Mad to rescue a 5 month old pup from Romania?

[Almostalwayshappy]

Has anyone rescued a not-very-young puppy - she's just turned five months? She's in a private shelter in Romania, due to travel later in August. The rescue is reputable and offers back-up with many success stories. We have done our research and been weighing up the decision for two years. We adopted our last rescue, a lab collie x at about the same age and had him PTS just before his 16th birthday. He was a joy, but we feel we got lucky with him. We have a five-year-old rescue cat who is very bonded to me and I know she won't be happy initially. She hadn't lived with a dog before. We'll be crating (not as a punishment) and will have a puppy run and use Feliway for the cat. Both my husband and I mainly work from home and we have good back-up. My main concern is that the puppy will have ingrained behaviours already and that we will have missed vital windows in terms of behaviour and training. Is that the case or am I just scaring myself? So this thread doesn't get derailed...we have done lots of research about rescuing from abroad and also on crate training (which wasn't successful with our last rescue!). Many thanks in advice for any advice you can give me or your experiences, positive and negative about welcoming a dog of this age into your home...

this and they are bred purposely to be 'rescued'

@LandSharksAnonymous

Thanks, that all makes sense. I think my applications have been good and we have someone at home all the time but the 10 year old seems to rule us out. It's not really an issue (I mean a bit sad for us but that's not the shelters' problem!) but it does mean there isn't much point in telling most people to adopt from a UK shelter.

The adoptions from abroad seem like a terrible idea but we probably are going to end up buying a puppy. We started from a place of "absolutely definitely going to adopt and why would anyone buy a puppy when so many dogs need a home".

DD and her husband adopted an older greyhound from a small charity. They had gone to look at some younger dogs but fell in love with this gentle creature. She is 13 now and in failing health but they have given her a kind and loving home for six years. She is fine with other dogs and merely stares at any cats she sees. Probably too lazy to chase anything! Nowadays she mostly sleeps but enjoys going to the park to see her doggy friends. The only drawback is the very stinky farts 😊but on balance she has been a perfect family pet.

I don't know why overseas rescues have to be former street dogs from Romania. I've had great success rehoming from a Spanish shelter. No former street dogs, just regular dogs no longer wanted by their owners. Many already being fostered in a Spanish home. They do screen you and determine which dog is most suitable, but there are tons available so it's easier to find a lovely dog than in the UK. You can fly out and visit first (and have a nice holiday in Spain).

@Kuretake children do make it harder! If you think you could manage a Spaniel (they can be a bit bonkers...), I would recommend Spaniel Aid. They're who DMum got her cocker from, and they were very thorough. They can be hard to adopt from, but that is - from what I can tell and have heard anecdotally - because they want the dogs to really go to the best possible homes.

You do need to check every few days - I've seen dogs appear on their website on a Monday and be 'reserved' by Friday.

I'd also encourage you do focus on what dog experience you do have (if any) or if your relatives/friends have dogs how much time you spend around their dogs - anything to show your child is dog savvy. And what you can give the dog. Lots of people focus on how much they want a dog, and how it will enhance their lives (and of course it does), but good rescues want to know what you can give the dog - why you are the perfect home 😊

Good luck with whatever you do decide to do!

That is absolutely shocking to me. Rescues are so restrictive. It is utter lunacy when they are so full.

SA like you to have direct spaniel experience. 15 years teaching agility at all levels with many many spaniels wasn’t enough for us and neither was a behaviour degree.

Rescues just get so many applications for younger dogs. We were never the best home. It’s extremely competitive now. I say that after have rescue dogs and cats for 20 years. Something was always not enough - WFH flexibly but still working, small garden, cat, no other dg, no breed experience as last dog was a crossbreed etc etc.

@Newpeep I haven't found that to be the case. DMum had never owned a Spaniel in her life but was allowed to adopt. I know several people who have successfully adopted from there and only one had owned a Spaniel previously...

We gave up after the third application with the same response. I think they got sick of us 🤣 Maybe it depends on area.

https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/rehoming/dogs/collie-border/3592878

https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/rehoming/dogs/german-shepherd-dog/3588729

I know one person who had a Romanian rescue and had no issues at all. I also know someone who has a Greek rescue and has also had no problems.

@Newpeep Your post reassures me - in that I am coming to the conclusion we might have to look to buying responsibly. The thought does make me sad though. It feels as though I am breaking some sort of personal code. I think I was rather smug before. I was very much an 'adopt don't buy' person until the past few days. I did wonder why friends have bought instead of adopting - and possibly felt a bit outraged (and maybe a little superior too) they didn't adopt. Just today, I have visited so many websites. The Spaniel adoption organisation a PP mentioned has 35 dogs available for adoption - and none of them can live with children (we have lots who visit and are thinking ahead to grandchildren), cats and as an only dog in the home. I have filled in two application forms (giving lots of detail, just as I have in the past). One of them is needed to register with a UK based charity (I'm registered with about eight others). The other is to see if a UK based dog from a UK based charity might be suitable (even though she isn't that keen on men and I live with my husband with my daughter's partner visiting often). Sigh. I keep thinking 'I just need to try harder'...but as a PP who works with a rescue has said, there are just so many applications for 'untroubled' dogs, the likelihood of finding one is very low. To be transparent, we were first in line for a puppy from a UK charity about two months ago, but they understandably wanted us to meet her with 48 hours as they had a huge number of applications within a few hours of her becoming available (I'm signed up to their 'new dog' alerts). We were away for a big family event and couldn't make it. By that afternoon, she had been reserved. I know some of the PPs who say (in some cases, as if it hadn't occurred to me, 'adopt don't buy' or 'adopt from the UK only' are trying to be helpful...but it's really not when there are lots of us out there trying and failing to do exactly that. We adopted our previous rescue from a small UK charity (I visit their website daily) and had him for almost 16 wonderful years. I'm sure it was much easier back then...

Beautiful - thank you. But she isn't approved to live with cats and we don't have the experience they ask for (our previous dog was a Collie Lab X).

What gorgeous pups. Thank you. I will look into them...interestingly, they aren't showing up on the main Dogs Trust site, which is useful to know. That's where I've been looking.

I'm not sure about other rescues, but I know with Dogs Trust that dogs with desirable traits, like being able to live with cats or young kids, often don't need to go on their website as they'll be reserved lightning fast. If you don't have an application in with them, then you'll miss out.

Absolutely ridiculous post.

If its a reputable organisation then they can already tell you a bit about the dogs character. 5 months is very young still and unless the dog had a horrible start into life with bad experiences, it will be absolutely fine.

I work for an organisation in germany that helps dogs in romania and we adopted ours from there 3 years ago. She was 6 months at the time of arrival. Absolute treasure of a dog.

theres a lot of negativity on this post . I think if you want to do it , do it . My experience has been positive . As long as the dog is trained and loved it will be a beautiful addition x

Clearly since you work for one of the organisations you are going to have a particular perspective..

https://www.jerrygreendogs.org.uk/dogs/harley/

I have a Romanian rescue - he was 8 years old when he was rescued from a puppy farm where he had lived in a wire cage his entire life. He is the most loving boy - has not put a foot wrong. Gets on with all dogs - big & small. Travels well, stays behind on his own without issues and is a good little egg. My other dogs are rescues, one from a hunter and the other abandoned near our house with her small puppy.

My previous dog was from the SPA in Plouhinec, France and she was very well known in my village as she was an amazing character.

Just wanted to put out there the success stories.

Please rescue from
the uk, there are so many dogs in kennels. No need to adopt from overseas.

My friend has two successful Romanian rescues and they are wonderful dogs. Am unsure why she personally chose foreign over English dogs but has no regrets. I think they were around 4-5 months when they came over.

Thank you for doing such great work and I agree with you entirely.

I have two rescues from Bosnia. We have had Otis from about 7 months (he's now 3.4 as far as we can ascertain). He's a delight. He clearly has some trauma from his difficult start, but this manifests itself in startling easily and running away! He is wonderful, easily trains (I highly recommend taking any dog to training classes), gets on well with our other dogs and cats. Even ignores the chickens! He's very big even though he's 16% Chihuahua, so I'm careful when we're out and try to ensure we aren't around children as he can seem quite intimidating although he absolutely isn't. Our second was about 18m when we got her. She'd had pups and had clearly had a difficult time. She's an absolute scream. Has us laughing most of the time. She looks amazing - very long fringe so you can't see her eyes - think Sia. Gets very feisty with other dogs as she's so little. Again she gets on wonderfully with our other dogs (we have 2 others, both rescues albeit not from Europe), isn't quite certain what to make of the cats and hasn't met the chickens out of their run yet. We've had her about 5 months now. I think you need to be prepared for reactions you wouldn't expect. Most dogs from abroad have suffered some challenging times and may be traumatised. Just take it gently and be guided by them.