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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Original poster

Adopting from Romania

67 replies

Thighdentitycrisis · 14/05/2021 10:41

I’ve been thinking of getting a pup for a long time, the breeder I was recommended has just had a litter but hiked their prices to a ridiculously high amount I’m not prepared to pay

I’ve been put off trying for a rescue because of the really high demands - I understand why the centres want to find the best homes- I don’t meet. The dogs either need another dog around, a rural no noise neighbourhood, can’t be left alone, have guarding issues, no children or all of the above! I live in a city with a small garden and feel confident I could provide a good home, to a pup.

I see puppies and young dogs for adoption in Romania and wondering has anyone else adopted from abroad?

OP posts:
tabulahrasa · 14/05/2021 11:58

I wouldn’t recommend it for most people tbh.

Mine is from Romania - that’s not where I’ve got him from, he ended up in a rescue over here, but I’m in touch with his original rescuer in Romania and a couple of his litter mates owners.

It’s absolutely not like getting a puppy from a breeder, they’re not blank slates with only positive experiences.... and they’ve often got some very hard to deal with breeds in the mix.

I’ve taken mine on knowing he’d be a project dog, knowing that I’d be doing a lot of counter conditioning and rehab work and having some experience with that... and it’s still hard going.

By the time they’re old enough to come over they’re too old to socialise and they’ve been kept in a shelter not a house and then add in any traumatic experiences before they were rescued there and genetics... a lot have livestock guardian in them, which is tricky, some have generations of street dog in them which also produces traits not compatible with being a pet.

You’ll get people saying they did and after a few weeks they were great, but, they’re outliers, most have some pretty big issues to work on.

I have full rescue back up, I’m working with a trainer and like I said I’m not inexperienced and 10 weeks in, while he’s made loads and loads of progress with things, he has pretty major issues with men (including my DP) and severe separation anxiety.

littlebillie · 14/05/2021 12:01

My friend has a pup, she's 5 months a bit chewy but a happy inquisitive little soul. They have teens who have loved bombed her and she will do anything for cheese. We are thinking of doing the same. I think there is a few groups on FB for support.

tabulahrasa · 14/05/2021 12:04

Oh and I mentioned his littermates because they’re all having similar issues, even though they got them younger than mine was when I got him.

Inextremis · 14/05/2021 12:07

Please don't - a friend of mine adopted a Romanian dog and was left with massive vet bills (heartworm) and a lot of broken promises. Two years on, her dog is doing fine, but still has some behavioural issues plus the ongoing heartworm problem. At the time of adoption, she was in touch with several other people who were also adopting, and they all had problems of one type or another, including one very sad outcome. To be avoided.

Poorlykitten · 14/05/2021 12:10

A friend did this, came over from Romany with some awful disease ( they didn’t realise at the time), pup died a few weeks after they got it. Heartbreaking. Turns out many of the others that came over on the same transport died too.

SirenSays · 14/05/2021 12:11

My DPs colleague has five or six dogs from Romania, all tiny toy types. No idea on the ethics or the true difficulty of it but he seems very happy with his little pack.
I have read about some of these Romanian dogs needing more health checks so have some vet bill money saved if you go this route.

tinkerbellsays · 14/05/2021 12:11

I adopted a 7yr old Rommy rescue 6months ago and honestly, I appreciate I am so lucky, but she is an absolute dream. She's calm, loves everyone and has never been destructive or soiled in the house. Her only quirk is it's taken some time to get used to the car, she was travel sick but have been working on desensitising it and she's coming on lovely.

Like all rescues, do your research, chat to the people handling the dogs & go with your gut instinct. Rommys are often mixed breeds so if your looking at pups, look how big their paws are currently, it may be an indication of how large the dog could get!

The other advice I would offer is after our home check, the whole Process of getting the dog was incredibly quick, which you need to be prepared for.

I know I've been lucky with her especially as she's 7 but I would honestly do it all over again, she's the best :-) Good luck with whatever you decide

Dobbyafreeelf · 14/05/2021 12:12

I have a mixed breed Romanian rescue dog. She is now 15 months old. She came to me at 6 months old. She is one of the sweetest and most loving dogs I have ever known. All she wants is love.

I do think you need to view them as a project and be realistic about what you have to offer. I am self employed, dogs can come to work if needs be, I live alone and have lots of time, patients and love to give. So for me the circumstances worked really well. I had a dog trainer onboard from day one. Working with the aim of getting her as good as she possibly could be for her. It's been a long road. She was very slow to housetrain and socialising her has been tricky - but that's been because of covid not because she is difficult!
I have spoken to and communicated with lots of other people who have rehomed through the organisation that I used and the vast majority have had a positive experience. A few do struggle but it is not my experience that it is a significant problem.

I really don't understand the snobbish attitude towards foreign rescue dogs. If you go with a good organisation they will do all the medical tests before bringing them over.

These dogs deserve a chance a life. If you have the time and knowledge to take one on and are prepared to ask for help when needed then go for it! They can make awesome dogs!

SirenSays · 14/05/2021 12:15

Alternatively have you tried fostering? I was in a very similar situation to you (inner city, small garden) so that's what we did. Worked brilliantly for us.

SconesJamthenCream · 14/05/2021 12:18

I have a 7 month old Mio Cross from Romania and he's a joy. We've had him two months and I realise I've been really lucky. He was already in the UK and in foster care. There are a number of rescues about so may be worth having a look at some of the FB sites? www.facebook.com/groups/607534603434720/?ref=share

tabulahrasa · 14/05/2021 12:20

“I do think you need to view them as a project and be realistic about what you have to offer.“

That’s the main thing to consider IMO... I’ve taken mine on knowing he would be, but, he’s actually even more of a project than he was assessed to be.

If you go on Facebook groups about Romanian adoptees, it is pages and pages of people facing similar issues and some poor new owners really weren’t prepared for the level of issues that need working on.

bunnygeek · 14/05/2021 12:25

Foreign rescues are not for the faint-hearted and honestly may need all those things you don't have that UK rescues are asking for (another dog to show the ropes, rural location, large outside space etc etc etc). They're definitely not for first time dog owners as there's just as many horror stories as there are success stories and it's becoming more common for the UK rescues having to pick up the pieces as some of the rescues that bring them over don't have the back up or foster care space to take back failed adoptions.

I personally don't see how many of these foreign adoptions help the stray situation in the original country either. Unless those particular rescues in the country can show how they're making a difference to stop the flow of abandonments and strays. Going to the kill kennels and then shipping those dogs to the UK on its own just creates a foreign "market" for fake rescues and illegal importers to seize upon.

The demand on UK rescues will likely ease up at the end of the summer, when (hopefully) there's no more lockdowns, everyone is reverting back to a "normal" routine and all those lockdown puppies seem like less of a good idea. Just wait until the end of the summer.

Dobbyafreeelf · 14/05/2021 12:28

@tabulahrasa

“I do think you need to view them as a project and be realistic about what you have to offer.“

That’s the main thing to consider IMO... I’ve taken mine on knowing he would be, but, he’s actually even more of a project than he was assessed to be.

If you go on Facebook groups about Romanian adoptees, it is pages and pages of people facing similar issues and some poor new owners really weren’t prepared for the level of issues that need working on.

But that's the same with dogs full stop. There are thousands of owners out there who didn't know what they were getting into when they bought their cute 8 week old puppy. Yes their is a higher risk of trauma related issues with a rescue dog. But that's not unique to foreign rescues.
tabulahrasa · 14/05/2021 12:42

“But that's the same with dogs full stop. There are thousands of owners out there who didn't know what they were getting into when they bought their cute 8 week old puppy.
Yes their is a higher risk of trauma related issues with a rescue dog. But that's not unique to foreign rescues.”

Yes and no...

But it’s specifically issues related to the fact that they’ve not been socialised is what I mean, they’ve been in shelters through that crucial period.

Some will be fairly resilient, but some won’t - and if you went into it thinking, it’s a puppy, I’m prepared for a puppy, it’ll be a pretty major issue if it actually takes months and months of full on behavioural conditioning before you can have visitors for instance.

It might not, but it’s a bit of a gamble if for example you’ve got children wanting to finally have play dates at the moment.

That’s more what I meant - yep some just need a bit of adjustment and they’re fairly ok, but equally a fair amount of them need much more than that.

Not insurmountable stuff if you’ve got plenty of time and some experience, but not something to go into blindly hoping yours will be straightforward.

Lonecatwithkitten · 14/05/2021 13:18

It is important to educate yourself about the health issues and ensure you use a rescue that is testing prior to bring the dogs to the UK.
This list is not exhaustive
Brucella canis - transmissible to humans
Heart worm - may need lifelong treatment
Tongue worm - transmissible to humans
Eye worm
Erilichia
Leishmaniasis- lifelong treatment

Dobbyafreeelf · 14/05/2021 13:28

@tabulahrasa the thing I disagree with I think is that the socialisation window is so important. I don't believe there's a magic 16 week window in which a dog must have all these experiences in order to be a well adjusted dog.

When my dog came home I treated her as if she was that 8 week old puppy. We took it slowly and followed the same techniques that I would have used if she was tiny. It's been more complicated because of covid so she hasn't done some of the things my Labrador who I had at 8 weeks did. But that's ok. In many ways doing things a bit later with her has given her a slight longer concentration span and energy levels which has enabled her to learn quickly.

But I think your right in people who take on these dogs need to take the view that they will need a lot of input and a lot of training. The same as a tiny puppy but in an older dogs body.

GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman · 14/05/2021 13:29

I'd be really cautious about adopting an overseas rescue (and I say this as someone who adored the ex-street dog we had when I was tiny - he'd been socialised young which no doubt helped hugely).

There have been a fair few Romanian rescues around here:
One bolted, took days to find
One bolted, was never found
One is dog aggressive and never off the lead
One was very nervy and I haven't seen her for a while, but that could just mean a house move a schedule change, though.
One seems to be AOK (but is also rarely off-lead, not sure why).

Another was taken on by a local family sight unseen and I was actually amazed that he was placed with them: small DC, one with medical issues, existing dog and tiny garden. I thought it was really irresponsible of the rescue TBH. The dog lasted with them less than a month. God knows where the dog has ended up.

There are breed-specific rescues which bring over e.g. gundogs from e.g. France and IME they are a much better bet, with more vetting of the new owners of easier dogs.

Iyland · 14/05/2021 13:33

We adopted an older Romanian rescue and she was wonderful. I miss her alot.

Make sure full health checks have been completed and you know as much background info as they have. Our girl had been over here and fostered for a little while which meant we could meet her. I would be cautious taking one straight from Romania tbh.

tabulahrasa · 14/05/2021 13:37

“But I think your right in people who take on these dogs need to take the view that they will need a lot of input and a lot of training. The same as a tiny puppy but in an older dogs body.”

What I’ve got is a mix of tiny puppy in older dogs body and rescue with issues that didn’t show up till he was actually with me.

Now his are quite extreme, but, I know his litter mates have been a bit of a shock to their owners who were expecting just puppy stuff and have got a bit more than that.

I think people need to be prepared to deal with some more extreme behaviour than just puppy stuff, if they don’t get that bonus, but, they definitely need to take it into consideration, especially if they’re struggling to find a U.K. rescue because of things like age of children and being left alone.

Ylvamoon · 14/05/2021 13:52

What's wrong with a dog that is already in the uk?

Anonaymoose · 14/05/2021 13:55

Professional advice? Don't do it. I work with these dogs once they're in the UK. Most are barely domesticated. I have clients who can't even get a collar on their dogs 6 months into ownership. In the main they do not make good family pets.

Huhn · 14/05/2021 13:59

I have a Romanian. She is in perfect health. She is an absolute rascal but loves so unconditionally. Not had any issues with her at all. Perfect fluff ball!

Dobbyafreeelf · 14/05/2021 14:07

@Anonaymoose

Professional advice? Don't do it. I work with these dogs once they're in the UK. Most are barely domesticated. I have clients who can't even get a collar on their dogs 6 months into ownership. In the main they do not make good family pets.
Then perhaps you need to question your methods?!!!
Anonaymoose · 14/05/2021 14:24

Then perhaps you need to question your methods?!!!

I'm not a trainer, I'm a vet!

bunnygeek · 14/05/2021 14:54

I worry from a lot of comments elsewhere that so many are turning to Romanian and other European rescues because they have more relaxed homing criteria so they can get a dog quicker. People are just so desperate for a dog, any dog, regardless of breed, behaviour needs etc etc. And that's where UK rescues have to then step in and pick up the pieces when it goes wrong :(

Just because a rescue has seemingly more relaxed homing criteria does not make it better than a rescue which is more cautious >_