What is happening to the dogs that need rehoming?

[Singinginshower]

Just been looking at a couple of rescue sites and there aren't many dogs available. One website says it has fewer than usual due to Covid guidelines.
Just wondered if they are more likely to pts the dogs that won't get rehomed quickly.

I was wondering if people had seen the new report from the RSPCA or the updated report from Battersea (which I have not yet) that was the reason for my question. Working with a lot of dog professionals I am interested in their opinions and hear a lot of them but wondered if posters had seen the official data line. Nothing goady about my question at all.

First report is here - it will be interesting to see the second report due soon
covid research report Battersea

That was exactly what was said last summer and probably will be said next summer too!

@bunniesanddaisies

That was exactly what was said last summer and probably will be said next summer too!

Got your crystal ball working then huh.

All of the charities predications have been based on experiences in the last recession, that's literally the only closest thing they have to compare to as the insanity of this pandemic has been unprecedented.

Apparently so! Strange you seem to want puppies to be abandoned though.

By the time they end up in rescue they’ll be 14 months+, have behavioural issues and have been sold on 2 or more times. People who paid ££££ for a puppy they couldn’t handle aren’t going to give it away to a shelter a few months later. Not when they can resell it.

Just looked on dogs trust. No cockerpoos / cavapoos. One bichon, one Lhasa. Thirty Staffs, twenty one Staff crosses, 36 lurchers, 37 greyhounds.

You don't understand how the Dogs Trust works. Firstly, its main source of dogs are from other kennels - those operated by the RSPCA, dog wardens etc. Those kennels, if they get "popular dogs" can usually rehome them with ease, so the Trust takes dogs that deserve a second chance who would probably otherwise be put down. These tend not to be the popular dogs. Secondly, the Dogs Trust has many dogs that are not "on the record" - you can't see them. They may be in assessment or support, and working towards being rehomed. There is a reasonable chance that many lockdown adolescents (because they really aren't puppies) will be in this group, either because they are unknown quantities, or because they do have behavioural or other issues. It takes time for these dogs to filter into the general population. No dog will be rehomed unless the Trust are confident about its needs - they don't care about what people want, it is all about what the dogs need. Some dogs they take on may never, ever be rehomed - they are saved, but their issues are so deep seated that it is unlikely they will find a home that is suitable. Thirdly, a number of dogs will come from Canine Care scheme homes - homes where the owner has "willed" the dog to the Trust in the event of their own incapacitation or death. These are often dogs that have long-standing attachments to owners, usually come from "good homes", but may experience issues after the loss of their owner or, alternatively, be very easy to rehome quickly due to the nature of their previous home situation.

Whilst they do sometimes take in dogs from the public, this is actually very rare. You can't just rock up at a Centre and hand in your dog. In exceptional circumstances they may take a dog in - I have known of situations where people have tied their dog to the fence /gate post of a centre and abandoned it. But taking a dog from the public, outside of the Canine Care scheme, is not common. And they are not allowed to collect dogs or strays - that role is defined for the RSPCA, and they can't do it.

Behind the front page on the website there is work going on with hundreds more dogs.

That all said, if all someone wants is a cheap "designer dog", then aren't they as much to blame as everyone else. Lockdown puppies shouldn't be an excuse to pick up designer dogs at knockdown prices. If someone isn't willing to pay the price, whether that be for a puppy or an older dog, then why do they want the dog - because they would love a dog and really want to give a great dog a home, or because its a designer dog with status? Don't get me wrong - I hated seeing all the puppies appearing without any thought for their care or long term interests, and that prices have become astronomically silly all round. But is anyone wants to give a dog a home, there are plenty to go around. Just maybe not the exact breed you want, but isn't the dog the point, not the breed? They come in plenty of sizes even when not "designer".

@bunniesanddaisies

Apparently so! Strange you seem to want puppies to be abandoned though.

Um, where did I say that?!! Haha!

I don't want any dogs to be abandoned. But the rescues are bombarded daily from people who want to adopt puppies and young dogs under 6 months old. The general public seem to expect rescues to be able to keep up with the demand for young dogs, but they cannot. Unless they start puppy farming themselves?!

@Moondust001 is spot on. Also, Dogs Trust removes dogs from the listings once they're reserved. So the only dogs listed are ones that haven't had a reserve placed on them yet - that could mean they're only online for a few hours for desirable breeds like Pugs, Poo-crosses and other small breeds.

Also, they do have Pippin listed right now at their Ballymena centre, she's a Cockerpoo (listed as a crossbreed).
www.dogstrust.org.uk/rehoming/dogs/dog/filters/~~~~~d~~/1246586/pippin

There will be hundreds more dogs across their centres who won't be listed yet as they're being assessed, undergoing training or medical procedures, or in some cases they may do their 7 days as a stray wait at a centre in cooperation with the local dog warden - depends on the relationships with local dog wardens.

Battersea only has 7 dogs listed as available for adoption, but they'll be the same with other dogs in the background being assessed, with medical needs etc etc.

A lot of the Poo-cross type dogs I've seen in rescues lately have had behavioural issues like resource guarding.

I’ve just had a quick look at what dogs are available near me on a pet selling website (ignoring the puppies.) A 13 month old large breed, a 16 month old very large breed, a 6 month old small breed and a another 13 month old large breed. For sale for between £1500 and £1000. None of those are neutered either. If you go up in price you’ll find a 5 month old small breed for £2,750 a 10 week old being resold for £2,750 a 6 month old for £2,600.

My local dog rescue has quite a few lockdown pups but has said they all have issues that need time to resolve, eg separation anxiety, resource guarding, so won't be able to be rehomed for several months. They are what would be considered popular breeds, cockerpoo types, all under 12 months.

So let’s say I want to get a lockdown puppy from Dogs Trust. How would I go about getting one of these hundreds of abandoned dogs that are all behind the scenes?

@bunniesanddaisies

So let’s say I want to get a lockdown puppy from Dogs Trust. How would I go about getting one of these hundreds of abandoned dogs that are all behind the scenes?

The dogs “behind the scenes” are not ready for adoption. When they’re ready for adoption they’ll be shared online.

For puppies, some rescues may have puppy lists - but from rescues I know most of those lists are currently closed due to the demand. How those lists operate will vary vastly from rescue to rescue as some are more likely to get puppies than others.

Right, so they are bursting to the seams with lockdown puppies they won’t rehome?

@bunniesanddaisies

Right, so they are bursting to the seams with lockdown puppies they won’t rehome?

One of our neighbours works at our local rescue centre. They currently have 12 dogs between 8 - 15 months old and all of them need work to undo problematic behaviours so none are presently up for rehoming.

They also have some puppies who were born just a few days after mum was surrendered and they have been rehomed without ever being advertise but only because they had a list of pre approved adopters. Their list for puppies is not open to new adopters as they have not been able to do any home checks.

Right, so they are bursting to the seams with lockdown puppies they won’t rehome?

A rescue centre will always want to make sure their animals are really ready for rehoming as it minimises the chances of them being given up again. So they will have dogs they’re not rehoming right now. And like the rescue I know of, they’re still reluctant to rehome whilst people are working at home as they don’t know what will happen when these people return to work.

You sound quite oppositional. People are just giving their experiences and knowledge.

I apologise if I sound oppositional. I suppose I do but it isn’t the intention

But I have been reading on here for over a year now about how rescue centres will be bursting with lockdown puppies and it hasn’t happened and I don’t think it will. I’m not denying for one second that there are idiots who have bought a dog in 2020/21, but I do absolutely refute that most or even some of them are going to abandon their pets.

I’m sure many of them will make mistakes, just as we all do when we do something for the first time, but I really don’t see rescue centres overflowing with dogs.

@bunniesanddaisies

Right, so they are bursting to the seams with lockdown puppies they won’t rehome?

They're not going to rehome dogs that need extensive medical needs like treatment for skin conditions or broken bones, or have training requirements or are utterly shut down nervous wrecks. They're going to work with those dogs, or put them with experienced foster carers, until they are ready to go.

I know the Scottish SPCA put out a thing recently that they're full, but I think they're a bit of an exception as I know of rescues who've had intake drop right off (as mentioned before, people selling their dogs for cold hard cash instead of signing over to rescue).

It's not that rescues don't want to rehome their dogs, they want to rehome dogs to the RIGHT homes when they feel the dog is ready to find a home. Having dogs returned to kennels is the most frustrating part of rescue, especially if it's because adoptees have misjudged, even lied, on applications.

Rescues do not exist to supply people with dogs. They exist to give dogs a chance to find their ideal forever home.

But I have been reading on here for over a year now about how rescue centres will be bursting with lockdown puppies and it hasn’t happened and I don’t think it will.

But have you not seen the puppies being sold online due to ‘change of circumstance as back to work after furlough’ etc. These dogs are still puppies do easy to sell on. These people gave basically abandoned their pets, they just wanted some money back for doing it.

But I have been reading on here for over a year now about how rescue centres will be bursting with lockdown puppies and it hasn’t happened and I don’t think it will.

It will happen, but not all at once, there won't suddenly be one Monday when there's a queue down the street of every rehoming centre in the UK with people waiting to hand over their dog.

It's gradual. It varies rescue to rescue and region to region.

In this from Dogs Trust in March they said they had seen a 41% increase in traffic to the "giving up your dog" section of their website. Does that mean each person that clicked that then contacted them to sign over a dog? No. They could easily have persevered, had their situation change for the better, be now paying out the nose for behaviourists, or have sold their dog on Gumtree instead.
www.dogstrust.org.uk/news-events/news/2021/new-advert-reveals-the-heartbreak-of-owners-having-to-give-up-their-dogs-due-to-the-pandemic

Unfortunately idiots selling dogs on has always been a thing. It’s still different to rescues bursting with ‘lockdown puppies’ kale (obviously I’m not saying it’s right!)

The thing is, there doesn’t seem to be any greater number of dogs than normal in rescues, in fact there seem to be considerably less. And if you do want a dog, and the influx of lockdown puppies predicted by Mn is actually where rehoming goes to some arbitrary underground method, where only a select few hear of them, then yes I do get a bit suspicious!

Just had a chat with a local large rescue who say they are full but mainly becaue rehoming has been put on hold during lockdown. So less home checks have been done.

They did say though that they have more fosterers than they have ever had which is great and the dogs are getting a lot of time.

They have not seen a major increase in rehoming calls.

However only one rescue in one area so may be very different in different areas

If by "arbitrary underground method" you mean puppy lists - not secret, but people on those lists have probably been on there for a year waiting for the right breed/type that will fit with their family. And when the numbers of people on those lists have dropped a bit (because it could easily be in the hundreds), rescues will be able to open them again, especially when it's easier to home check.

Getting a dog right now requires patience. Something that seems rarer than hen's teeth and rescue workers are so tired, so so tired, of dealing with angry people who don't seem to understand that rescues don't exist to give them dogs.

Everyone is too quick to blame the rescues, and not take a moment to step back and realise the demand is the problem.

Well no, it is secret if the puppies are never heard of! Except I don’t think that is the case. They do not make it into the rescue centres because despite the dire and mournful ‘just you wait’ threats on here people aren’t for the most part buying dogs and abandoning them. Mostly. Of course you get some dicks, you always do.

Bear in mind that the inbred lockdown pups are under a year old and the atopy hasn't really kicked in yet. Once a few of them have worked their way through a couple of jags of Cytopoint, a few tubes of Osurnia and a bottle or 3 of Malaseb, there might be a few more on the market for less money.

Mind you some of those might just live on a daily dose of cheap n (not that) cheerful vitamin P- it's cheaper than a sack of hypoallergenic food anyhow.