog. The one we found was with the same family for 8years when the owner died. She was a much loved dog and we adore her.

However, she did not come without issues. We kept our GC away from her for a couple of months. We also had a Trainer help her to overcome her nervousness and her over-reaction, to traffic, people, other dogs, or anything she took a dislike to. She is a changed dog now and has brought so much joy to our life.

I feel that if you go for an older dog you will have more chance.

I too saw that a lot of Rescues put that the dog needs an experienced owner. It was a bit difficult to understand as I thought, ‘ hey we go on lots of walks we are nice people , What’s not like about us’ The reality is that not every dog want to go on long walks, not every dog like being part of a busy household, not every dog likes being stroked or being close to human. The good Rescues care about the new owner as much as the dog.

Here she is with Nellie her latest toy. I hope you find what you are looking for

Work with a rescue ideally that has foster homes that can properly assess the dog for you. Either go to a training class or get advice on how to train them and expect there to be some teething issues even with a "problem free" dog. They're settling in to a new home and need to learn and adjust