Your experiences of Romanian rescues

[palmtreesoliveleaves]

I'm thinking of dog adoption and have been looking at rescues online. I've been most drawn to Romanian rescues as I haven't seen any suitable dogs at any of the "traditional" rescues. They've all been no cats, no children, too old, too big, etc.

The smaller rescues have been a lot friendlier to deal with and seem interested in your own individual circumstances rather than an outright no.

I know someone who fosters and I asked her about Romanian rescues but she said absolutely not as she's seen too many disasters. She is very experienced so I trust her judgement.

I have more research to do before being ready to bring a dog home but it's quite disheartening. I would rather get a rescue than a puppy but I need to be careful with a rescue as I have 2 children and a cat.

I've been reading up on Romanian rescues and it does seem that it can be a difficult road to go down.

Does anyone have their own experiences to share?

Oh please don't.

There's a motorway service station near me where many of these overseas rescue dogs are handed over.
It's so cruel to the dogs. They have absolutely no idea what's happening to them.

I gather that this is often the case at service stations across the country.

YOU might think that you're providing a living home... the dog doesn't know this and has been petrified for days , caged , not knowing its fate.
All for the vanity of a pet owner who hasn't found the perfect pooch in the gazillions of British rescue homes.
Yes I know the big charities are really picky and don't want to mime their rescues with children but that is surely a red flag to you?
Similarly, I know that many known charities have staffy or terrier types but try to find a small rescue.
They're usually more tolerant and more willing to find a suitable match.

We don't need more unwanted pets.

We rescued a two year old dog from Romania two years ago and he has been a delight. He was toilet trained, much to our surprise and has fitted into our family very well. We have young grandchildren and he has been fine with them. He is very friendly, sometimes overly so, but we have had no regrets. Hope this helps.

I know a few people who adopted street dogs from overseas. None of them have children, all the dogs are nervy and did not come with an honest age range, medical or behavioural description.

The worst case happened to close friends of mine - they did everything right, the et told them they’d been lied to, the trainer struggled to get past the basics, the dog had tons of health conditions, isolated the owners completely for the first year as he couldn’t be around anyone else. Dog walkers wouldn’t take him, they couldn’t take him on public transport. They ended up having a few good years together but eventually he escaped out of their car when in a car park and bit a passerby, afte whcih he was PTS.

I know it’s tricky, but there’s a good reason UK charities won’t accept adoptions to families with young children, etc. I think a puppy from a reputable home would be the best solution. I wouldn’t trust most of the overseas adoption programs as they’re unregulated.

You take a dog from the streets of a fairly rural country and shove them in a house in close proximity to people, cars etc and expect them to become lovely family pets.

If you don't want a puppy, retired show/breeding dogs can be a good option. They usually have had good socialisation and training.

I have a Romanian rescue and she’s the easiest dog I have ever owned. She’s 3 in January, we’ve had her from 5 months old. She came from a kill shelter, she was house trained in a week, is the friendliest nature and I can take her anywhere.
i wouldn’t hesitate to get another.
I was unable to adopt from a uk shelter, I tried 17 across the south of England and Wales. Some of the reasons were simply ridiculous like RSPCA locally refusing if you’d even had an animal put to sleep ffs.
We’re retired, live rurally, walk miles etc but didn’t want a staffy/alsatian/pug type or one with problems 🤷🏼‍♀️.

Rory Cellan-Jones adopted “Sophie from Romania” and details their journey on Twitter and Instagram. They are doing a great job, but it will give you an idea as to how much work their Romanian rescue is.

We've had a Romanian rescue for five years. He is amazing and we're so happy we adopted him. He's brilliant with family and our young child, and other dogs, but still nervous of strangers. He has little issues still - recall isn't perfect, he can be very anxious with bad weather or fireworks, some walks he refuses to go a certain way. But he is loving and so sweet. He comes most places with us and loves trips away.

We do doggy daycare on the one day a week we are both in the office overlapping. We couldn't adopt from many other places, but this rescue (a UK rescue with many UK dogs also) did a home visit and gave us a chance.

I got mine from a U.K. rescue, where he’d been for nearly a month, he was 5 months old and had been in rescues since app 6 weeks.

No behavioural issues reported in rescue, so on paper should be a great dog in the right hands, I’m pretty experienced with both dogs and behavioural issues.

Hes 3 now... and I haven’t managed to get him to accept anyone coming into the house except the 3 of us that live here, not even my daughter (adult) who visits very regularly - he has to be put away for anyone to come in and will still bark and try to get to them from there. I’ve spent lots of time and money on training and we’re now trying to see a vet behaviourist with a view to trying medication.

He’s basically anxious all the time and barks at the slightest noise that he thinks might be a person.

I took him knowing he would be a project dog, and to be fair to him, he is now great in every other way, but the issues with people are pretty huge, make him very hard to live with and I absolutely wouldn’t trust him round children.

As all the previous answers show the experiences vary hugely, it is a gamble which can work out wonderfully or can be heartbreaking for all concerned.

Before you decide, please check your vet will treat a dog imported from Romania. Some are quite selective and, even if they agree, most will insist that the dog is tested for Canine Brucellosis before accepting onto their books. It has a high zoonotic risk (can transfer to humans) and safety of veterinary staff is paramount.

But a lot of the dogs on the streets were pets that have been dumped because the owner fancied a different dog or puppy. They’re not all wild and unhandled!

Mines been brilliant - she was born in shelter so didn’t have experience of street life and has the best temperament. My youngest was 18m when we got her and we’ve never had a problem. She plays nicely (or roughly!) with the kids but never oversteps and if they are too much she gives a little growl and they know to back off. Cats she is fine with unless they run off and then she will go after them. I do think the shelter was brilliant though and socialised their animals well. We’ve had ours about 5yrs now.

have thought of one downside - she was an absolute Houdini so we ended up getting a dog fence fitted. No problems keeping her in now as long as it is working!

It's a gamble so pick a rescue charity that will take a dog back of it doesn't work out. My Romanian rescue is such a lovely boy & is the first dog I've ever owned. He took a while getting used to things (especially unfamiliar sounds) and is never going to win an obedience competition (his re-call is patchy) but he's affectionate, clever & sweet natured. He adores his home comforts & I really get the sense he knows he's landed on his paws. The time & patience required can definitely pay off!

DM had one.

The most anxious, traumatised, nasty, violent dog I've ever encountered, whatever that poor little chap must have been through to be that way.

He attacked DM, DF, me, the neighbour. Then he took to guarding DM and I had to physically beat him away, hard, with a mop to stop him taking a chunk out of my leg. One of the most distressing things I've ever had to do.

He was taken back to the rehoming people after approximately 3 weeks. He attacked someone at the next family too, and got sent back. I don't know what happened to him after that.

Doodle Aid and Doodle Trust offer some dogs to homes with young dogs without importing.

I have a Romanian rescue (and one from somewhere else abroad)

She is a little angel, we got her at 6 - she’s been neglected and abused badly. She is friendly, careful, loving, clingy, and simply perfect.

Both my foreign rescues have been. I volunteered for the charity too, who are amazing. I have all of the adoptees on Instagram - every single one is thriving!

I have one, he is unlike any other dog I’ve ever met! He has many good points, but many negatives and every day is a training day.

His good points:
• Excellent off lead and doesn’t approach anyone, he will occasionally disappear off on a run/climbing trees, but comes back when he’s called and has never been lost
• Great with all dogs
• Great with cats
• Very independent in the house
• Very keen to learn so quite easy to train
• No separation anxiety and happy to be alone
• Affectionate (on his terms and in his own way - he’s not a cuddler or a licker, but he will put himself next to you for a pat/scratch and bring you his favourite toys if he thinks you look a bit sad)

His bad points:
• Barking at every unfamiliar noise
• Thinks most male strangers who come to the house are there to kill us
• Very alert if we go to new places and won’t settle
• Rubbish guarding
• Runs too fast and hurts himself frequently
• Comes up to you and farts, then walks away
• Very low threshold for snapping when he is guarding rubbish, rarely will he give a warning growl before he snaps, but we manage that trigger easily and haven’t had a snap in about two years now.
• Rolls in fox shit

This was my thread about the exact same subject, with a similar range of answers.

My Romanian rescue has been with us a month. He's very affectionate, settled in the house, pleased to see everyone and generally easy going. Far fewer behavioural issues than my previous (UK) rescue. However, he has zero recall and so far very little interest in training so he will be on a lead for a good while yet.

Sorry, link here:

Romanian rescues anyone? www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_doghouse/4891595-romanian-rescues-anyone

My retired but healthy parents, with a big house, big garden, ample amounts of time, and no issues insuring a dog were rejected from adopting a beagle through Many Tears because they are inexperienced dog owners. They’re not. They had dogs their whole lives including beagles. Our family dog was a beagle from the exact same beginnings as the Many Tears. Still denied. The beagle is still in shelter a year later.

Ive worked professionally with many fosters and currently with a UK based one. Many Tears were awful and I am angry at their poor ability to prioritise the dogs.

@WetBandits 😂😂 the fox shit! They all bloody love it don’t they! Stupid dogs 😂

@firsttimemum1212 - I do think that some UK rescues can be ‘too fussy’ and sometimes reject people for apparently odd reasons. I don’t think the answer is to adopt from Romania.

Not a dog, but a cat. Not Romania but Cyprus.

I'd much rather adopt in this country, but it's so hard. We adopted from abroad as we wanted a visually impaired/blind cat to be second cat, as we already had a disabled and blind cat and we didn't want her to be bullied. Adopting such a specific cat was hard to find in just the UK

We thought we were careful. We knew she had been very ill and had vision problems so we had a full medical history (including vets notes from Cyprus). We had many videos and photos, and a phone chat with her fosterer.

It was a pretty informal adoption, and she was an add on to a charity that normally only takes dogs. We didn't realise until the last minute that it meant her flying with, and travelling with dogs, which must have been terrifying. If we hadn't paid nearly £500 by then I would have backed out as I'm not sure it was fair to her.

Once in the UK we had no backup as it wasn't fully through a rescue. On taking her to the vets, her fully blind eye it seemed was causing her pain, and so that needed to come out, with surgery also needed on her other eye. It's not about the money, but that was another £500.

She was very 'lively' and both craved/needed constant human company, but was also very aggressive. We managed to keep her from hurting our young children (with a few minor scratches admittedly) but she drew blood with claws and teeth on my husband and I daily. Sometimes quite significantly.

She bullied our other (disabled) cat and we had to keep them in seperate parts of the house at all times. And yes, we did do 'introductions' by the book.

It was constant work keeping our other cat and our young children (2&4) safe. We managed it, but never again like that.

She'd been found alone, presumably orphaned, at a few weeks old, with raging eye infections that would have killed her and must have been agonising. But at heart she was a street cat still, and hated being an indoor cat (necessary with about 10% vision).

We couldn't re-home her - who would want an aggressive disabled cat that craved humans? She was miserable indoors and a risk outdoors. The vets weren't able to help, we tried everything the cat psychologist said.

We battled for about 18m with a divided house. In the end she died. We didn't get her put down due to her behaviour, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't consider it. We let her go out, because that was the only way she could be happy. We knew it was a risk, but the road took her after only 3 weeks.

In hindsight I wish we'd pressed the vets for medication to help with behaviour, or tried rehoming seriously. We had a lot going on (toddler with cancer type situation...) and I decided to prioritise kitty's quality of life over quantity. I'm not sure I made the right choice, but there we are.

She never got over her awful start to life. We couldn't save her, but I'm not sure who could have. I miss her even though she made our lives hell.

I might adopt from abroad again, but if I do, I'm going to visit the cat first. I'm not making a lifetime commitment based on videos and zoom. And I wouldn't do it without backup in the UK in case it all goes wrong.

Please don't. My friend, a very experienced dog owner, adopted a Romanian rescue - who turned out to test positive for heartworm, and had severe behavioral issues. She had her for a few years, until she had bitten two people, at which point she had to make the very hard decision to have her PTS. Heartbreaking all round. Go for a UK adoption if you can.

My sister has a romanian rescue & he is the best dog I've ever met. Fabulous with people, loves a cuddle, indifferent to other dogs & great with kids. I always joke he would be perfect as a therapy dog as he is just brilliant. He doesn't leave your side when off lead & walks at your pace. He is honestly a bundle of love. But he was a family pet in Romania & his family had young kids so he was toilet trained & well socialised. I was dubious when I first met him but he is amazing. My sister also has another dog a similar size and they are great together, I think they get confidence from being together. Having said all that, would I risk it with a young child myself? Probably not. I know it's probably just luck that he is so easy going. He also knows no commands other than 'come here' and after 5 years still won't sit for a treat but you can't have it all !