Do you think this request is cheeky, or should I sit on my hands until after my hols?

[Chocolateandabook2019]

I e posted a few times now (sorry) with regards to adopting a rescue dog, and we think we’ve found one that is a good match.

We are off to the animal sanctuary today where she is based as it’s an open day, and we want to get a feel of the place (and see the dog in the flesh obviously)

The only thing is, we go away 22nd June for ten days, about seven weeks away. The issue would be that if we adopt her now (all being well with homecheck etc) then just as we are getting used to her and vice versa in the home, we’d have to find somewhere for her to stay while away, then bring her home again. Very confusing for the dog, and not very consistent.

So the request we had/have was that if all went okay with the adoption, then would they keep her in the sanctuary until we get back?

We are happy to pay a larger donation upfront than required to cover her stay there, and visit her regularly before actually going away.

We don’t have any family to look after her, as other family members will be away at the same time.

Please tell me if this is being cheeky (doggy IABU) or do we wait until we get back?

She may have gone by the time we get back, but we appreciate that’s the chance we take.

Any advice appreciated, thank you.

Sorry, the title should say we and our instead of I and my.

What about in the future I you go away? What plans would you have in place?

Do you regularly go away?

This will be the last time abroad for us. Any future holidays will be dog friendly places in the U.K.

Well definitely ask the sanctuary. It seems a reasonable request and if you are going to pay a non returnable fee then I can’t see why not.

Adoption takes a few weeks to go through anyway as they usually do home checks, visits, family "meet" sessions at the centre and background checks before they are rehomed.

With that said I probably wouldn't go for this dog with your holiday planned, even if you did do necessary visits and it went through you'd then be disappearing from the dog's life for 2 weeks, leaving them at the centre with no visits which is a long time when you're bonding with people.

Sorry, meant to say this has been discussed between us and agreed 🙂.

Normally family members go away at different times of the year. This is a first that we’re all away together.

I think you're being upfront. Phrase in the a way that in the spirit asking their advice - they may suggest that you take your new dog and that they will have him back while you're on holiday or they might be able to suggest a dog foster person or that you start looking now for a friendly local dog sitter who you and your dog can get to know before your holiday. Enjoy your day at the rescue centre

It’s ten days rather than two weeks and we’d be happy to visit her regularly before we go.

I think it’s probably for the best to wait until after our holidays then.

You won’t know for sure unless you ask but if she’s likely to be fairly easy to home then expect them to want to get her in a suitable home ASAP. As well as being better for her than staying in kennels she’ll presumably be blocking a space which could be used for another dog or even multiple dogs during that time.

If she’s a longer term resident who hasn’t had much interest then I can imagine they’d be happier to work around your holiday if it meant finally getting her into the right home.

All you can do is ask but I would be prepared for them to say no.

Sorry for typos - I'm writing it on my phone

10 days is still a long time to go from a generally lonely life, to lots of visits and back to nothing again.

It's inconsistent and unfair IMHO.

@nellyitsme, I would have phrased it better when there, honestly, this was just putting it on paper for advice if you will.

Thanks for the other options, a dog sitter or foster home. My thought processes were to keep her there with her doggie friends for consistency. We’ll be novice bog owners, so finding our way round things.

I'm with nellyitsme - ask the rescue's advice. Putting my person who works with a rescue hat on, we'd certainly listen and consider. Every dog is different. Oh, and we regularly have dogs back for a holiday if adopters have to go away to somewhere non-dog friendly!

I think you should leave looking for a dog until a bit closer to or even after your holiday , it’s very unfair on this dog to be stuck in kennels for another couple of months if she could be at home with a new family .

They won’t hold the dog for you in such circumstances. They know that the sooner the dog is out of their kennels the better. If she has a good nature, she may be gone by the end of the open day to a family that agrees to their terms.

I would say that you could request something like that only if the dog had remained in the kennels for many months and has a very little scope for adoption.

Novice dog owners, not bog owners 😂.

I’ll wait until we come back.

Thank you for all your answers, you’ve been honest, right and fair.

Looking forward to the open day anyway.

They don’t have doggie friends there, there is no consistency there, there is a constant flow of dogs coming in and out of their dogs.

Their doors not dogs..

Always worth an ask op - despite the negativity voiced here.

Fingers crossed something can be worked out.

Even if you'd had her since she was a pup there would be a change of circumstance if you put her in normal kennels for your holiday - like many people do - most dogs cope with change but you might get some slight regression in behaviour.

@Chocolateandabook2019 see what the rescue centre says
Once you get your dog and get out on walks you'll meet a whole community of doggy people who will have lots of info on sitters fosters and walkers.
If you're in the East Midlands I know a brilliant dog fostered.

There is no harm asking but mention it straight away so you don't get your hopes up about them accommodating your holiday.

When we were looking around the dogs trust their forms did have a section where you had to tick if you were planning to go on holiday in the next 6 months. I don't know what the outcome of that would be as we didn't pursue a rescue in the end but I suspect it is because they do need a period of settlement with you.

@TanMateix, ok so not doggy friends then. Got that wrong obviously.

Sorry for the way I’ve worded my original post. it wasn’t meant to sound as upfront as it did.

Please believe it was meant with the best intentions for the dog, but we didn’t think it through properly.

Thanks @BiteyShark, I’ll see how it goes. They may have something similar to those forms in the reception.

@Innernutshell, you’re right, there would still have been a change in circumstances even if we’d have had her from pup stage.

At the very least, I will be making a donation while there so that’s something 🐕.

We live in Greater Manchester, but thank you @nellyitsme. Looking forward to the dog walking and meeting other like minded people 🙂

@Chocolateandabook2019 I meant that you would be upfront and honest if you discuss it with the rescue centre. I didn't mean that your post was upfront or cheeky or anything 😀

It is ok Chocolate, I have had some bad experiences adopting a dog from a sanctuary or even asking for information for it. In some places they are very nice, supportive and pro active. In others, you really need to go through hoops before you are considered good enough for one of their dogs.

My last dog’s adoption started with them not wanting me to see the dog unless I was properly vetted, they really made me feel as if I was not welcome there, but once they read in the application that I had experience training dogs, could cook special diets and was experienced in taking care of geriatric dogs, they show me the dog straight away, put her in hold and kept ringing me daily to remind me they thought I would be a good match for my crazy dog

They still made sure I was not taking any holiday for six months as it would be disruptive to the dog.