Advice on rescue dog applications

[Dogadvic3]

Hoping someone can give us some advice or suggestions on applying for rescue dogs.

We’ve made a couple of applications for rescue dogs and been rejected. The charities say they don’t give out reasons or feedback which is fine - I understand they have a lot on. I mainly want to understand if there’s something we should be doing differently.

We’re in our late 40s, fit and healthy, own home with decent enclosed garden, no children or other pets. We both WFH part-time and live in an area with good access to woods and parks. Both of us have owned dogs previously and have stated in our applications that we have plenty of time to walk a dog and give it love and attention. Our circumstances suit the dogs we have applied for (quiet home, no kids, no other pets, small to medium size dogs aged under 5). We were asked if the dog would ever be left alone and we replied that the most it would ever be alone for would be a couple of hours maybe every 2-3 weeks but not regularly.

Is there anything which is a big no-no for dog rescue charities or anything additional we should include? Much appreciated.😊

Rescues are doing a terrible job of vetting prospective adopters: so many of them are letting the best be the enemy of the good (and I’d argue that you’re approaching best in their eyes, so it’s not like it’s a borderline decision). As a result dogs are languishing in kennels when they could have a loving home.

This just isn’t true for any rescue/organisation I’ve worked with or have heard of.

From coming to us, it can take varying times to be ready for adoption depending on their condition. But from when they’re ready for adoption, dogs can be in their new home within a couple of weeks. I have never seen dogs just left in kennels, we are always working towards getting them ready for adoption, or going through the actual process. Some dogs need medical treatment, others help from behaviourists. Some spend time at home with volunteers to give us a better picture of what’s going on with them. It’s time consuming but all done in order to get them healthy and give them the best chance of a successful adoption.

Dogs trust weren’t going to let us adopt a staffy as our first rescue but after explaining we looked after my aunts staffy and talked about all their quirks they let us have him. Second staffy from sspca not as strict

perhaps your trying a breed that’s known for stubbornness, training issues that want an experienced home? I hope you get it sorted soon, so many dogs need a home like yours

Yet elsewhere people seem to be able to walk into a rescue centre and re-home a dog within a week

www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4580328-for-agreeing-to-a-dog-i-do-not-want

Big rescues do not have the capacity to keep names on file and match them to a dog. They probably don’t have her details on file any more due to GDPR. Smaller dogs are extremely popular and usually adopted really quickly unless they have behavioural or medical issues.

This. The popular “easy” dogs are usually rehomed very quickly, not languishing at all, but will also get a ton of applications. They can only pick one home per dog.

Any sticky dogs do far from languish, many go into foster care or are utterly spoiled rotten by the kennel staff - spending time in the offices with kennel staff, even going home with them on “sleepovers”. Every rescue’s goal is to get each dog their ideal home, but finding that match for trickier dogs can take a bit of time, especially when applicants over estimate what they can take on. Heartbreaking to hear of dogs having gone to what seemed like a perfect home, only to be retuned within days.

Thanks all, this has been very helpful. The whole process is very new to us and we didn’t really understand what goes on from the dog home side so it’s been good to hear advice from posters working in that area.

I was in two minds about doing this thread as I was worried I’d get piled on but everyone has been really positive so thank you! It’s given us more to think about in terms of fostering too.

Contrary to what social media would have you believe, rescue centres are not struggling to rehome dogs nowadays. I live next door to a dogs trust and they’re generally getting between 100-200 applications per dog. A shar pei puppy went up two days ago and received over 600 applications in under 2 hours. You sound like a perfect family for a dog, you’re just applying to places with such long waiting lists that you’re not even getting looked at

And yet if anyone brings up the subject of a rescue from abroad, suddenly rescue centres here are absolutely bursting at the seams. According to this thread they’re in and out before their feet touch the ground with hundreds of applicants

Why bother? Just get a puppy which you can train and ensure it’s safe,

interested in this as we want to go down the rescue route

i would hope it’s because they have had lots of applications from people in similar situations and others might be higher up the “list” if there is such a thing, as you are

We had this issue because we had jobs (despite lots of wfh). We adopted 2 dogs from a Romanian rescue that we trusted with UK back up. There are millions of dogs desperate for homes in overseas rescues in Spain, Greece, Turkey, Romania, Serbia and lots more. They did vet us carefully but their concerns were sensible and they accepted that we had arrangements in place if we did ever need to leave the house (my resident mum dog-sitting). It was easy and all vax and paperwork done appropriately, with support if we needed it (we didn’t, we had 2 shy girls who only really needed love and a confidence boost). Looking to adopt from overseas again as we would never support breeding new dogs when so many lovely dogs are being killed daily (ours came from a rescue taking dogs from a very grim brutal kill shelter).

Oh and overseas dogs aren’t all traumatised and feral. We have one ex street dog who took a month to house train (stress wees) and one former pet (now dec’d) dumped for being too old who never once went in the house even when dying. Rescues get a bad rep - there are fully house trained ex pet dogs (many in some countries see pets as entirely disposable) and plenty of puppies.

I approached a dog rescue and offered to foster. I'm home every day [retired] and in my own house with a garden. No children here now, no other pets, have had dogs before, I walk 3-4 miles every day, and more than happy to take an older dog and take it to the vet for whatever care is needed.
I met a worker who took me to see a dog about to need fostering. The dog was unsuitable [long story], it would not have worked with this particular dog and I was honest about it. Now I'm off the list and applications since have not been acknowledged.
No wonder people buy a pup or adopt from other countries.

There is a bit of struggle, the puppies, the dogs that can live with other pets/children - they'll be out the door superfast.

It's the more sensitive dogs that need special homes that are filling the kennels at the moment, meaning that a lot of those easy dogs simply can't get signed over as there's no room. Every sensitive dog with specialist needs started as a happy little puppy until humans failed it. It's really hard when one of these dogs with behavioural or medical issues is signed over BUT it also happens to be very cute or a desirable breed, people don't read the description, apply anyway, get turned down, and go on social media to rant about it.

And some of those European dogs do end up in the UK rescues if the importing rescue doesn't have back up, with behavioural issues. Sure some are easy but some are not. For every happy story there's a nightmarish one. When you hear stories of rescue dogs who have bolted and can't be caught, more often than not, those are European rescues.

I agree with you that clearly the most adoptable dogs obviously get adopted quicker. There’s no end of homes for the other ones though. If you read the op’s post you’ll see she has the perfect set up for potentially any dog at all, but she’s not even being considered.

I think people just aren't understanding how it works. I foster for a breed specific rescue and we all work hard to get the dog their ideal forever home. While in foster we write weekly reports detailing everything about their personality/likes/quirks/dislikes etc etc. The dogs will usually get quite a lot of applications and it isn't just about you having a fenced in garden/being home a lot etc. They want to match each dog with the right family to minimise the risk of that dog ended up back with the rescue. Because that does happen and it really affects the dog. Try not to take it personally. It's great you have so much to offer but the rescue is on the side of the dog, trying to find them the best home they can.

I would also say, look for your local rescues, there are a lot of smaller rescues out there who are less inundated with applications

There’s a very high chance the OP is applying for the easier popular dogs though. Not the nervous ones, not the ones that need minimal visitors, quiet dog-free walks or specific breed experience. Also the lovely Lurchers and Greyhounds don’t get as many applications compared to the small breeds, the Labradors or the Spaniels.

Im another one that fosters for rescue and have done for around 13 or so years. These days I usually foster the difficult ones but I do still get the odd easy rehome as I call them - easy because they will get one or two hundred applications each. When I’m looking through applications there are usually loads of suitable ones and it can be hard to choose. On our forms there’s a part where you can add in any extra info you want. Many people write nothing and others write a bit more about themselves and lifestyle, what they could offer a dog etc. They are the ones I pick to call as I get a bit more on an insight into them and I'm not just looking at a name address and garden size. What area are you in as I could recommend some rescues to try if you’d like?

Haven't RTFT so sorry if I'm repeating but have you tried one if the charities where you don't apply for a specific dog, they match you to a dog like Dachshund Rescue?

Hello, thank you, I will message you. Local rescues would be great, I did goggle but you never know if they have a good rep or not!

When we completed the form we did give some explanation of our lifestyle and how much we felt we could offer.

We’re going for small/medium dogs as we think our house (and car for that matter!) aren’t right for a large breed. We’re pretty open in terms of breed and are fine with a mongrel or slightly older dog.

I did discuss fostering with DH today and he’s interested but worried about getting attached to the dog and then having to give it up for adoption.How do this of you who foster cope with this?

I foster dogs for a rescue charity. There are often 150 plus applications per dog (especially puppies). It doesn’t mean you’re not good enough, it just means that there is probably someone who has even more to offer (sorry). Charities will assess each dog and will want to find a home which ticks every single box ie maybe a particular rescue is better off living with another dog, or with experienced owners, (loads of different things) and because there are so many applications the charity is usually lucky enough that they manage to find a family who ticks every single box and even more

i don’t know what type of rescue you’re looking for but if you’re open to any breed/ size, age etc then you will probably have more chance if you are happy to adopt the kind of dog which are generally a bit harder to get adopted (cos everyone wants the cutest fluffiest puppies/young dogs). So an older dog, a dog which isn’t classically cute and fluffy, etc

good luck !

If you're not fussy about breed, have you looked at ProDogsDirect?

They run a website for lots of little local rescues so it's easier to maintain.

prodogsdirect.org.uk/dogs-for-adoption/

I foster rescue dogs. It’s really hard work, with little of the benefits for you as a person; the benefits lie entirely with the dog, not you. Many rescues take a few days to weeks to settle in your home, they can be traumatised, they likely not house trained. They may be scared of walks. Some don’t come out of under the table for days. Some won’t eat. Some arrive full of worms etc, I’ve had one that howled for 48 Hours non stop. They may never have even been on a walk before so u have to teach them from scratch. They may be reactive. And just as you get them just about settled then they get adopted lol. Some rescues you don’t even get attached to and actually are relieved when they get adopted.

don’t get me wrong, some foster dogs arrive as the finished package, but they are few and far between

But most of all it’s incredibly rewarding to know that you have helped a dog get on to the next chapter of his life.