Romanian rescues anyone?

[disappearingfish]

We lost our old boy early last summer and are ready to take on another rescue.

We have had a home check with a charity that rescues dogs from Romania and have been matched with a 2 year old dog that looks lovely.

Has anyone been through this? I'm slightly nervous about adopting a dog that you don't meet IRL first. Otherwise the organisation seems great.

Yes the experienced owners I know ( they used to have lovely rescues - GSD,s sometimes three at once in the extended family- None were ever a problem.

Due to arthritis they can’t manage GSD’s any more, so got a Romanian dog 5 yrs ago that they were told the usual huff about

“Good with people, good with other dogs, good at maths- Made him sound an easy dog.

He’s infinitely worse than they were told- seems the “ Good with” is just a party line that people are told.

Had this family not been so experienced with big shepherd guarding types, they’d have been on over their heads-

When they see me and my well behaved quiet dog approaching, they ask if we can cross the roads
We do, but the dog still lunges and is strong, despite being much smaller than their past GSD’s

A Kangal belonging to someone else ( imported) bit a woman’s hand very badly after they were told it would be ok.
That was returned as aggressive.

These are dogs that would probably be far happier living outside -

Having said that- Macau Canidrome greyhounds were shipped to U.K. and after assessments those appear to have settled very well into homes ( although some were Irish or Australian reared dogs) so at least had daily dealings with people to socialise them a bit.

A lot had very expensive dental issues and cancers though, but were / are sweet natured dogs.

I really, really tried with the UK rescues, I promise. They simply didn't reply to me.

Not all Romanian rescues are successful, not all UK rescues are successful. But many are. I'm hoping ours will be one of the good ones. His options are a home abroad or a life cut short. I don't think there's such a thing as a happy, carefree street dog in Romania, not for long anyway.

I think it's fantastic that you are giving a chance of a new life to a dog from Romania. I follow Rory Cellan-Jones from the bbc and the progress he is making with his dog Sophie from Romania is lovely to see

I don't think there's such a thing as a happy, carefree street dog in Romania, not for long anyway.

Street dogs are not pets. Be very, very prepared for that.

Be prepared for a worst case scenario of a dog that can't leave the house but also can't be left, can't interact with humans and will try to chase/harm your other pets - for many many months, if not forever. Sounds extreme but this is the reality of quite a few that I have had contact with.

Of course you may get lucky and I do know a few who have been fostered here and then been homed and lived relatively normal lives (with some restrictions) but very few. As someone else up thread said most I used to see regularly have now disappeared from our local walks.

The big question I take from your post is, what will happen to a/ your Romanian rescue isn't successful?
Will it end up as a undesirable UK rescue?

Personal opinion there are plenty of dogs in our own country needing a lovely home

Some of the PP sound like Suella Braverman.
Street dogs are dogs without a home and often without a human to take care of them. If human beings hadn't taken over almost every square inch of this planet, they wouldn't need a human to look after them, but seeing as we have, they do. We have a duty to help and in the longterm take actions to decrease our impact on this planet and the other species on it.

Adopting any dog needs careful consideration and sadly it doesn't always work out but it can and it does. My dog was brought to the UK from Romania. She has not been without her challenges and we've both had to adapt and learn but she is a wonderful dog and I'm certain she has a much better life than she did in Romania.
Hope it works out just as well for you, OP.

@Ylvamoon the rescue org offer life long support and commit to rehoming the dog at any point in its life if it's needed. E.g. I see dogs on their Facebook page that have been in homes for 5 or 10 years and now have to move on because e.g. the owner had died, has lost their home etc. The same as any dog owner, whether they have rescued from home, abroad, or indeed bought a puppy. Rather that than they end up on Facebook or Preloved.

In my mind if a rescue displaces a new puppy purchase then that's a very good thing. I'm going into this assuming (with good reasons) that we will be able to look after a dog for the next 15 years. There will be things that are out of my control but everything in my control is set up for giving a dog a happy and healthy life.

Street dogs are dogs without a home and often without a human to take care of them.

Yes; but because of how they've been raised they're often terrified of humans and have no trust in them whatsoever. They have no idea about living in homes or wearing collars or going for walks.

It's not like adopting a pet dog from
Romania whose owners have died or whatever - it's basically taking your chances with a dog who is potentially feral and who has never had any positive interaction with humans.

@ margotrose
I agree to an extent in some cases at least but all those problems are often surmountable. They are not the only ones who can be effected too - ex breeders can be terrified of people, dogs who have been abused and/or neglected and so on.
And like I say, the decision needs careful consideration.

I don't know if mine lived on the streets but pretty sure she did from her behaviour. Rather than being terrified of humans, she is extremely friendly, humans representing her best chance of survival as well a danger of course. She still has an independent streak but has learnt she can trust/rely on me to keep her safe. That's allowed her to have the puppyhood which she never had.

Btw, dogs whose owners have died are often put on the street by the deceased person's family members. So it's hard to categorise what is a street dog and what is not.

Exactly this.
They bust out of glazed windows to escape - they are very often dog aggressive , lethal around cats, and as someone said upthread- nearly all the ''Romanian'' imports have disappeared.
Probably foisted onto UK rescues or quietly euthanised.

It is utter lunacy to be shipping them here.
DEFRA actually postponed the import of them for quite some time due to fraudulent paperwork, because of Rabies and Brucellosis disease risk to the UK.

Tongue worm, heart worm is also appearing here ..Something we were free from before the imports.
https://www.vettimes.co.uk/news/vet-advises-vigilance-against-european-rescue-dog-parasite/

Loading up vans with ''street'' dogs and shipping them here is making money for someone, that's for sure.

If they REALLY cared about reducing street dog levels, they'd be spaying and neutering.

They are not the only ones who can be affected too - ex breeders can be terrified of people, dogs who have been abused and/or neglected and so on.

Absolutely, which is why those dogs need to go to specialist, experienced homes.

My main issue with these overseas rescues is they seem to have practically no restrictions when it comes to re-homing the dogs. They let guardian/livestock breeds go to first time owners with children, they don't seem to care how long the dogs will be left or how much experience the owners have.

That's before you get onto the issue of disease.

Ex breeding dogs are also known breeds with known characteristics. I know a RR homed as a collie because it was black and white. So is my cat.

That dog is unable to live a normal life. It has been homed to a very experienced home and was shipped over and sold at 15 weeks.

It's ridiculous the names some rescues dream up as ''crosses''.

The fact that so many Romanian dogs have 'disappeared' speaks volumes.
Couple it with inexperienced owners and it's a disaster.

One tore into a friend of mine's dog - I saw it enter the Park and immediately thought ''Uh oh.. that's not good body language''

{Head low, in line with its body ,tail high, hackles up, stiff legs}

Called my dog and put her on a lead- as I was clipping her leash on, I heard a scream,{from friend's sweet natured dog} and this wretched thing had taken a huge bite out of my friend's dog tearing his skin

The owner of the aggressive dog did the usual thing

''It's a RESCYOO! From Romania''... {so give it a free pass, please}

She refused to give contact details - this horrible dog was too strong for the woman , so it was off it's leash.

We reported to Dog Warden, and circulated it's photograph locally amongst local dog walking community.
Thankfully it hasn't been seen again.

The owner was way over her head with this dog.

Canine brucellosis is also a concern.

The other problem I’ve not seen mentioned is that some overseas puppy/young dog “rescues” are actually being bred for the purpose these days, as unscrupulous people realise there’s a market for them. I’ve been a vet for over 30 years, and the disease risks of overseas rescues is one of the biggest concerns I can remember in my 40 years in the canine health sector. That, plus the unsuitability of many adult overseas rescues for home life plus the puppy thing means that I, like most vets I know, are very uneasy indeed about the overseas rescue phenomenon. Of course we aren’t saying this to people coming in with their new rescue that they’re so pleased to have saved. But behind the scenes, most of us are really worried by the situation. Of course there are individual
dogs for whom it’s all been great and who are healthy and happy. But overall, it’s a total minefield.

I'm with you all on the puppy thing. My understanding is that it's illegal to bring in a dog younger than 6 months. Maybe that age limit should be increased to deter people deliberately breeding dogs for foreign markets. But for the price we are being charged I can't believe anyone is getting rich. The volunteers I have met are living very ordinary lives with multiple rescues of their own.

Before I found it impossible to get a UK rescue I thought the idea of getting a dog from abroad was nuts. Surely there were lots of UK dogs who would have a good home with us? Turns out that after more than a year of looking the answer was no!

THIS is what my local Practice have said , too {Have known the owner for 25 yrs}

They were pleased when the DEFRA ban was in place.
They worry that Rabies will eventually arrive in UK via imported dogs or cats.

A woman locally had two puppies- under 12 weeks old those were driven to UK by car from Eastern Europe- obviously too young to have had Rabies vaccine and titre tests.
We surely have enough ''Second hand'' dogs in this Country to satisfy demand.

Well, apologies to all those fundamentally opposed to foreign dogs brought in from foreign places but he's here and he's lovely. Totally confused but so friendly and so obviously a dog that absolutely needs and will thrive in a family. I'm sure we have some tricky times ahead but right now it's just so nice to have a dog in the house again.

No pics yet, it's not been possible to get a good one!

That’s brilliant news! Here’s my Romanian rescue, hogging the bed and snoring- she’s definitely been the easiest dog I’ve ever had.
I hope you have many happy years together 😊

Good for you and good luck. X

Please show us the doggie, I’m very invested in his happiness now!!

I once heard someone say that getting a foreign rescue dog is the equivalent of catching a fox and bringing it into your home.
Essentially you are dealing with a wild animal- some might eventually come around to human living, some might love it, a large number never will, it smacks of western saviour complex/ entitlement and there should be better regulations and laws around it.
As with a fox you could round one up and argue you are giving it love, warmth, regular food , it's cute, likes being warm etc but it's fundamentally wrong and comes with consequences that could have an effect on all uk native domestic dogs (imported diseases etc).
Completely nuts

yeah that's bollocks though as you'll know if you speak to almost anyone who has one!
My dog is a pet. He's a perfect family dog. He wasn't a wild animal he was probably part of a hunting pack and then abandoned. He is a domesticated dog who was mistreated not a bloody wild animal. Do you think all overseas rescue dogs are literally ferals who were born on the street? That's just ignorant.