Has anyone had a good experience with a rescue dog?

[Twoshoesnewshoes]

I’m having an interview today to discuss adopting a rescue dog.

she is 2, apparently house trained, okay to leave (although she won’t be left often, and then only for 2-3 hours), and good with cats.
Ive spoken to a few people who have ended up with unsociable, needy and anxious dogs and I’m a bit worried.

we have had dogs before and I was brought up with having dogs.

I've had three rescues over 30+years. My adult DC each have a rescue. All different breeds and sizes. All of them were/are fabulous dogs. The worst thing any of them ever did was chew a brand new leather shoe. My fault for leaving it where she could get it. I can't bring myself to buy from a breeder when there are so many wonderful dogs in shelters in need of a good home.

I have had five and they have all been delightful! Not without a little foible here and there but which of us doesn't have a little foible?! All spaniels, 4 springers, one cocker. All house trained, lead trained to varying degrees, recall trained to varying degrees. 4 of the 5 a dream with other dogs, current diva a bit picky and yappy (the cocker) but also a greedy little beast and easily distracted by high value treats like primula squeezy cheese.

I have seen a trainer with each of them to find coping strategies for any niggles. The most important thing is to to give them time and space when they first arrive: look up the 3 days/3 weeks/3 months rule.

Good luck with the interview. They are a marvellous addition to your life and adopting not shopping is both worthy and hugely rewarding.

Our last 3 dogs have been rescues, and, on the whole, they have been perfect additions to our family. Our latest rescue was a street dog, but came to us from Eire. He gets on really well with our other dog, but he is lead reactive toward other dogs. Obviously, we don't know what his street life was like, but with a lot of training, socialising, and hard work, he has settled in to our home and is a real cuddle-bug!
My advice would be to visit the dog more than once, if you can. Talk to the foster family and find out what the dog is really like. Ask them to be "warts and all" honest with you.
I hope you find your Forever Pup.

Our Buster was a rescue, and The World’s Best Boy. He was a true gentleman - well-behaved, gentle and loving. We all still miss him every day.

I have a street dog from turkey that we adopted when she was 1-2 years old. We’d met her as she was living on the streets close to where we were staying on holiday. We let the local dog charity know we wanted her, she was fostered there while having all her vet checks and jabs and then brought over to the UK by car.

She was very nervous to begin with and escaped a few times, I expect she thought she needed to be out on the streets. We luckily have an older dog that helped her settle in, and settling in completely took around a year. She is the most affectionate calm and loving little dog we could have hoped for with no issues at all. The only thing I’m reluctant to do is let her off the lead during walks as she has a strong prey drive. No regrets we were very lucky.

Good luck!

All my dogs have been rescue dogs & have been wonderful so we've been very lucky, None of them were street dogs, but I wouldn't rule that out if it felt like it was the right dog for us.

A respectable rescue will take their time to ensure that your needs meet those of the dog. They should also be available in the long-term for help with managing behaviour (both yours and the dog’s) and will take the dog back if you ran into problems. These should be non-negotiable.

My limited experience suggests that, depending on the nature of the dog, they often settle in better if there is already another dog there whom they can learn from. Having said that, the dogs should be introduced on neutral grounds and slowly and the adoption should go ahead only if it looks as though the pair will be matched.

So, to conclude, a reliable rescue will assess you as acutely as they have assessed the dog. The advantage of a rescue dog is that the dog will be thoroughly known before it is decided that it is adoptable. Yes, I’ve known many successful and treasured rescues.

I’ve had 7 rescue dogs, all had their quirks but nothing bad.

I've had 4 rescue dogs - all have been as good as gold. The latest was from Romania. In terms of health, she's not seen a vet in 6 years apart from routine innoculations.

We have had three rescue dogs over the last 12 years. We got our first one, a senior Staffordshire bull terrier, when my daughter was 7. She was an absolute dream dog. I now have a pug cross and a fluffy mop thing and they are no better or worse behaved than any other dogs. They're old now, and not much bother.

I wouldn't adopt a Romanian street dog.

We had a rescue dog. He was very needy at first but was the best animal for us and 2 children (6 and 8 at the time). Very mixed breed (more of a 1001 than a 57) of about 1 year old. Vet put on his registration short fat hairy many cross breed). Turned out he was indestructable about food, could eat or drink anything that was poison to dogs with no ill effects (we never knew until afterwards). Only went for checkups at vets yearly, cheap to keep all round. He would not be bathed but loved the cold hose in the garden plus fairy liquid. He was put to sleep aged 18 approx.

Our current dog is a street dog from Oman, he is cuddled up beside me on the sofa now. He is the easiest dog we have ever had. He lived with foster carers for 6 months when he first came into the country. He loves everybody is house trained and crate trained had never lived with cats, we have two. One he adores the other he is slightly scared of. The rescue we got him from only bring about 4 in a year, there appear to be branches all over Europe, and are always available to help if we need anything.

Forgot to add my DH was thrilled to find out that his carer,a man, had trained him in how to act in pubs

We had a 13 month old yellow Lab from the Labrador rescue. She was perfect.

This is my Romanian rescue dog right now. My user name is actually his name. His legs are twitching away in quite a dream and from the mouth noises I think he’s dreaming of food LOL.

He was already in the UK and had started reacting to the other dogs in the house so we took him on. We had two other dogs and he was fine with them at first until it came to food so we had to keep them separate then. Once the other two started becoming elderly he was nicer towards them though. We lost one in 2024 and the other just before Christmas and he keeps sleeping in the bed they’d been in and sniffing their toys which he never had any interest in before.

He’s an absolute dream to walk although sometimes he decides he wants to go a different way and he can be a bit stubborn then. He’s also obsessed with trying to go into pubs and shops (especially pet shops).

I’ve always had rescue dogs, the two others we had were DH’s from before we met, one was a rescue and one he had from a puppy but I had my own rescue dog in the past too as well as growing up with a couple and I can safely say my Rommie rescue is the best behaved out of all the dogs I’ve had (even the one DH had from a puppy).

My first (UK) rescue dog years ago was a joy from start to finish. Certain amount of nervousness at first but she repaid the effort and training in spades. Loved her so much and she was great with kids once they came along.

A few years later we also had a beautiful Golden Retriever puppy from a rescue centre (obvs v unusual) - they told me at the time that they let us have him as we'd said we didn't care what breed as long as it was friendly and they felt that plenty of others were expressing interest to breed him and make money. He was a pedigree and someone had spent a fortune on him at 8 weeks old, only to decide they couldn't cope with a dog after all. We had to agree to neuter him when old enough as with all rescues but were fine with that. He was taken to the rescue centre at 12 weeks and was SO gorgeous - we got him at 13 weeks and he died just after his 12th birthday.

I know someone who adopted a Romanian dog and despite being v experienced and committed, they eventually had to rehome him because they couldn't do anything with him. They've stuck to UK rescues since. I'm afraid I'd be very wary in your shoes, it's not the poor animals' fault but not everything is fixable.

I got a two year old rescue dog, he had been taken back twice as he was "too boisterous", but when I first met him, in a kennels full of dogs, he was just casually leaning against the bars, and put his paw up to me as I came level, I knew he was the one. He was very stubborn, and took a couple of years of walking every day to walk well on lead, but after a few years he didn't need a lead and he came everywhere with me, he was the most chill dog I ever owned, and he lived to be 16 with no health issues.

We now have a rescue dog who was a stray after being dumped by his owner, he had terrible separation anxiety and took a while to settle but again, he now is a fantastic calm dog.

My sister, however, adopted a street dog, they had never met him before, he is a pain in the arse to be honest bless him, doesn't like or trust people, growls at strangers etc, very highly strung, never seems to settle and lie down like most dogs, and has a lot of health problems now including diabetes.

I'd never adopt a dog I hadn't met in person, even allowing for anxiety, you can tell a lot about them from meeting them IMO.

I have a rescue Lurcher and he’s practically perfect in every way 🥰 All the retired greyhounds i know are very easy, placid dogs as well ..when given a little bit of time to settle into living in a home rather than kennels. They have usually (with some exceptions of course) been well-treated and looked after so they dont have the behavioural problems that can be associated with abuse or neglect. I know many people who have had puppies who turned out to be very anxious, needy etc so no guarantee you will get a problem free dog by getting a puppy or a rescue.

We've had 6 rescue dogs between me and my mum over the years. All bar my current dog were UK rescues. They included a purebred Belgian shepherd breed (who ironically had the worst health of the lot of them; the rest were mixed breeds).

My current girl is from Crete. She had some issues due to under-socialisation as a pup, but she's honestly the best behaved dog we've ever had, 99.9% recall, devoted to me, quiet, amazing with cats, kids and other dogs - just the best.

But all rescues need time to settle. Look up the 3-3-3 rule.

All dogs, rescues or not, need you to invest time and effort into training. We paid for a behaviourists with our Crete girl, despite our experience, and it was 100% worth it.

And all dogs, rescues are not, are individuals; you need to give them time to see their personality come through, and mould yourself around those personalities as much as you expect them to mould around yours. Allow them to be dogs, to have fun, invest in positive reinforcement and all of that.

Older rescues are easier than puppies in many ways - all of ours were housetrained within a few days, for example. Didn't wake us up at night. Training was a breeze etc. Personally, having seen friends go through the puppy stage, I'd never do it!!

I've heard mixed reports of dogs from Romania, just because they are treated so incredibly cruelly over there. Many have trauma. Make sure the rescue offers full back-up and commits to taking the dog back if you have problems (not all rescues are equal, do your research and read through their social media posts - the ones that blame returnees are ones I'd avoid like the plague, for example).

Personally I'd never, ever buy a puppy or a purebred dog. Dogs are the most incredible things, a species that has adapted over millennia to live with us - they communicate across species (ie with us) in a way that's entirely unique - and so why we think it's OK to cast them aside like unwanted toys is beyond me. Rescuing one is one of the best things you can do IMHO.

My gorgeous girl came to me at 18 months, her family were emigrating to Singapore. She was the most amazing dog, my heart ❤️
She passed at 14 years old and she was the best dog I have ever had in my lifetime.
It turned out she did have some anxious traits, she was spay incontinent which hadn't been treated and had spent a lot of her young life in boarding kennels while her family travelled.
Good luck you are giving love to a dog that will return it in abundance.

I rescued my old dog. He was 14 at the time. He was underweight, doubly incontinent, skin condition, cotton or no teeth and separation anxiety. He’s a happy little soul but it’s not an easy journey. Quite costly but rewarding.

@MadameSzyszkoBohusz I just love happy Buster's smile and can see exactly why you would miss the dear boy.

Never had anything other than rescue - and never will. We're on number five atm and have also fostered many others for our local rescue. They have all been absolutely incredible family dogs (DDs were 7 and 8 when we got the first) and have been a mix of Labradors, Greyhounds and the current Golden Retriever. They all had some issue or other when they arrived but nothing dangerous to us (or them) and nothing that couldn't be worked on and overcome. The 3-3-3 rule is not a bad one, though it took our current dog about six months to truly settle in.

The thing is, not all rescue centres are equal. Someone asked upthread, what back up etc they will give you. I wouldn't have a perfect dog from a bad rescue tbh, let alone one that might be less than perfect. You're also looking at it the wrong way entirely if your preference for a slightly older dog was based on them being somewhat 'trained' because your DH doesn't want to help out with that. Although, I'm not sure how getting a puppy would work for you either, under those circumstances.

So, why this dog? Why have the rescue matched this dog with you? What is it about your set up/experience, and the dog, that the rescue thinks makes it the perfect match? Have you considered a breed specific rescue? They're my preference tbh as they tend to be more knowledgeable about the dogs and a bit more focused on matching to the correct home.

We've had one since December. So far she has been perfect, it's not been without effort though. I work on helping her be confident all the time, we did (and do) loads to make her feel safe and loved and to know where she is (no recall so far).

The joy she has bought is unbelievable. Her first experience of getting a Christmas stocking, and trip to the beach, both things I will never forget.

My rescue dog is my soul mate.

he was 3 and a half when I adopted him and he’d come from a home where he’d never left and wasn’t socialised.

You would never know that though. Hes the most loving gentle boy and I don’t know where I’d be without him.