Dogs from overseas. Have you adopted one.

[Itsmeandhim]

We have been searching for the right dog to adopt for nearly 4 months. And are prepared to wait as long as is needed. We'd prefer a dog or bitch between 1-5 years old.
We want a small dog that will get on with our sons dog who we have a couple of times a week.
I've noticed that a few dogs are from Romania and even China.
Has anyone else ever adopted a dog from overseas.
If they are a couple of years old what about the language.
How do the rescuers know the dogs history.

Personally I wouldn’t. They often don’t know the history. Adopters and dogs often aren’t carefully matched at all. 4 months isn’t long. Keep looking and look at rescues further away or breed specific rescues.

We adopted from Cyprus and have the most wonderful dog. She's been a joy since she arrived and while she took a while to adjust to a new home, family and climate she settled in very well. The adoption was very smooth and we collected her from the airport on arrival (at 3am 😄).

Yes but it was unintentional.

She's great. Really healthy funny thing.

She was fostered before being rehomed to us.

We the children were 6&8 and we had a resident male dog.

Worked out well for us

Make sure the rescue group can take the dog back if things go wrong otherwise you could be stuck trying to find a rescue here that has space.

Yes good point. We actually 'fostered' ours until we were happy to take over ownership. We have to return her to rescue if needed.

This was 6 years ago so I think we're committed now!

I adopted a Spanish rescue. He is fabulous in every way. Yes, it took time and patience to help him settle - who knows what they go through before they are rescued. My friend has a Romanian rescue - different charity - also a joy. Research the charity you go to though - I spoke to people who had adopted dogs with the one I went to.

We have a dog that was originally rescued from Cyprus by an elderly lady who sadly could no longer walk her and we ended up rehoming her. She's a jolly little poodle, with an amazing temperament.

I adopted a Lab from Ireland and we had 11 very happy years together. People still talk about him now.

My niece has adopted a dog from Romania this year and she's a poppet.

DS has a Romanian rescue. He was very passive when he arrived and was terrified you men in tracksuit bottoms, but has blossomed and is absolutely adorable.

I know of a foreign rescue, they have dogs from Greece and Portugal. The dogs are health checked and assessed for temperament. They are also fostered before going to adoptive families and have an excellent record in successful adoptions

Chimney Farm in Hampshire

4 months is nothing! IMO bringing in stray dogs from abroad is unethical.

It really depends on what rescue you use IMO.

I'm a dog walker and have a few overseas dogs on my books. Some are fantastic - really loving dogs, well-behaved and no real behavioural issues beyond barking in the garden.

Others are really reactive to other dogs, will pull and lunge on the lead, will chase cats and other small furries and are quite challenging to look after.

If you do your research into the rescue and make sure you can return the dog if there are any issues, I can't see it being any riskier than adopting a UK dog.

There is the moral debate around whether it's okay to adopt dogs from overseas when there are so many dogs in UK rescues, though, but whether you mind (or not) is down to you, not anyone else :)

We got a 1 year old from a rescue in Romania and they matched us so well. Her mum was a street dog so they did know her history because she was born there. She didn't know any training so words didn't mean anything anyway, we did training from the beginning. Lovely dog.

If you can rescue from the UAE (mostly Dubai/Abu Dhabi) the local “desert dogs” (saluki mixes) are just fabulous, fabulous dogs. Alas not small as such as per your list of wants, but just fantastic pets.

I’ve had a few friends who have ended up with grey hounds. Seem like lovely family dogs.
A friend of mine adopted from Hungary. Lovely little mix dog (not sure what). Has settled in really well and a nice little dog.

There must be tens of thousands of dogs needing re-homed here, I can’t understand why anyone would need to go abroad to find one.

@Starcup

There must be tens of thousands of dogs needing re-homed here, I can’t understand why anyone would need to go abroad to find one.

Exactly. Why? Makes no sense to me at all.

There have been concerns about ‘strays’ being deliberately bred in puppy farms.

There must be tens of thousands of dogs needing re-homed here, I can’t understand why anyone would need to go abroad to find one.

The number of rehoming centres willing to let a family with young children adopt is small. Eg Dog's trust have 25 available for homes with primary-aged children at the moment. Of those 25, most say children age 8+. Our youngest is 5.

We have only browsed so far but we'll be looking properly soon. We'll probably end up buying a puppy if we aren't able to rehome.

@Starcup

There must be tens of thousands of dogs needing re-homed here, I can’t understand why anyone would need to go abroad to find one.

Why? Because the RSPCA won’t let you have a dog if you’ve ever had one put to sleep (there’s even a notice to that effect in our nearest one’s reception area). Many rescuers say you have to already have a dog in order to adopt another. My Romanian rescue is brilliant, I tried 17 rescue centres across southern England and Wales before going for a dog from abroad, the excuses were numerous and some were ridiculous! We’re retired, live in the countryside, keen walkers, have had rescue dogs for the past 40 years etc yet couldn’t have a rescue from this country. That’s why and what’s more, I’d do it again!

@Sittinginthesand

4 months is nothing! IMO bringing in stray dogs from abroad is unethical.

How come? Genuine question

If reputable uk centres won't consider you because you have young children, wait until your children are older!

Ok, fair enough. I can’t say I’ve ever pets so I genuinely have no idea how it works. I assumed there would be thousands of dogs here needing re-homing. I had/have no idea about the criteria… fair enough in that case

My mum adopted two from Greece, she visited them and adopted them but they were transported a few month's after. . . and they were completely different dogs on arrival.
The dogs are both boxer mixes it looks like... they are handsome but highly strug, they took a while to settle into the house and they still go mad for the first few minutes when we visit her, jumping and barking, but she wouldn't be without them.

@Starcup

Ok, fair enough. I can’t say I’ve ever pets so I genuinely have no idea how it works. I assumed there would be thousands of dogs here needing re-homing. I had/have no idea about the criteria… fair enough in that case

There are thousands who need rehoming, but the criteria can make it almost impossible, sadly.