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

@haba

It is actually sighthounds that we want! Don't care what breed/mix. I'm going to contact our closest rescue to see about volunteering with the dogs for us. *@speedycouchpotato* I may pm later when I've time to sit and collect my thoughts, thanks.

Have you looked at The Greyhound Gap? They're a great rescue.

Definitely worth looking at specialist greyhound trusts - they're much more clued up than the generic rehomers.

Ours raced and has the usual sort of prey drive, but is fine with other dogs, we've never used a muzzle and (having done a lot of recall training) he is off lead on walks every day (except on roads) - it's an absolute joy to see him run. (Though some greyhound trusts are very much against letting any of them off except in secure fields). He also enjoys long walks at a weekend. I wouldn't leave him and a cat in the same room, but I suspect he'd end up worse off. Some greyhound trusts do cat testing.

We were (except for me) first time dog owners and one of my sons (who was at home in lock down) had always been nervous with dogs (but isn't now!). The greyhound trust were brilliant and we had lots of opportunities to walk potential dogs and to take our one home for the day to see how it went - and after we brought him home full time didn't have to sign the adoption papers till we were quite sure it would work for everyone.

You only need to look on Gumtree or Pets4Homes - there are loads of adolescent dogs needing new homes for about £500 or so. Our local one also has loads of puppies "reduced for quick sale"

The first page of Pets4Homes has the following available:

"Final reduction" French Bulldog puppies for £1800.
A blue merle bulldog puppy "reduced" to £3000. Yes, that's reduced to £3000.
A reduced litter of "sproodle" puppies.
Another litter 'of "reduced" French Bulldogs.

GumTree seems to be full of adolescent/adult dogs for sale, including:

A 1yo XL Bully.
An 8mo labrador.
A "shnockerpoo" (whatever the fuck that is, lol)
A 6yo Bulldog.
A 2yo cocker spaniel.
A 3mo chowchow.
An 18mo American XL Bully.
A 4yo lab/collie mix
Two 2yo Frenchies.
A 6mo Frenchie.
A 1yo Rottie.

That's within 30 miles of my postcode, and only the first two pages out of hundreds of ads.

All the dogs are for sale for at least £500 each. It's no wonder people aren't using rescues if they can sell and get at least some of their money back.

@GerbilCurse

"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."

So on the one hand people are saying the middle of the road dogs never make it to a website then others are saying rescues aren't considering a list of people who've registered their details with them. How do you get to be first come first served if the dogs are never advertised?

Every rescue has different processes.

They will read through every application and if it has gone down to the line and they've just had a dog walk in that fits your bill perfectly even if the one you applied for has gone or wasn't suitable, you'll get a call. I've got a few friends who've adopted that way. It's all about on the ball and applying. It's not the rescue's job to find you a dog.

I’ve just adopted from abroad, all the dogs for this rescue are assessed and most of them are in foster homes with kids cats and other dogs, some are in uk foster homes. We had a FaceTime home check and received lots information on our dog. A full and accurate assessment, she is exactly as described.
Quiet in the house, lead trained , house trained, good in the car, spayed jabbed chipped wormed flead and a passport . She has had a truly heartbreaking start to life and had terrible things done to her, she is very very shy and timid but coming out of her shell day by day and she’s wonderful.

Also forgot to say good with cats dogs kids ducks chickens and geese

OP, if you like spaniels, it might be worth your while getting on the books of a spaniel rescue. English Springer Spaniel Welfare (iirc) foster dogs in people's homes. And yes, as you have noted, a lot of the dogs they take in have issues - but not all.

TBH we tried the rescue route about 20 years ago when we started looking for our first dog and even then it was almost impossible. I understand that rescues have to be responsible, but one had a blanket ban on homes with children under 10...

I agree OP . And then many rescues end up putting dogs to sleep if they can't rehome them,so I don't agree with how high they set the bar.

I volunteer for a breed rescue and we have very few dogs coming through fewer than when I started three years ago. However, I would say often people say the dog has bitten the children as a way to be rid of the dog. Many dogs have been tormented by family life beyond endurance and end up nipping as a last resort. When they are constantly disturbed, followed about, the warning of a growl is systematically ignored and teeth are then their only option.

Apply to be a foster home for a Spaniel specific rescue/charity as I see you have a springer. I have fostered 9 (1 springer, 8 cockers) over the past two years, 2 did have guarding/bite tendencies (which were known when I offered to foster) but the others were all suitable to go to homes with kids over 5 and cats as my cat gave them all a good pasting as they arrived and we had no chasing incidents. There is a good vetting procedure for both fosters & adoptors - mind you dealing with humans they do tell fibs sometimes in desperation to get a dog and then want to return it when it isnt perfect from day 1.

Dogs are in rescue for a reason. Few are issue free. We have endless offers to rehome and can choose the best. We are looking for the best home for the dog. Not to find you a dog.

But then if people can’t find a rescue dog, it’s not a surprise they opt for a puppy.

So what do you suggest? That we rehome a dog to a family with small children, no garden and out at work all day? Or a retired couple with a huge garden and near a beach.

@JayAlfredPrufrock

So what do you suggest? That we rehome a dog to a family with small children, no garden and out at work all day? Or a retired couple with a huge garden and near a beach.

But how many retired couples are there that live by the beach that are looking for a dog?

There is a lot more dogs looking for homes, than retired people looking for one

Are there? Issue free?

I think not.

If there are more people wanting dogs than there are dogs then that’s great news, @JayAlfredPrufrock but then why shame people for buying a puppy?

I haven’t shamed anyone

I didn’t mean you personally sorry, but there is sometimes quite a lot of negativity aimed at those who shop and don’t adopt.

I think the best case scenario is that rescues are empty!

I have a rare breed. There are 0 in rescue centres. This is because responsible breeders only breed sensibly and select homes extremely carefully so that they stay in the homes chosen. Those who do need to be rehomed go back to the breeder, as it should be.

If only all breeds could be the same.

I saw an advert today for a border collie at valgrays rescue centre. Good with kids, dogs, people etc. I know the border collie rescues are all full of dogs to be rehomed. And they do often have ones which are suitable with children. Often they are not hyper and are very sweet dogs. Might be worth a look. There are quite a few rescues throughout the uk who would love to hear from you.

We gave up on homing a rescue. The hoops we were required to jump through were just ridiculous.

I guess I assumed that a lot of the abandoned lockdown puppies will have been bred in puppy farms so will most likely have moderate to significant health problems. Add to that lack of training/socialisation and you'll have a lot of unadoptable adolescent dogs.

As pp said they probably are all being sold on too. I saw that couple who just got convicted of puppy farming were selling each puppy for up to £20k . I suppose people who buy these sort of puppies wouldn't want to just give them to a rescue, they'll try to make some money out of them. After all, they're just a commodity it seems

We adopted 2 greyhounds from the greyhound trust. Lovely dogs, fine with our kids 6 and 10. We had to have a garden with 6ft fences but otherwise no issues.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/parenting/4451917-toddler-and-dogs-not-getting-on?watched=1&msgid=114168552#114168552

No that's not what happened to us. We went to the rehome game kennels run by the council where the strays go. They really weren't too fussy and we had teenagers both work etc. They gave us a lurcher and came to inspect the house about a week later. He is an absolute gem I will always rescue