Applied to a rescue

[LadyGaGasPokerFace]

Hi, I have put in an application for a rescue that brings dogs back from abroad, specifically Hungary. Can someone give me the lowdown on getting a dog settled? I’ve been approved and will send over my IDs. They’re looking and we are at mid July as I’ll be home for approximately 2 months to settle the dog in.

Because they're flock guardians designed to live outdoors, not domestic pets that live in houses.

They're also described as dogs who will go "all the way" to protect their owners - not really the kind of animal that the average person should be owning 😬

Oh, and I would also argue that most people who own German Shepherd's probably shouldn't - there's a reason so many of them are neurotic and reactive on the lead!

Battersea Cats and Dogs have a free behaviour advice line which I totally recommend! It's with their trained behaviour team who really have seen it all!

www.battersea.org.uk/pet-advice

We have a Carpathian shepherd mix so the less shaggy version of the mioritic but same temperament @ThePure.

She's 12 now & so pretty chilled out, but she was hard work when she was younger.

We made a lot of lifestyle changes for her but it's been so worth it, she's in CHF, currently managed by meds, so we're painfully aware that her time left with us is limited & precious.

We thought about adopting from overseas as we got rejected by dozens of rescues in the UK (work from home full time, grew up with dogs, secure garden, countryside lifestyle, active family etc). Reasons varied - need a second dog in the home, we have a cat, we have (older dog savvy) children, too many kids (three), front garden isn't secure even though back garden is, only accepting people who are retired or work part time (even though I'm in the house all day long), we live too far, dog needs to be rehomed with other dog from the shelter, new owner must agree to keep dog under the care of their vet, even though they're 40 miles away and I have a perfectly competent vet less than 2 miles away - though to be honest most were no reason/no response to applications. The overseas rescues on the other hand were throwing them at us practically. But while it was initially a relief that a rescue would consider us after the awful experience trying to adopt in the UK, they were too far the other way - begging us to give x dog a chance to get on the next shipment etc. We decided we didn't have the experience and went to a breeder. I'm actually glad now because the more I learn about overseas rescue dogs the more I realise I wouldn't have had the right knowledge to help them. Plus I've enjoyed raising our dog from a puppy.

We have a Romanian rescue. He has his issues tbh but he’s a great dog. Took a while to settle but now he’s fine generally. We got him from a rescue that offers lifetime back up though. Loads of support from them to help him settle.

I know two people who have successfully adopted a dog from Rescue Remedies shelter in Surrey. Both had been turned down numerous times by mainstream rescues for not being "ideal" enough. Rescue Remedies were more open minded and matched them to the right dog and both are very happy, so do give them a look before improving a traumatised and unassisted dog from abroad.

We have a Romanian rescue but from a rescue who puts them in foster homes so they can be assessed.
We had had dog before but were quite naive to how different foreign rescues can be.
Our dog has settled well now and is good as gold off lead etc but is very territorial about our house and has to be shut away unless he knows the visitor. Once he knows them he is ok but I definitely wouldn't risk have him not on a lead with a trades person visiting. He goes bonkers!

If you do decide to get a foreign use a rescue who has foster homes where they can be assessed for a few months and put money aside for a trainer. We had 1 to 1 training weekly for 6 weeks then I did classes with our current dog.