Has anyone managed to get a rescue dog lately?

[Boopear]

This is a bit of a rant, but I would really appreciate some advice. This whole endeavour is driving me mad.

I have been trying to get a rescue dog for about the last year - basically since lock down started. Before we go down any rabbit holes, yes, I am WFH for the foreseeable. I even have confirmation from my boss to this effect. I also own my house, with secure garden and excellent access to great walking areas. I do have some criteria which restricts options - I have a cat, I don't have another dog and, tbh, I don't want a dog that requires huge amounts of exercise (a collie for example), a tiny breed or a dog that is likely to be stronger than me (a bull type). I'm also not keen on a old dog (above 7), just because I want to have time to enjoy it before the likelihood of medical issue arises (I appreciate there are exceptions to this). Apart from this, I'm pretty flexi. Oh, and no small kids - just a teenager.

So, while not having a "anything goes" approach, I have still made about 50 applications over the last year, from small local rescues to the national ones. I keep on top of Facebook pages, look at websites daily and basically spend significant amounts of time trying to find suitable dogs. I've spent hours putting together pictures of garden, the house and writing longs spiels trying to persuade the relevant rescue that I am the perfect parent for their dog. And I am getting nowhere. I haven't even got to the "house check" stage. I've even given up with some rescues as they don't even confirm that an application has been received.

What has prompted this post is a litter of Shih Tzu puppies that came onto Many Tears yesterday (17:00), I eMailed straight away and by 8.00 this morning they had been allocated to families. I do appreciate the huge demand (especially for puppies) but how do I get on this mythical listing of people ready to allocate dogs to? Is it all just bad luck or is there something fundamental I am missing? Help me please, oh wise ones, as it is really getting just so disheartening..

I’ve supported a breed specific rescue (local) for about 6 years now. Fundraising, donations etc. We’ve been actively trying to take a rescue dog from there for a couple of years now, but the criteria seems impossible to pin down (fair enough, it does depend on the individual dog) and now they are limiting rehoming to “long term supporters who have had a bereavement”. We do fall into this category but messages, emails and phone calls are being ignored. Dogs are not appearing on their website, regular enquiries just fall into some void and are never answered or acknowledged. So we will continue to support them financially but I’m not waiting for a dog from them any longer - we have found a responsible breeder and joined the list for the next litter.

I dog walk for a rescue centre, which is on pause now because of Covid. The woman who runs the rescue centre is a bit of a nightmare tbh, and I think with her it boils down to being utterly fed up with 'people' and the way they have treated animals, or coming in and only wanting a cute puppy etc etc. By dog walking there every week I was able to get to know different dogs, have some time on my own with them and I ended up finding a great dog who I most likely would have overlooked. I then asked about him, and she agreed he would suit my set up. I then had to nag her on a bi weekly basis to do my house check. I came to the conclusion I had to prove to her just how much I wanted this dog. I don't think she did it on purpose, but she does have people reserve a dog after several viewings, then ghost her when she calls to arrange a house check. I would recommend getting a volunteer role when you can (covid allowing), and get yourself known to them.

We have a lovely dog from a Portuguese shelter - she arrived last August at about 7 months old, 90% house trained, very sweet natured, easy to train, healthy.

I have come across any number of dogs from overseas rescues while out walking with her who are similar - lovely pets with minimal issues.

Of course, the 'problem' dogs are not out in the park during usual dog walking hours. But for every anecdote of a nightmare from an overseas rescue you can get another of the perfect pet.

We have a rescue from abroad. Would have not entertained until I researched the one we used. We have the most awesome dog now and don't have any regrets

Where we are, there are a lot of puppy farms supplying endless popular cross breeds. I think that's worse than the risks of an older rescue dog

I got my second greyhound from Wolverhampton greyhound trust just before lockdown. They are still rehoming.

I have two cats and the dogs settled in fine with them, even though they're ex racers. WGT do limited cat testing with them but get a good gist of whether they're cat trainable or not.

Our dog is from abroad. Not without issues but I suspect he would have had them anyway! Just his grumpy personality! He is from a rescue that takes in Bosnian And Romanian dogs then does some rehab with them. Ours wasn’t a street dog though, he was a discarded pet.

The rescue let you foster the dog for a bit to see if it’s a good match and they provide life long back up. We did look for mo this for a UK rescue. Was very disheartening.