There are no rescue dogs out there

[steppemum]

so, steppedog is ill (although he may have months yet) and yesterday dd asked if we would get another dog. Dh and I were stumped. We had never intended to get this one , and I really didn't know the answer (apart form the fact he is still here and I am not ready to say goodbye yet)

So in an idle moment yesterday, out of curiosity I started looked at local rescue dogs. I got dragged into a rabbit hole of all dogs available at the moment in UK, because I was so struck my what I was seeing.

We got steppedog from a local rescue. We were fostering for them, we fostered 3-4 lovely dogs, all suitable for families, albeit with their own needs (eg one was a 1 year old great dane with zero training. She was lovely, gentle, nice dog, but a bouncy great dane is a handful, so anyone taking her on need space and to be prepared to do lots of training) Steppedog was our next foster, and we kept him.

For all the rescue dogs out there now though, the profile looks a bit like this:

Doggie is lovely, he needs a home which is:

1. adult only
2. rural/semi rural as he is nervous of noise
3. only pet in the house
4. house with few visitors and no visiting children.
5. needs someone home all day

then there will be one or two of the following:
he cannot be walked near other dogs; needs to always be on lead; wears a muzzle; resource guards; has seperation anxiety; expensive medical needs.

Now, this is a slight exaggeration, but for every single rescue, if you filter for teenage kids (ie not adult only) and for can live with a cat, the results are zero.

I just think that they are looking for rainbows. How many rural houses with only adults and no other pets, and someone home all day actually exist? They must be very few and far between.

The only dogs who look vaguely possible, are in English run shelters in Bulgaria, you agree to adopt and then they ship them over. I wouldn't touch those with a barge pole.

Is this a result of lockdown?
I was under the impression that lots of lockdown puppies were being rehomed, but no evidence of them in the rescues.
Are they just unrealistic about rehoming these dogs?

be interested to know what others think

I follow a couple of local rescues and they're getting a lot of lockdown puppies in. Who are now unsocialised dogs with separation anxiety and a whole host of other behavioural and health problems due to indiscriminate breeding. The dogs all go into foster apart from the ones who have such bad behavioural issues, they go into kennels so they can be trained by experts, all of which costs huge amounts. They've got to be careful about who all of these dogs go to - a small number of them are returned to the rescue sadly.

In the rescues I follow, there are many more dogs needing homes now - the younger lockdown dogs seem to far outnumber the number of homes needed for dogs whose living circumstances have changed due to bereavement etc.

We have a Romanian rescue. He was here in UK already and it wasn't til we'd met him and fallen in love that they told us he was from Romania. I also think we have enough dogs here that need homes without bringing more in. But he's adorable.

haba
some dogs do prefer to be singletons, not all need other dogs around.
Steppedog actually gets stressed round other dogs, he is supersubmissive and so as soon as other dogs are present he does things like weeing everywhere.

he has 2 doggy friends, both of whom he has known for a long time and he likes to go for a walk with them. One regularly comes to stay at ours, and he is comfortable with her, but happy when she goes home. And a couple more who he is happy to meet/walk with, but doesn't want to play. He ignores all other dogs!

but he is very linked to the humans in his life.

some rescues have pairs of dogs up for adoption. They actually tend not to have such high needs /requirements, but they are hard to rehome as they need to go as a pair.

This isn't rescues trying to make your life difficult, it's rescues trying to find the best places for their dogs to spend their entire lives. Even despite these restrictions, there's far more than should be that are returned shortly after being adopted - adopters lie to get dogs, or over estimate what they can take on.

With covid restrictions, any rescues that used to cat-test may have had those made a whole lot more difficult, so can only rely on the history on the dog when they are signed over and by observing them when they're in kennels or in foster - if they are shown to chase they won't be rehomed to places with cats. The last thing they want is your new rescue dog to chase and kill your cat. Even if a dog has got on with a cat in their last home, doesn't mean they'll get on with your cat either.

Dogs Trust has 176 dogs that could live with secondary school age kids though. And 14 that could live with a cat. These are going to be such popular traits though that most dogs will be reserved and off the website pretty quick - leaving those challenging ones online making it look as though they only have trickier dogs.

Mine’s a Romanian rescue simply because of being completely unable to adopt from rescues all across southern England and Wales. Why? I have no idea.
We’re retired, live rurally, at home much of the time, experienced dog owners (all from rescues bar one), happy to take an older dog etc. RSPCA around here won’t let you adopt if you’ve ever had a pet put to sleep, many rescues want you to already have a dog (doh!). I gave up after the 17th rescue said no.
I am very happy with my Romanian Whatsit, she’s brilliant!

Definitely found this, we are looking for a puppy.

bunnygreek

I do know that rescues are looking for the best for the dogs, but I just wonder how many of these ideal homes actually exist.

I was curious about your 176 and 14.
So I have searched. I put on a filter for secondary children and cats.
I get 10 dogs.

1 is toy breeds, which we are not interested in.

we are prepared to travel, but 2 are Northern Ireland and 1 Glasgow, that is a bit too far.

One is very elderly.
One has 3 legs - we do lots of long walks, so this probably wouldn't work.

That leaves 4, who woudl be possible.
1 is huge, so we would need to think abotu that.
1 says - no children visiting the home. We don't have many, but we do have them. May be possible, depending on why.

That leaves 2 possibilities. That is in the whole of the UK, and both dogs are more than 3 hours drive away.

I would be prepared to drive, but they can't do a home check etc at that distance, so I doubt they would take us.

I got told I was peddling misinformation yesterday on another thread when I said we'd been looking for a rescue for two years and failed.

We actually meet a lot of the criteria too, semi-rural, adult only, not many visitors, people at home all day, only pet.

Things that went against us, no previous dog ownership (although I've lived with dogs before), we're semi rural but on a main road through a village so some road noise and foot traffic, many rescues wanted you to live within a certain distance of the centre, lifestyle - we wanted an active dog happy to do 10k walks, rescues are full of greyhounds.

I have to say I agree with PP who are saying the rescues are too fussy. We tried to get a rescue and either the rescues don’t get back to you or they have a list of criteria a mile long.

If the rescues have dogs that come in and and then straight out that is great but they don’t. So we gave up and got another puppy who is as daft as a brush but we were able to train right from the beginning. And yes, both us us worked at home and still do, we live in the countryside. We had a dobbie before so am experienced dog owners yet the rescues didn’t seem that interested.

We were called by one who asked what would happen if both of us were suddenly hauled back in the office and were nit picked so much we gave up. We offered pictures of our large house with large fully enclosed garden and no one seemed to engage.

I couldn't adopt in the UK because all the dogs available were reactive bull breeds, staffies or greyhounds that had the same list of restrictions as you describe in your op. Quite a lot of them i thought should probably have been put down, like the ones who had a history of biting. There were no good, small size family dogs. In the end i rescued the most perfect little dog from Cyprus. It was either that or buy a puppy but all the puppies i could find were puppy farms and even the kc reg health tested puppies were horribly inbred. I was looking for 2 years on and off and in all that time i couldn't find a decent breeder of the type i was interested in that wasn't a puppy farm or at the other end of the country. I'm not saying you should get a foreign dog just that for some people it's really one of very few viable options to get a dog.

Fostering is probably a good idea for you op. That way if it works out great, you can just adopt the dog.

I'm part of a rescue and we've seen our numbers plummet over the last 2 years, speaking to friends in other rescues the conclusion we've come to has already been mentioned on here, they have been so expensive they are being sold on not given to a rescue until they've changed hands so many times they are now 'cheap enough' to surrender.

Of the ones that do come in many have suffered from next to socialisation or real world training and do need very specific forever homes.

The rescues I've spoken to have also seen changes like that @Defender90

I've seen a number of stray puppies being found recently, sometimes dumped in horrible conditions - the prices of puppies are falling, could this be the reason??

Every time I read "I couldn't rescue in the UK" all I hear is "I was too impatient to wait for the right match". And yes sometimes that may take months, even years, depending on your location, local demand and the types of dogs rescues are being signed over.

The last two years have been -mental-. I read of one national rescue that had 20,000, twenty thousand, enquiries to rehome in ONE month. They did not have 20,000 dogs, less than 500 across the whole UK.

Rescues do not operate click and collect. Their priority is the dogs in their care - if all the dogs in their care are wild boisterous things with bite histories, anxiety and resource guarding issues then yes there's going to be restrictions and rightly so. And that's not the rescue's fault, that's society's fault for failing those dogs before they ended up in rescue. Every "broken" dog was once an innocent little puppy and someone has failed it and that wasn't the rescue.

Steps down from soapbox for a cuppa

I don’t think it’s true that people are too impatient at all, unless you literally mean that you forget about having a dog until you are of retirement age.

We wanted to adopt but cat and primary aged kids so it's a no. Apparently lots of dogs don't make it onto the website (they have lists of pre- vetted people) so the trickier ones tend to hang aound. Ended up buying a puppy who is 2 now. She has a great life, long walks, always someone around. Loves being with the children.

“I think there's all sorts of factors coming into play here

• high demand for dogs like the ones you're looking for so they barely spend any time in rescue and may never be listed on the website because they're adopted so quickly
• people selling dogs instead of sending them to rescue
• dogs with behavioural problems brought on by lockdown eg unsocialised puppies, dogs that never learned how to be alone (or who were fine before, got used to having company all day, and didn't cope when that changed). “

That’s what I was going to say as well...

I'm surprised to hear that a branch of the RSPCA rules out dog adoption for people who've ever had a dog euthanised.
Surely that is a humane option, if an animal is suffering?
I really think the RSPCA has lost its way.

We found this. We now have a beautiful mixed breed puppy that came from a rescue charity.

Firstly. Many pups don't make it to website lists or even Facebook pages. If they have eager adopters on their lists they go straight to them. What worked for us was sending a prospective letter/email to the rehoming charities that seemed to suit us best, setting out a bit about us, our home and lifestyle, working hours and plans for emergencies, why we wanted a dog, how it would fit into our life, previous experience etc. I was clear that large or bull breed dogs would not be suitable for us

I even included photos of our house and of us with friends dogs! I also got two of my friends with dogs to write us a reference. I sent that pack off to the rescues and we had several offers within days and our new puppy came to live with us 3 weeks later following a meeting, trail few days and a home check!

It showed we had really thought about it, they could do an instant match to a dog and they didn't have to find new homes for pups as our application was sitting there waiting with all the info they needed. Our pup was never listed or advertised.

Definitely recommend the above. Do try to set out what kind of dog would work for you though as if you keep rejecting offers from the. you might be pegged as too picky.

Every time I read "I couldn't rescue in the UK" all I hear is "I was too impatient to wait for the right match". And yes sometimes that may take months, even years, depending on your location, local demand and the types of dogs rescues are being signed over.

I was looking on and off for 2 years. How long should someone wait in your opinion? I just wanted a nice small breed dog who wouldn't bite my kids or chase my cat.

Hi, interesting question and there's a few different things going on. One thing that's changed a lot in recent years is the ease with which people can now sell their dog online. So if you bought a pandemic puppy for several thousand pounds a year ago and now realised it's more than you bargained for and a poorly socialised adolescent, you can easily sell it on gumtree and recoup some of the cost. There are also just less dogs going into rescue centres, partly because of the above and partly because there are now less strays so the demographic of dogs available in UK rehoming centres has changed, it's now used as a last resort for owners who cannot cope with or safely live with their dog meaning that there are a heck of a lot of dogs with severe behavioural issues that do need a home which realistically they're going to struggle to find and sadly a lot of these dogs will stay in kennels for a long time, getting increasingly stressed and unmanageable and some will end up being euthanised on welfare grounds. On the other hand, you do get plenty of dogs going into rehoming centres that have come from a perfectly normal home which due to change in circumstances (break-ups, job loss, death of owner) can't keep the dog, obviously some of these dogs will now get sold on gumtree but some go to rehoming charities, it's just that because there are sooo many people looking to adopt these dogs that can cope with a normal home they often have a waiting list and will be going before they ever get onto the website.
So, what's the best way to find a new dog? I completely agree that you should steer clear of the eastern european strays, I know that some cases work out well but I've also seen plenty that have resulted in bitten children and euthanised dogs. This is a whole separate rabbit hole so I won't go into it but the short version is, this is not a responsible or way to source a dog.
I also wouldn't be advocating buying an adult dog off gumtree because yes they might be telling the truth, but they may well not be telling the full truth about the dog's behaviour and with children and other pets in the home it's not worth the risk.
I would recommend either persevering with rehoming charities to find the right dog, dogs that can live with teenagers and cats do come into rescue but getting your foot in the door if they offer any pre-adoption chats or events is worthwhile so they keep you in mind and know you would be a good home. Or, if it's suitable for you now, even offer to foster again and you will soon see that there are dogs coming in that are suitable to be placed into your home.
Or, finding a good breeder, which is not as easy as it sounds but there's some great advice here puppycontract.org.uk/

Best of luck if you do decide to get another dog and I'm sorry yours is approaching the end.

Rubbish. You've looked for one day. Dogs trust RSPCA loads of small dog rescues will have suitable dogs for child homes, non rural etc.

I rescued a staffy last year. In my dog trainer's words 'he's the kind of dog I want for myself_ - good with people, dogs, fireworks, loud noises, etc.! Struck gold

Very interesting discussion.
Sad too.

I am firmly in the camp that sometimes we do need to euthanise dogs that cannot easily be adopted, because living in a kennel at a rehoming centre is not a life either.

But also that rescues are turning away decent adopters for daft reasons (as seen on this thread)

Seeing steppedog running round full of beans this morning, it is hard to believe that his kidneys have packed up. No idea how much time we have, but we are enjoying the time left.

I think we would consider fostering again. BUT the local rescue now brings in lots of dogs from Spain, which I do not agree with, don't think they would appreciate me saying no overseas dogs... On the other hand, all their dogs are in foster, no kennels, and they seem to be easier to adopt from, more sensible about who they adopt to.

We don't actually want a puppy. Never had any desire to go down that route. Well, I would consider fostering a pregnant mum, that would be a lot of fun Hopefully we don't have to make this decision for a few months yet. I'd need a break too, couldn't have a new dog in the house straight away.

@VelmaandShaggy

Rubbish. You've looked for one day. Dogs trust RSPCA loads of small dog rescues will have suitable dogs for child homes, non rural etc.

you misunderstand my point.

My point was that ALL the dogs online have serious issues, that includes local rwcues x 3, dogs trust, RSPCA Blue Cross, and others.

The question is - where are the middle of the road dogs.

That has been answered by many on this thread, a variety of reasons. The main one I think is that those dogs do not ever make it to the website etc.
Perhaps read the whoel conversation in future? Lots of interesting points about rescues being made here.

I know the thread has moved on a bit - but just a comment on this

But it is really - where are the middle dogs who don't have mutiple isseus?

I think people expect too much off dogs now. They are expected to almost be robots with no quirks or issues and some people don't have the patience to deal with the issues as they arise.

A dog coming from a shelter/kennel environment will need time to decompress - regardless of how "well" they were in kennels and it will take time for the true personalities and quirks to appear.
But how often have you seen posts - even on here - saying we've had the dog 3 weeks but now is doing xzy and they'll get a chorus of return to the rescue. And - people posting on the likes of this forum are the ones doing some research and trying to make it work - how many others are just going - no this is too much like hard work?

We wanted a rescue. We approached several shelters, and while on paper we were told we were perfect (my husband's retired, we own our home,have outside space (albeit small), close to several parks etc) every dog we asked about we couldn't have as they were often traumatised and we didn't have experience. (We'd had dogs as kids but not adults as we wanted to wait until the time was right.) Any dogs that may have been suitable were snapped up straight away. The mantra is Adopt Don't Shop but it's not that easy, especially if you don't want to get a dog from abroad.

We ended up going to a breeder.

@Swisscheeseleaves

Every time I read "I couldn't rescue in the UK" all I hear is "I was too impatient to wait for the right match". And yes sometimes that may take months, even years, depending on your location, local demand and the types of dogs rescues are being signed over.

I was looking on and off for 2 years. How long should someone wait in your opinion? I just wanted a nice small breed dog who wouldn't bite my kids or chase my cat.

I think the answer is you don't wait, it takes work from the adopter to find their perfect dog. Contacting rescues, checking online every day, keeping applying, being on the case.

Most rescues do not have the man power to flick through a filing cabinet every time a dog comes in (and yes, most rescues don't have hi-tech systems either to automatically ping up people who have previously applied, those cost money, lots of money, GDPR throws a spanner in the works too). For popular dogs it will often be first come, first serve if you fit the bill, and you might be one of 30 plus perfect homes that have applied.