How long to find a suitable rescue dog?

[Lovemusic33]

We lost our dog to old age 4 years ago, we had one rescue dog since but it wasn’t really accessed before being homed with us and it bit dd so we could not keep it. Since then I have applied for several dogs but have been told we are not suitable or that they were not cat friendly.

My household is me and dd2 (dd1 is at uni), dd2 is 16 and autistic, the other dog bit her through fear as dd flaps a lot. I am really active and I work outdoors, ideally I want a dog that can come to work with me so it needs to be good around other dogs and be good off lead (though this can be taught), we have a cat so the most important thing is that the dog doesn’t chase the cat. I know ideally to get all the things we want we would probably be best getting a puppy and training it but I am not keen on the puppy stage and dd wouldn’t like a nippy puppy after she was bitten. We would ideally want a lab sized dog around 1-3 years olds still able to train it.

One rescue told me it wasn’t worth filling in their forms as they rarely get any dogs in that can live with cats. I have looked through all the local rescues and again all the dogs either say ‘no cats’ or the dogs are reactive around other dogs or nervous around people. I don’t want to risk a nervous dog around dd as she does flap, run, jump and make noises.

I keep seeing and hearing about how many dogs are in rescues and being dumped but we can’t seem to find hardly any, a lot of the dogs in rescue have come from abroad and you don’t get to meet them before applying to adopt them.

Is anyone else finding it hard to find a dog? Do we just give up and except we can’t have a dog until the cat dies? (He is 12).

There are lots of smaller rescues who have the dogs in foster homes so can give you an accurate portrait of the dog.

Why don't you get in touch with your local police force and ask them have they any "failed" scent dogs - usually spaniels/labs - but not the general purpose ones as they're trained to bite.

They're likely to have a list and they'll be around 18 months old, House trained etc

If you want a dog who can accompany you to work all day and that is cat and child friendly, your best bet is probably a puppy you raise yourself.

Very, very few rescues will fit that criteria and those that do won't even make it on the websites for re-homing.

It varies massively depending on circumstances and what dogs the rescues happen to have available for adoption. We were incredibly lucky in that our current cocker boy practically fell into our lap from a small local rescue - he was put into foster with a friend and I saw him on FB on the Friday evening, we went to meet him on the Sunday, were homechecked on the Monday and he came home on the Tuesday! This was mostly because his fosterer knew us well and the rescue trusted her judgement, though. Another friend of ours, who was an absolute A** highly experienced home, had two years of being turned down by rescues just because they had a cat, and ended up buying a pup.

See if you can gpo onto the waiting lists of smaller local rescues, as a lot of them have homes already lined up for calm, biddable dogs, who fly out without ever getting onto their websites etc., giving the impression that these types of dogs aren't out there. A decent rescue will talk to you and make an honest evaluation of the type of home you can offer and the type of dog who'd suit you, and might then contact you if the right dog comes in.

Thank you, I think I am finding it hard to find a good rescue. I have spoken to quite a few and most of them just tell me I have to keep an eye on there Facebook page or website and apply for dogs that I like. None of them seem to be letting me go on a waiting list and don’t seem keen on trying to match me with a dog. Years ago when my mum rescued a dog they did exactly that, you gave them your details and they would contact you when they had a suitable dog, my mum was matched with a lovely dog.

I think I will just wait, if I can’t find what I am looking for by the end of the year I will look at going down the puppy route and find a local breeder for a Labrador that I can train. Luckily I have plenty of time to attend training classes and there are some great doggy schools near me. I’m just not looking forward to the house training and the eating of shoes 🤣

The rescue I’m with does not have a waiting list nor do we match people to dogs. Seriously we do not have time. We would tell you to keep checking the website. We have loads of dogs available at the moment but very few are cat friendly and all dogs are in rescue for a reason. Your ‘flapping’ dd would also be an issue.

Personally I’d recommend not getting a Romanian street dog.

Thank you for your honest post. I guess in my head I feel no one should get a puppy if they can rescue, ideally would rescue but with the issues and risks around dd and needing a cat friendly dog it’s going to be almost impossible to find a rescue dog, I just feel sad as I know so many dogs do need homes. I think we will have to look into getting a puppy later in the year which would give me autumn/winter to get puppy trained to be able to come to work with me. I am not in a huge rush so I can look for a breeder.

So many Romanian dogs end up being given up. I'd avoid the potential situation.

Breed rescue societies may know of dogs needing rehoming through no fault of their own with few issues.. owner illness/death/change of circumstances, that may fit your criteria and not have gone through rescue centers... I was lucky I have recently rehomed a young lurcher in similar circumstances that came straight from his home to mine, and already happily lived with cats and children ( I was able to visit and see for myself), there are some training issues .. and he is anxious and not seen much of the world but nothing insurmountable. I was VERY keen to avoid the hideous puppy phase but didn't think we would find a cat/child friendly rescue.

We adopted a dog from Bulgaria after I'd spent over 12 months looking in local rescues, it was having children that meant most dogs in rescue centres were unsuitable for us. I hadn't thought about adopting from abroad, it was purely by accident I saw a dog online that interested me and got in touch. Whilst that dog wasn't suitable for us, they found one that was.

He came to us at 6 months of age and turns 9 years old in a few weeks. He's the most lovely and gentle dog and I wouldn't be without him.

I also have a rescue dog from Bulgaria. There are decent rescues out there who will fully match you with a dog and have properly accessed the dog. Look for a rescue with a lively and current rehomers social/Facebook type web page. That way you can see that the dogs they've rehomed have worked out and that they do provide support.

StreetHearts BG rehome well socialised dogs with UK back up