@CovoidOfAllHumanity
We want to rescue a dog
We don't want a puppy
DH WFH, no other pets, own home and enclosed garden, kids secondary age
We thought we were good candidates but haven't exactly been inundated with offers since registering our interest with local centres. We are marked down for being first timers although both our families had/ have dogs that we regularly sit for.
Also many of them want you to have another dog at home.
The dog we have now been offered is a Romanian rescue so I guess those are the dogs available.
We did not see any British relinquished puppies or young dogs on any of the sites we looked at.
It does take more leg work than registering interest, the amount of interest rescues are receiving, especially from families with kids of any age, is enormous. So when they get that dog in, they likely have a stack of 50+ applications and they'll go with the one on top.
Keep in contact with the rescues, check online every day, don't rely on them to call you, they likely just don't have time to keep up.
Romanian rescues can be fabulous or an absolute nightmare. They are not necessarily for the first time owners as they can come with a wealth of behavioural challenges which take take months to get through (or never get through). Some crossbreeds from Romania can be challenging, especially if they have some of the Eastern European flock guardian breeds in their mix. And you have to do a lot of background checks on the individual rescues too - what are they doing to stem the flow of stray dogs in Romania? Or are they just grabbing dogs from the local pounds and flinging them at the UK as quick as they can?
As others have said, many of the puppies or young dogs that have been signed over, have been signed over with behavioural issues or health problems which need experienced care or homes without kids.