Rehoming a dog, not from a rescue centre

[mrsEr1cNorthman1wish]

I am considering a dog (have owned dogs previously:) and while I am searching, I come across a number of dogs who are trying to be re-homed by their current owners, some give lack of time as a reason, some it’s moving and the dogs not allowed to come, some say it’s family, there are other reasons given, that’s just a few - has anyone had experience of taking on such a dog? I want to trust the owners, but I read all sorts into the adverts, it seems such a shame as some of the dogs look ,lovely and sound lovely - am I being too cautious???

I rehomed a dog from another school mum.... she had left her DH, moved into with another man and got her kids a puppy to help them get over it all and then went back to her DH two weeks later....... her DH refused to have the puppy so muggins here ended up taking pity on the poor darling. We had 13 amazing years with her!

I think as long as you are open minded, and realistic that there is a strong chance this dog will have behavioural issues... then you will be OK. And be prepared to work with a behaviouralist. If you have young DC, I'd be very cautious. There are lots of amazing specific breed rescues.... I support one called Spaniel Assist that fosters out or adopts spaniels. If you foster, you get the dog straight from the owner and have an assessment period so you can either keep the dog if it fits in with your lifestyle/family, or let it go up for adoption. Maybe a better option so you're not committing to a lifetime of a problem dog.......

Don't do it, walk away - do not be tempted.

Trust your gut instinct you are right and not being too cautious.

A few of the dogs may be genuine but not many are, they could be puppy farmed dogs, stolen dogs, dogs with behavioural issues that no rescue will take, dogs with expensive health issues that they will pass onto you etc

That’s exactly what worries me - what they aren’t telling me, I have dcs and although they aren’t tots they are still kids, I can’t manage a dog with issues and don’t want to discover the issues when it’s too late, it wouldn’t be fair on the animal. Thank you for your replies:)

If you accept that you could end up with a dog with behavioural and or medical issues and poor training with no back up from a rescue then go ahead.

I would want to see chip details and full vet history as a minimum. The vet history would be key as you could end up with huge vet bills for preexisting conditions.

I think I would only do this if I knew the family and dog prior to the rehoming,

I've just rehomed a pup - but I knew its owner and was aware of what her problems were with it. I'd be suspicious of an advert fromsomeone I didn't know.

I took in an 18m old dog. The story was that the family had bought it as a puppy to help their ds recover from a life changing accident. They hadn’t had dogs previously and had no idea how much work they were. The dog was hugely overweight. They said she was great with children and other dogs. The latter was a total lie. She was ok with dogs she knew, but she would happily have eaten alive most strange dogs (so pretty much every dog you meet on a walk). So walks were either muzzled and on a lead or in some remote place or random time of day where I was unlikely to meet anyone else. We had her PTS (she had cancer) shortly after Dc1 was born. I was totally devastated, and the PTS was coincidental with the arrival of dc1 but necessary duecto the cancer progression. I couldn’t have managed a child and that dog. We are looking to get another dog soon and it will be a puppy from a reputable breeder; I simply wouldn’t take the chance now that I have DC.

Thank you for your responses, you have confirmed what my subconscious was telling me - it’s not worth it.

I have taken in numerous dogs being given away on FB or Gumtree ( for rescues ) and can honestly say I have never been told the truth by the owners.

' no time for the dog' usually means said dog has never been walked or socialised and has been ignored for most of his life
' needs more attention' - has been left alone since a puppy, now has separation anxiety and has eaten the house
'Lives outside' - they couldn't be arsed to housetrain so dumped him in the yard
'Allergies/moving house ' - just not true, but they are bored of having a dog

So as pps have said, you need to be prepared to take on a dog with issues as it's very likely there will be some.

It's the Russian roulette of acquiring a dog.

You have to consider why they're rehoming via this route - I suspect it's usually because they've been turned down by a proper rescue because of health and behaviour reasons, or because they want the money, neither of which are a good sign.

You would have no independent vet or behaviour assessment, and no back up from a rescue - what happens if things go very wrong and it's not a dog you can manage?

To give you a flavour, I lived with a friend and did almost all the day to day dog care and training for 6 months so I knew the dog well from a behaviour point of view. When the friend emigrated I adopted him and I STILL wasn't told the truth about medical history, vaccinations and who he was microchipped to. When I adopted him at 20 months I became his fourth owner, and each time he had been rehomed privately to people the rescue centres would never have approved (me included!). It's a good job he's small and cute because he'll never be temperamentally bombproof to say the least of it.

I've rescued a couple of small furries via the small ads as rescue is woefully under developed and there's much less that can go wrong. On the first occasion I got there and was handed a cage... Containing a completely different subspecies to the one in the photograph; they never even asked my name let alone what I'd do with it. On the second occasion I turned up and while the animal I had agreed to take was there, I also discovered a second hamster being kept in a bucket that she didn't want. I took that one too, and it died in an expensive fashion 3 weeks later.

Unless you already know the dog and owner personally I'd steer well clear of private rehoming.

Thank you for your messages - looking at the adverts I already have done, where it says had the odd accident I see not house trained, it says we have not enough time I see dog has been left and now hates being left - thank you all, I am looking at alternatives :)

It’s very risky and not advisable.

I have done it though. I bought our dog via an online advert. Story was her elderly owner had passed away and the relatives were unable to keep her due. It turned out to be true. We have been very lucky though and it was a huge risk to take.

I’ve done it a few times. You just have to accept that there may well be issues and you’re going to have to put some work in training and setting the dog. Just as you would if you got a puppy. All my dogs have ended up lovely, and not taken too long to settle down, but they would have been staying whatever happened, and that’s the most important thing.. it’s amazing what dogs can go through and still come through it loving.

If you adopt from a rescue you have backup - vet checked, assessed dog, support, sometimes help with training, and if it really goes wrong / your circumstances change in future they will take the dog back.
A private re-home from a stranger has none of that.

I did this. The family’s circumstances had changed. Corresponded with the owner, story checked out and met the dog - who was soppy as anything. Chip checked out as did medical records.

He’s now my dog and he’s brilliant. Yes, I had to get a dog behaviourist in to help with socialising. But I wanted a friendly, healthy family dog and that’s what I’ve got.

I have a private rehome dog. I had to read between the lines somewhat. Owners actually did try to be honest and said that they couldn’t manage his anxiety. They didn’t own up to why he was so anxious (perhaps they really didn’t understand their part in his behaviour!). I have a beautiful, soppy, devoted, still slightly anxious and moderately lead reactive dog now. He is great with kids, all kids.
We have to be there for him 24 hours a day as “anxious” meant “falls apart when left alone”. It works for us but is obviously not for everyone .