Ch 4 The Dog House - approach to rehoming

[Strawberrypicnic]

This is inspired by a recent thread asking why so many people choose to rehome from abroad.

There is always a lot of talk on here about inflexible homing policies (especially of the big animal charities) and how they force many people to buy or adopt from abroad.

If you have watched Channel 4's The Dog House, they seem to be able to find a suitable dog for just about everyone who comes through their doors. Families with small children with no prior dog experience, people living in flats, people who go out to work, people who have existing dogs and cats.

Is this really representative of the experience of anyone who goes to their rehoming centre, or is it just for TV? Why is their approach so different from other big animal charities? It can't be that all the 'easy dogs' miraculously end up at Wood Green (where The Dog House is based). Does it mean that e.g. the Dogs Trust, who appear to be much stricter, find their rehoming practices reckless?

I just find it curious really. I thought The Dog House presented a really positive and refreshing attitude to rehoming and I wonder why other rescues haven't followed suit.

I have two friends who are vet nurses and another who works as a trainer specialising in imported dogs and fear. They all have the same experiences.

But of course a trainer who specialises in "imported dogs and fear" is going to see a large number of difficult dogs - it's quite literally in their job description

I'm not actually a fan of importing dogs as I think many rescues don't do the proper checks required and just want the dogs off their hands, but at the end of the day they're just dogs like any other. Some will make excellent pets, some will have issues that require specialist help, some will need additional training and yes, unfortunately some will be incapable of living normal lives and will need lifelong management or behavioural euthanasia. It's sad but it could happen with dogs born and bred in the UK too.

I think the main issues with foreign rescues are breed (many are mixed with guardian breeds, for example, with traits that are very difficult to manage in the average home) and the fact that some have been raised on the streets and have no positive experiences with people. But that's an issue with rescues not doing their research, not with the dogs themselves.