Rescue dogs.

[FlyingUnicornWings]

Hello fellow dog lovers.

We are previous dog owners (both of our have crossed over) and are wanting a dog in our lives again.

We’d like to rescue, we have cats and older children. We know nothing about rescuing dogs, what to expect, what to look out for etc so I’m asking for others to share their wisdom and experiences with me so we can go in fully informed.

Thank you!

If you have a breed in mind, look for a specific breed rescue. They should be more knowledgeable about the breed and be able to match you with a suitable dog.
Also, go through a rescue that places the dogs in foster homes rather than kennels. Then you get a better idea of the dog's personality.

Blimey, where to start?! It depends on what sort of dog you think you'd like to adopt - do you want a really young one or are you happy to take an older one (the latter are obviously the hardest for rescues to find homes for)? Are you hoping for a specific 'breed' or are you open? Large, medium or small?

The big rescue centres like Dogs Trust and RSPCA are often the hardest to engage with. We only adopt (we have rescue dog number 4 with us right now) from a small, volunteer-run charity as we know that the people who run it take no risks with dogs and only rehome them to people they've checked out well. They will not rehome a dog to inexperienced adopters if it has specific needs, traits, etc, for example. A lot of people get annoyed at rescues for not rehoming dogs to families with young children - but the 'good' rescues know that unless they know for certain a dog's 'provenance', they cannot take that risk.

The charity we adopt from is very, very honest if a dog has a history of abuse and behaviours arising from it. Good rescues also often ask that adopters do more than a simple 'meet and greet' - where possible, returning several times to form a bond with the dog and ensure they really are serious.

We've had three dogs (before current one) who were 'hard to rehome' dogs - two were large, older crossbreeds and one had a shocking history of cruelty and abuse which made her fearful of almost all humans (and other dogs). She formed an amazing bond with us, but we had to ensure other humans didn't put their hands near her head, as she'd been severely beaten in her previous life. She died of cancer last year and we still miss her!

But current dog came to us with full provenance, after her owner (who'd raised her from a puppy) died very suddenly and unexpectedly. As a result, she's a dream to own!

Have a look at small rescues (do look at the well-known ones too) but for any dog that you think might suit you, ask lots of questions about what they know about the dog's behaviour. Good rescues are very honest - simply because they don't want dogs returned to them (which further traumatises the dog).

Good luck!

I have a rescue from Carla Lane animal rescue in Ormskirk. They are very thorough and helpful. Came out to check are garden was as well fenced as in the photos we sent for example . Ours is a 23 breed ( we had her dna tested ) cross breed gentle natured dog . They check the dogs suitability for adoption in the centre. The main problem with her is a lack of recall because of adopting her as a grown dog at 1 year old. and her strong prey drive . So .she has to be on lead on walks . We do try taking her off sometimes but she can then go off for 20 mins . She does come back to us but in her own time which can be very stressful as you can imagine . So just be aware of that in all other ways shes great .

I home check for a couple of dog charities and my main piece of advice is NEVER get a dog from anywhere who does not do homecheck

If you have a cat it will be challenging. We gave up after two years of trying as we had a cat. We bought a puppy in the end. I’m a dog trainer and we’ve got years of experience of rescue dogs and cats with DH WFH flexibly. The landscape has changed a lot with rescue. Young dogs and pups are in high demand and most older dogs aren’t cat safe unless they’ve been living with a cat.

Thank you everyone, this is all very useful advice. @Newpeep I was wondering about this as a lot of the dogs advertised for adoption aren’t suitable for living with cats. Definitely limits options.

Agree. Also research the breeds you are thinking about (if you are), and use a charity that does home checks, and who is fussy about who they give dogs to (but not so fussy, they don’t rehome any (looking at you Dogs Trust, who refused to rehome to me for working. I work from home.. batshit). Ask around and see if people recommend a local one. I got my rescues from a local Scottish charity as a friend of mine had one of their dogs. Good luck.
Edit - my dogs are all sighthounds and live perfectly well with three grumpy cats. Again, the charity cat-tested them before I rehomed them. Always worth a try checking - sone dogs are a definite no-no, but many come round.