How to find an adult dog

[mermaidsariel]

I am looking for a dog out of the puppy stage without loads of behavioural issues which can live with a cat. Such a dog just does not seem to exist in rescues. If one come in, it is reserved immediately. I’ve been looking for a long time without success. Any advice? I’m wary of finding one through gumtree etc be useful you just don’t know if you’re being told the truth.

Because not useful

You're right to be very wary of Gumtree etc. It's a den of iniquity when it comes to dog sales.

Unfortunately the sort of dog which you describe in rescue has always been in high demand, and will always be snapped up quite quickly - more so now that dogs have been in high demand in lockdown.

Have you had a direct conversation with the rescue centres? A lot of the dogs that fit your criteria will never even make it onto the website because they are rehomed so quickly, so it's worth talking to them and seeing if they run a waiting list of sorts.

Are you fussy on breeds? If you're willing to take one of the less fashionable breeds (staffie, lurcher) then you won't wait as long. There's a poster on here, CMOTDibbler, who fosters for a lurcher rescue (Evesham Greyhound & Lurcher Rescue) and I think she cat tests the dogs that come her way.

How about breed specific rescues? And agree, speak to lots of rescues and try to get on a waiting list if they have one.

Yes, a dog specific rescue maybe. But maybe avoid greyhound recues if you've got a cat.

There is one that I've been looking at in Hull that has lots of adult dogs but they have come from Romania so Im guessing will have behavioural issues; I think most rescue adult dogs will have some kind of behavioural issue; these things can usually be overcome though if you have the time and the patience.

I think a lot of rescues haven't been able to do as much "cat-testing" as they did pre-pandemic so can only rely on the history they have when a dog is signed over and the behaviour they can see when the dog is in their care - if it has a high chase drive and strong interest in furry toys they're going to be wary about rehoming it with cats. Many dogs are signed over to rescue precisely because of not getting on with cats as well :(

It seems like being able to live with a cat is second only to children when it comes to desirability for rescue dogs right now. So you're potentially one of 50-100 people thinking of applying for any one rescue dog.

And yes, dogs being sold privately are notoriously miss-sold. This is how a cat can get killed or a child get bitten :(

It just takes a long time, a lot of patience and a sprinkling of luck to be the right fit for any cat-friendly rescue dog right now.

Do you have a breed in mind? If so a breed FB page might be a place to start. Adult dogs sometimes pop up for rehoming. It's also worth getting your name known by breeders, who sometimes have adult dogs returned to them.

I just can’t seem to make any connection with rescue centres. They aren’t interested in keeping lists or looking for specific sofa for particular people in my experience. I have signed up to a golden retriever rescue site but never hear anything from them.
I’d be happy with a lurcher if it was cat friendly.
Collie or retriever are my preference but other dogs too. I don’t want a staffie though or a bulldog.

Dogs not sofa!!

Even in normal times, in my experience, you didn't get anywhere unless you registered with the rescue formally (I did this with 2 but you can do it with more if you want), so they have spoken to you and have a note of what you have to offer a dog and what you are looking for in their records. Having done that, you can ring them at least once a week and check if they have any likely dogs (they are unlikely to all be featured on their website) and reserve one quickly. I got mine from Battersea this way, having missed my chances with dogs on their site before I registered. They were excellent but I don't know if you are in the south east. I also registered with nearest rspca place who were really nice too but Battersea perfect dog appeared shortly afterwards.

To emphasise, you do need to keep ringing them to ask as they won't call you (whatever they say - I think they are too busy and know dogs will get adopted anyway).

All very helpful advice.

be careful though.

I fostered and then adopted through a local rescue.
The rescue is small, and the person who runs it cat tests them all as them come through her house, and if they get on with her 2 cats, then they are 'Fine' with cats.

But her cats are completely dog savvy and pretty much rule the roost, so every single dog who comes in is given the 'I'm the boss' treatment by the cat, and the dog submitted.

All our fosters who were 'fine with cats' were not fine with our cat, who is much less bossy and not enamoured of dogs.

our cat lived upstairs and dogs downstairs. When we adopted, they pretty much stayed like that for 6 months, until one day my cat lost patience and swiped th edog round the face, and he submitted, and sinc ethen they have been fine together

If you’re in the Manchester area try Dogs4Rescue. Can’t recommend them highly enough.

Right now the rescues don't need to keep lists of people, they have hundreds of people calling/emailing/messaging every day. Any rescues that did keep lists i.e. puppy lists will have closed them for now due to demand.

Demand is just insane, but if you're an experienced child-free home with no visiting kids, a huge enclosed garden in a rural setting you have way more choice than someone with kids/cats/urban settings/small gardens/no gardens/flats.

Dogs that are being signed over have loads of issues, especially the young ones, thanks to lockdown. That will include lack of socialisation with humans/other animals.

Have you looked at any overseas rescues? I’m in Spain and there are lots of sanctuaries run by Brits who regularly rehome in UK, they pay transport costs etc. Breeds you see a lot of are Spanish hunting dogs such as Podenco - similar to Lurcher size, who are just dumped at the end of the hunting season. Also dogs whose ex-pat elderly owners have died, I’ve seen Retrievers and Collies in this situation.
Good luck with finding the right dog for you 😁

Thanks yes I have but I would like to meet the dogs first ideally. I met a lovely dog on a walk which was apparently a dog from Cyprus sourced through a rescue. When I enquired the price of transporting the dogs plus all the paperwork was hundreds of pounds.

@mermaidsariel you mention a dog from abroad costing hundreds of pounds you'll find this is true of the majority of uk rescues as well all the ones I looked at asked between £150 and £300

Yes but not £800

You could go on the guide dog puppy rehoming list, but you'd probably have to wait a while. When I say puppy, it would be an older puppy that was withdrawn from training so nearer age 2.

I would love that and have tried many times but they always say they don’t need any more applications. I’ll try again though, thank you.

When we lost our last dog we wanted a quick replacement running companion for my husband. Our beautiful setter was given to us by a gun dog training school owner, having retired from trials a little early.

She’s got a fantastic personality - only issue is pheasants and seagulls make her hyper excited. Inside she’s beautifully mannered. Despite being raised on straw she is a true couch loving sweetie. She has instant recall and walks to heel very well.

You could ask at gun schools about retirees (about 5-6 years). Choice is limited to Setters, Spaniels, Labradors, Retrievers and similar.