Finally get to post here! Anyone else rescued a foreign dog?

[carlsbro]

We have, and he is wonderful. Quite large. We think Carpathian Shepherd and Collie mix. When we first got him a couple of weeks ago he would try to herd us likes sheep! Nipped at our ankles and tried to nudge us towards his bed. He whines a little when we go to bed, but settles quickly. Taking him on his first walk soon with the help of a dog trainer who is working with us slowly to get him used to UK life. She is great. I read so many horror stories online but it is going surprisingly well! Has anyone else rescued a romanian dog? How did you find it? Our boy is just lovely!

Not personally but a friend is in the process of bringing home a dog from Montenegro . He is in foster over there at the moment pending all the necessary medical and paper requirements to bring him into the uk . He was a stray who befriended them .

some close friends have recently taken in a foreign adoptee. It’s a disaster. The dog is aggressive to anyone it doesn’t know (ie not them) and rounds on people if they move suddenly. It has undoubtedly been abused. It is altering their entire social life as they are now hostage to it

Someone I know did. Large Romanian shepherd type dog. Went back to the rescue after a couple of weeks and they were very experienced dog owners/had had rescues before. Dog wasn’t friendly with people outside the immediate family. So friends coming over, etc. and when a dog that size is on its back legs snapping at someone’s face it’s no joke.

Yes, I have a Spanish rescue and he's an absolute dream. I love him so much, he's perfect! Absolutely no behaviour issues, he's an amazing family dog, lives happily with my cat, a brilliant decision.

I am involved in overseas rescue and have also had lots myself. The vast, vast majority do well. My “foreign” rescues have been easier to settle and less traumatised than my English rescues.
The most traumatised and difficult dogs I come across are adults from KC registered UK breeders. They come good too, but it takes A LOT of work.

I just don’t know why you would when there are rescues bursting with dogs needing homes in the UK….

This. Can someone explain the rationale behind “rescuing” dogs from
abroad. It sounds like a recipe for disaster really and so often it does turn out like that. Half the stories I hear the dogs are vicious. Or what people call “reactive” 🙄

Well why didn’t they put the dog away when they had guests ? Someone like that wouldn’t remain my friend for very long after that. I’d also report their dog.

Oh wait never mind - my mistake. I see they returned the dog.

My dd has an absolutely lovely Romanian mongrel. They (the dog and my dd) have both been incredibly lucky. Doesn’t stop me thinking it is an unethical and undesirable process though.

What makes you think people only do one or the other? Lots of people, like me, do both. A dog that needs a home is a dog that needs a home and often, foreign countries do not have the rescue set up that we have in the UK so the dogs are far more likely to be euthanised, or die in pain.
Can I ask how many UK rescue dogs you have personally adopted?

Sadly the local rescue to me stopped taking in uk dogs and shipped them in from Eastern Europe instead. It honestly never sat right with me. Because suddenly it went from rescuing dogs on death row in this country to almost being like a business. It was kind of like a puppy farming rescue. Rumours of people in Romania, being paid to round up dogs (some of whom may not even have been street dogs) and then put on a bus to here. So free dogs then “sold” for £500 a time. I appreciate there would have been shipping costs, food costs, possibly vet costs and paperwork but I assume they weren’t making a loss.

They say when something doesn’t make sense “follow the money” so yeah this would make sense as an explanation.

I know of five dogs who have been adopted from Spain. Three of them are nasty and have to be kept away from other dogs ( my friend adopted one and I had to let her know in advance if I was visiting). I have another friend who adopted two. One of them is fine but the other one can not be let off his lead at all and she had to re fence her garden to keep him in as the first chance he gets, he is off. He has a tracker now.

Yes I adopted a Carpathian shepherd from Romania about 5 years ago. He's great very affectionate - it does take time for them to settle but establishing a routine helps

They also steal family pets from peoples back gardens (as happened to one of my colleagues out there. Found her dog on one these rescues and had to involve the police to get it back - even though it was microchipped with her name).

They even breed dogs, in absolutely disgusting conditions, to ship them over to the UK.

Ten years ago they might have been genuine rescues. But most now are either bred or stolen and shipped the to UK.

Edit: just to add, lots of people who get these rescues have usually failed to get one in the UK. And whenever we ask why they’ve failed on these threads…there’s usually bloody good reasons, but foreign rescues don’t care about safety of the family the dogs going to or the dogs wellbeing, only profit. So they will rehome to anyone willing to pay.

I adopted a Romanian mongrel rat thing 6 years ago. She’s a dream. I also have a Cypriot rat and she’s always going to be my baby. Perfect dogs.

My neighbour had the same. We have a communal area for hanging out washing and nobody could use it because he walked the dog there. Extremely aggressive towards humans and it attacked other dogs even when on a lead.

They moved away so I don't know what the outcome was but it was a really scary dog.

This.

Plus the disease risk. The vast majority of the owners have never heard of brucella nor do they care about the veterinary staff having to take the risk to deal with their choices.

The risk from brucellosis is infinitesimal. And basic proper hygiene, which surely all vets use anyway, prevents any risk of transmission. There were 23 documented cases of brucellosis in the UK in 2025. The vast majority in people who had travelled to countries where it is endemic. There is ONE case in the uk with possible brucellosis contracted from a dog.

Personally, I knew someone involved in the Spanish rescue charity and I trusted her judgement, the charity is very transparent, the dogs' provenance is evidenced, they aren't 'stolen pets' or 'bred for the market' (god knows why anyone would do that to make profit, the vet fees the charity paid for my dog before he was ready to travel far outweighed the £150 adoption fee I paid and the rest of the money I paid was for transport.
Additionally I had a cat and young children here part of the week and that excluded us from any dog within a 200 mile radius via RSPCA so it's often easier to adopt an overseas dog.

Congratulations!! I honestly don't know why they don't breed Carpathians here rather than random Doodles, Carpathians are absolutely brilliant, they have a fantastic nature, so gentle and protective of children, enjoy your new arrival 😍

We adopted a Romanian dog but unknown to us she carried a parasite that ultimately caused her death at age 4. We found out from the vets this is common in dogs from Romania as they don't follow all the same precautions we take with yearly vacs etc. once they have the parasite it's near on impossible to get rid off. We did 4 blood transfusions and many courses of different table (costing circa £6000 pounds but unfortunately everything we tried didn't work

Yes. Both having a cat and a young child are very good reasons not to be allowed to adopt a dog. It’s about the dogs welfare and your child/cats safety.

Honestly, I think it’s quite shocking anyone would put a desire for a dog over their child’s safety because quite frankly with most rescue dogs - let alone an overseas one - you have no idea what you’re getting. If you’ve been told no, it’s for a reason. You could have tried multiple rescues, breed specific ones (Spaniel aid often have dogs available for families with children aged 8+ and I’ve seen several thay are also cat friendly. It’s a matter of patience and perseverance. But I suppose why wait when you can fly in some random dog you know nothing about and haven’t met before? shrugs

You have no idea why they’d breed to sell dogs? Because some of these charities get tens of thousands in donations every year to ‘help these dogs’. It’s not the money from the sale that is the incentive - it’s the donations.

I have fostered many dogs (mostly spaniels) I took in a Romanian dog last year, he was initially quite placid and then one evening for no apparent reason lunged at my teenage son who had just sat down on a separate chair with his dinner plate. I came racing in from the kitchen to the sound of a frenzied attack (fortunately my son was quick to respond) no one was hurt but it shook us all up! He was taken away two days later. 😞 The only ever time I’ve returned a foster dog. He was clearly very traumatised from his rescue mission as he couldn’t travel in the car well and had problems with noise and traffic. It made me question whether taking dogs from other countries away from their safe spaces locking them in cages to travel long distances was too traumatising. I should add I’ve dealt with many behaviour issues in dogs - this is one I’d never repeat.

I actually don’t understand the need to rescue from abroad? I’ve rescued 2 from the UK. Yes it takes time to find the right dog and the right rescue.

Also it’s bollocks all this ‘they wouldn’t let me rescue’. Either you’ve not found the right rescue organisation (try breed specific- for example the many local greyhound rescues) or there are bloody good reasons why that person should not rescue.

Rescuing dogs is a gamble, my first was a dream - he has clearly been used for illegal hunting and was one of the best trained dog I’ve ever met! My second was a loon, not house trained and had to be in the same room as you. However after lots and lots of training he also turned into a excellent calm dog.

Sadly I lost both 🙁