Trying to adopt a dog but.....

[SuperSange]

...it's not as easy as that, is it? We have had dogs for years, different breeds/ages/sexes. We currently have a six year old spaniel who we adopted from the English springer spaniel welfare, when I was pregnant. Our lurcher is getting a bit doddery and unwell , so we'd like to introduce another dog during the next six months or so, as a companion to the spaniel when she goes, bless her. . Not fussy about breed, would prefer a mix/mongrel really. Smaller than a lurcher would be ideal, though not critical. I thought we were quite flexible in our requirements, but apparently not. None of the dogs I've seen can live with other dogs or primary ages children.
I'd always been a bit sceptical of adopting from abroad, but I can now see why it's becoming popular, as it's increasingly difficult to adopt the thousands of dogs who need homes in the UK! Has anyone any recent experience of this and how did you approach it? I know it shouldn't be easy to adopt them, but if you have a child or another dog, it would appear that it's impossible.

Nearly all the ex breeding dogs from puppy farm rescues can only go to families where there is another dog; worth trying them.
Friends have also had good experiences with Chimney Farm, whose dogs are mostly from overseas. Apparently there is still huge demand though; might take another 6 months for the lockdown puppies to filter through.

‘Young children. Another dog.’ I suspect rehoming centres regularly take in ‘unsettled’ dogs to rehome and so to responsibly rehome means not placing the dog in a stressful environment so risking safety of the dog being rehomed and children and dog already in the home.

My experience of rescues is that very often they will keep dogs with them rather than making a few compromises where possible. I'm not talking about placing dogs with completely unsuitable families, but far too often they let the best be the enemy of the good.

I'm a highly experienced dog owner, with active high-needs breeds. I applied to Greyhound Rescue (so in general a much less intense breed), had a home visit done. They didn't even have the courtesy to tell me I'd not been accepted, let alone why.

It's counterproductive because people will just go and get a puppy instead, thus perpetuating the whole business.

It’s not normal just now tbh...

I need one that can live with cats, which is never an easy one to get, but I do know that one I applied for fairly recently had over 600 applications in one day...

@tabulahrasa no you're right about that. However my experience was several years ago.

We felt it would have been easier to adopt a child - after all we had "breed-experience"

Rescues are so restrictive now that it’s easier just to buy!

I’m in the same position. Experienced dog owner who has always adopted. But I have primary aged children and a cat... I can see me ending up putting my name down with a breeder.

If you would consider another Lurcher, maybe a smaller one, EGLR and Lurcher Link both rehome nationally, to families with children and/or cats. They assess each dog and family individually, so no blanket policies. My almost 15 year old boy is a Lurcher Link dog and he came to us when my youngest was 18 months old.

It’s worth filling in an application form, as then, if a suitable dog comes in, they will have you on record. Not all Lurchers are huge, my boy is a little bigger than a Labrador.

I wasn't sure if I was being a whinged about it, so thank you for sharing your experiences. It's just trotted our, isn't it' oh you must adopt one, there are hundreds in shelters'. Well yes, there are, but you need to let people adopt them! I can see us going to a breeder before too long, or adopting from abroad. It's such a bloody shame; we're clearly a good home, or we wouldn't have been cleared when we got the spaniel. It's just annoying. ☹️

@moosemama That's good to know! I love the lurcher temperament, if I could have a smaller one that would be brilliant. I'll look them up thank you x

@SuperSange, I have had rescues, barring one non-rescue dog, for over 30 years, but we are having a pedigree next time. Not because we are likely to have difficulty adopting, but because we always take difficult cases, who need a lot of intensive support throughout their lives and having recently lost our last rescue/heart-dog from a horrible condition, most likely triggered by his bad start in life, we would just like one chance to take on a well bred, healthy pup and enjoy raising it. We know will go back to rescuing, when the next pup is an adult and settled, but we all need a break from the heartache for now. We’re not ready for another yet, but are on a waiting list for a pup in 2022. Feels like a long wait, but we’re still excited.

Bear in mind, that rescues like LL and EGLR, don’t necessarily have all their dogs on their FB pages and websites. Some dogs come in and are rehomed before ever getting listed and some are helped straight from one home to another, avoiding kennels and foster completely. That’s why you need to register a form, rather than waiting for a particular dog to appear on their pages.

That's also helpful to know, thank you! I'll
Do some poking about today and register with a few.

Rescues are inundated with rehoming requests.

Dogs that can live with other dogs, with cats, with young children, those are the most desirable and can get 500-1000 applications. It's mental out there. Due to the huge spike in people now at home wanting dogs, rescues also can't keep up with applications and many have had to amend how they handle applications - including not being able to keep applications or registrations on file to look back over, it would be a full time job on its own.

This is just the most insane time to try and adopt at the moment, it's like winning the lottery and why rescues can seem "fussy" or turn down otherwise good applications, because they've had so many that there's bound to be one that fits that dog exactly, without any need to compromise.

Patience is required when looking for a dog at the moment. It breaks my heart the amount of people who've "given up" and "bought a dog" instead, likely buying dogs from "greeders" - people who've bred to cash in on the demand, not for the long term health of the dog.

@bunnygeek

Rescues have long adopted an over zealous approach.

Just to add I have volunteered for rescues and fostered several rescue dogs for a fairly demanding breed (huskies). So I speak from experience of both sides.

Rescues are meant to screen applicants carefully. Their priority is the dog NOT the applicant. Rescues do not owe people dogs.

They can only rehome based on their own experience of the dog whilst in their care and any history they have on the animal’s handover. If they feel a dog is too boisterous for little kids and has a history of chasing cats they’re not going to chance it and rehome to a family with cats and toddlers.

I don’t understand why people want rescues to be relaxed about who takes on their dogs. That’s when rehoming goes wrong, maybe people get bitten, or dogs run away and get hurt or killed. Or the people just have the dog for a week, realise it’s wrong, and the dog goes straight back to kennels again leaving it even more traumatised and difficult to rehome than before.

Rescues are not psychic, but they are meant to be cautious.

Also, good breeders should be asking all the same questions as rescues do. Maybe if they all did there would be less dogs in rescue in the first place.

We were in the same position - OH works from home. Outdoors loving family; experienced dog owners....
however, because one of my children is under 5 it was a big fat no.

Puppy it is then.

Good breeders do ask the same questions but they also engage with the potential purchaser at a personal level and not just a blanket ban on certain things.

I was turned down from rescue because I worked full time. But I spent some days at home and on the days I wasn’t home my prev dog went to doggy daycare (6 acres of play with other sociable dogs - the breed I wanted loved it). So me working FT wasn’t the barrier they had imagined.

Was also told by a spaniel rescue that it was disgusting to leave a dog in an outdoor kennel during the day - a working spaniel. I used an outdoor kennel for when I was out during the day - not long periods. I got my spaniel from a gun dog line. Guess what? They are all working dogs who lived outside.

The rescue I work with will not rehome with children under 5.

And most dogs in rescue are there for a reason. They have huge issues and need to be found the other home to avoid future problems.

Makes me laugh when folk say ‘Well I’ll buy a puppy then’ as though it’s somehow our fault and we are forcing them.

Right home 🙄

@DesdemonaDryEyes

The rescue I work with will not rehome with children under 5.

And most dogs in rescue are there for a reason. They have huge issues and need to be found the other home to avoid future problems.

Makes me laugh when folk say ‘Well I’ll buy a puppy then’ as though it’s somehow our fault and we are forcing them.

Exactly!

Most rescues are wary to rehoming to families with very young children as it can so easily end up with a return to kennel a week or two later when the dog keeps knocking the children over, or the puppy they took on does what puppies do and nips/steals everything/poops on everything. They will often have a number of handovers because families have got puppies and toddlers but then puppy has hit that teenage nightmare phase and they just can't cope.

That and right now, as I mentioned, those dogs that could work with primary school age children will get about 1,000 applications and only one of those can be successful - and it's most likely going to be a home with the slightly older kids if any.

@LyingDogsLie1

Good breeders do ask the same questions but they also engage with the potential purchaser at a personal level and not just a blanket ban on certain things.

I was turned down from rescue because I worked full time. But I spent some days at home and on the days I wasn’t home my prev dog went to doggy daycare (6 acres of play with other sociable dogs - the breed I wanted loved it). So me working FT wasn’t the barrier they had imagined.

I know many people who have successfully adopted dogs and work full time. It's about whether that particular dog can cope with someone who is in and out the house, or whether the dog is sociable enough to cope with going to work with the new owner, or doggy day care. Many dogs are handed into rescue because they couldn't cope with this.