Anyone adopted a dog from Romania

[BillThePony]

This is something I am considering along with looking at UK rescues, I just wanted other people's experiences of doing so.

I've not had a dog since I was a child so wouldn't class myself as an experienced owner.

Also what to rescues look for on home checks?

We only have an adult dd who is away at uni, dh works from home 3 days and the dog would come to work with me the other 2.

I never understood why anybody would adopt from abroad, there's a lot of dogs in the UK who require homes and how would you know it's not from a puppy farm?

Our dog is from Romania but was already in a UK rescue when we adopted him so we got to meet him etc before we adopted. I would be very wary of adopting a dog based on a photo and a description. At best you dont really know what you are getting at worst you get conned out of loads of money for bringing them over.
He has his issues but is overall a lovely dog, I could never 100% trust him with small children though and he still occasionally gets really spooked by random things, sudden movements etc.

i really wouldnt. too many come over with massive behavioural problems, equally some have none and are lovely.

I would adopt UK based, meet the dog a few times etc.

I have one. I didn’t know she was a Romanian as she was in a UK shelter and wasn’t advertised as Romanian. If she was, I might have not enquired but I’m so glad we did. She is an absolute delight and wouldn’t be without her.

Yes. She's the light of our lives. She was fostered in the UK before we owned her. No behavioural issues at all. I have several friends who have adopted from abroad and their dogs are also lovely. We tried UK animal adoption centres and their acceptance criteria were ridiculously narrow.

Ours was brought over by Scruffy Dog Rescue. They do great work.

There are a massive number of Romanian rescues in uk shelters that had been adopted by well-meaning Uk owners then given up again due to behavioural problems. They’ve been in poor quality shelters for a long time and often have no home life experience.

In vet clinics we’re also seeing increasing numbers of these dogs with expensive medical conditions that have been adopted by unwitting owners who were told the dog was healthy

I would avoid

Only if it's already in the U.K. and you can meet it.

I'm not convinced it's a good use of philanthropic energy or money- it would be better to put the money towards education/sterilisation programmes over there. It's really inefficient and open to scams/dodgy practice.

I fostered two- both happily rehomed, but not easy dogs and there's a high failure rate.

Our shelter came and did a garden check. We had to put extra netting around our boundaries as we have hedges and as she was a ‘street dog’ they were concerned she might escape. She didn’t. She is so gentle and friendly to all that visit. If anything she’s a bit timid with dogs that bound up to her but so am I.

Try The Scruffy Dog Rescue. Ours had been socialised, neutered, wormed, vaccinated and chipped before we got her.

My sisters dog is a Romanian rescue and hes lovely.
He has had a few issues but nothing too bad. He had never been in a house, on a lead, seen traffic so was a bit anxious and scared. Good training and patience has sorted that though and hes fine with support (bits of sausage to distract him if hes in a situation where he might get anxious). He is very food orientated and will scavenge if allowed. He likes being outside as he was ferral on a farm in Romania, and sits for hours chilling in the garden.
Hes absolutely lovely with no more issues than any other dog might have.
She fostered him over xmas a couple of years ago and kept him.
Maybe you could foster first with the view to make it permanent if it goes well.

We got a dog, that was rescued by a charity and brought to the UK. He is a goregous Hungarian Vizla who came all the way from Bosnia. He in an incredible dog and gets on great with our dog. We have had him about 3 months now and we are very greatful to the charity for choosing us his adoptive parents.

WE have a romanian rescue who was already in a uk rescue centre. He is a gentleman-easy going, never had an accident in the house and is almost bombproof- loud noises, unpredictable kids, living with pet chickens- nothing phases him at all! We are very lucky!

I agree with veterinari. I have met quite a few whilst dog walking or training. Only about 1/10 didn’t have some kind of really hard to handle behavioural issues.
I would not want to take on any dog I couldn’t meet before bringing it home.
How realistic is it that you could take an animal that maybe hadn’t been socialised with you to your place of work?

We met ours 3 times before we chose her. We first visited the shelter, then took her for a walk around the shelter grounds, then to a nearby park, then they visited our house and garden. You don’t need to adopt blindly.

Thanks all think I will stick to the UK rescues going on these replies.

I am worried about the home check as we have a very small garden. But we have four huge commons in very short walking distance where all the local dogs are taken.

I have heard the home checks are very strict and a lot of people get turned down.

Charities are bringing dogs to the UK from Romania? Why? Makes no sense and i'm surprised it's even legal.

I have a small garden and two wolfhounds! A homecheck will want a secure boundary. They will want you to have considered how to fit a dog into your house and life. Crate? Daycare? Time off work? How much time you can dedicate to walking, training, grooming etc.

The home check for our Romanian rescue (from a UK shelter) was based on escapability rather than size of the garden. We have a very small concrete yard but the walls surrounding it are over 7 feet high so that was fine. Our dog goes to the beach every day so doesnt actually ever really use the backyard (not even for weeing which is a bit annoying when its chucking it down and he wants a wee unexpectedly). I find the smallest independent rescues more realistic in their expectations of the adopters and their homes than the big organisations.

I don’t understand why folk would adopt from abroad when so many need homes here. Added to this many come over with diseases and behavioural problems. A friend of mine adopted a dog from a shelter abroad, died from parvo just after she got it. As did all the other dogs it came over with.:-(

A dog from abroad will be additionally stressed, find one in the uk

Please take a look at NSRS rescue on FB .
(New Start Rescue Spain ) It’s a great charity based near Granada . They deal with all paperwork. They recommend transport which you book yourself and they liaise .
We adopted in 2013 and he’s a great little guy . We had a homecheck carried out by a volunteer who was an admin in this country and she assessed us on our merits - after we’d been turned down by The RSPCA and Dogs Trust for not having what they considered a secure garden . Our previous dog died of natural causes after 16 years but the charities here discounted that. Otherwise we’d have been happy to adopt in the UK . Good luck with your search . I know someone who works as an admin in the UK for a Romanian charity called Barking Mad . She has a rescue from there and though it’s been a challenge the dog is settling down . Here’s a pic of my best buddy x

Friend (in England) worked as a fosterer for Romanian dogs. The charity worked hard to match them to appropriate homes. I suppose they took the view that these were the animals with greater need. I'd agree about meeting the animal first, but that's regardless of where it's been before.

Dog def would not escape as garden is walled all around.

Dog would never be left alone for more than a few hours as dh is home a lot and I am in a fortunate position of being able to to take he or she into work. I also have looked into local dog walkers and daycare if ever needed.

Brilliant. I know a lot of rescues say no more than 4 hours but that’s once a dog is settled. It’s worth thinking how you will get them settled in.