Can I have some thoughts on this please??

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amage

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Have been looking into getting a dog and although I am fairly certain I want a working Cocker Spaniel pup (from very reputable breeder) I decided to visit some rescues as you never know what could be looking for a home. I rent a house 2 miles from OH's farm and have written permission from owners allowing a pet to live there. I work on the road in an Agri job so whatever dog I do get will be travelling with me every day. My last dog did this and loved it and I have a jeep big enough to allow this comfortably. As I essentially work outdoors any dog gets plenty of exercise with me. Before work I am at yard, after work I am at yard, I also walk everyday and am generally at home to sleep!! Any days I have a meeting etc that will not suit having a dog with me (max. once a month) then dog will be with my OH on the farm for the day. We also have a "dog stable" at the yard that my old fella Boots claimed for himself and we then added a bed etc and I have not had the heart to de-doggy it so that is there for any future doggy if they want to use it. I also have the stability that worst case scenario if I ever needed help or doggyminding my parents will quite happily take a dog from me...Boots used to love his sleepovers with my Mum! I do not have an enclosed garden but due to the circumstances outlined above don't actually need one! So off I went to a rescue I had heard very good things about and that I know are absolutely crying out for responsible homes. Within ten mins I was very rudely informed that they wouldn't even continue the discussion as I don't have a garden...now am I being unreasonable in thinking that given that they are crying out for homes perhaps they are cutting off their nose to spite their face? I know they have to be stringent in home checking but I even have a letter from my vet who knows my home/yard/farm etc stating that they would recommend me to rehome any dog! As if to prove their point and try to further make a fool of me this rescue phoned another two nearby and laughed aloud as they outlined my situation. I am not a fool....I know what I can offer and given that the only risk I offer is potentially too much exercise & fun I was really hurt by their reaction. I don't want a dog for 5 mins...I spent the guts of €4K trying to save my last fella and would do it again in a heartbeat...he was a rescue (was living in a different house when I got him and rehomed him privately). I do know that they have requirements to meet but would have thought a bit of discretion could be applied! Any thoughts???
 
Sadly many rescues seem to have these set in stone rules, and aren't prepared to consider people who don't tick all the boxes, even if they tick other even better ones. The same rescues then criticise people who buy from breeders, its crazy but not sure how they can be convinced to be more flexible. I don't blame you for being hurt, but it is their loss.
It might be worth you seeing if there is a breed specific rescue, but otherwise just get your name on the waiting list for a pup. Good luck, I hope you find something soon.
 
Thank you....I was quite upset about it and then thought maybe I was being unrealistic but it is a mental system that they won't judge applicants on a case by case. And to top it all off they had the cheek to ask me for a donation after ridiculing me. I do donate but will never give a penny to this place again! OH is livid on my behalf...he knows how emotional i have been at starting to consider another dog...I did decide a few months ago that I wanted another but I wasn't ready.
 
Thats a pity, we just rehomed a 12 month old working cocker from our rescue, I would def have placed him with you given what you described, if he bounced back quick fo any reason I will give u a shout;):D
 
About 6 years ago one of the vet nurses at our practice was mortified she was turned down for a dog as she has a tiny garden, was absolutely ridiculous because I strongly feel alot of people use their garden to exercise their dog, if you had no garden you won't let your dog pee and poo in your lounge will you?? you will take it out!! Where as some ppl with gardens lob their dog out for toilets and don't walk them!

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
 
You have my sympathies, I am in the exact same situation - no garden to speak of but the house backs directly on to miles and miles of arable land, footpaths, woodland, dog comes everywhere with me, down to yard twice a day with more opportunity to hoon in secure fields, biking in the winter months, three hours of exercise per day, training classes in a bazillion disciplines, blah blah blah. Dogs Trust said no, one local rescue said no, other local never got back to me.

Desperately trying to move house to somewhere with a garden but there is a dearth of rental property here at the moment and the chances of any suitable property accepting two big-ish dogs is slim.

Does anyone know what Many Tears is like for this kind of thing?

Cayla, find me a sibe, would you? :p
 
I agree with you that some of the rescue places are mad the way they turn down perfectly good homes because of some totally unnecessary rules...with all those poor animals looking for new homes its terrible

We re-homed a rescue dog 8 years ago and the fuss they caused about our garden was ridiculous. We have 7 acres of land and a garden which is an average semi-house type size, so perfectly adequate we thought....oh no. Apparently the fencing in our garden needed to be 5 foot high in case the dog jumped out of our garden into our fields ! I had already fallen for a little collie cross but just didn't want the visual impact of a 5ft fence meaning I couldn't see the ponies, so in the end my OH built a seperate pen at the side of the house, costing me nearly £500 with all the fence posts, wire netting etc. The rescue people came round to inspect and were very snooty about it all.

Anyway it all ended happily and Duke was eventually allowed to live here...of course he has hardly ever been in his specially built pen! As it turns out, when we first had him he was the type of dog who had no confidence to leave your side never mind jump out of anyone's garden! They hadn't even taken into account the personality of the dog in their must have requirements list.

I understand they have to be cautious but I think they take it too far. You sound like a great potential owner and to have laughed at you is plain ignorant.

I hope you find a suitable dog very soon
 
Yes dog rescue centres are a nightmare. A few years back OH and myself looked into getting a dog and they wouldnt let us as we have his children visiting (once a week!). Another rescue centre wouldnt let us as we work more than 4 hours a day! Have also heard of people being turned down as they are older or at child bearing age.
Then we have the problem of rescue centres being full and dogs being pts as they are all bursting. It is also causing more dogs to be bred etc,etc it makes me cross. So most people have no choice but to go and buy a puppy. Unless they have no chldren and are at home all day!
 
As you and the others have said the imflexibilty of many rescues is beyond belief especially when they are desperate for homes.

Maybe try a breed specific rescue (Max is from the Labrador Trust and when they did my 'home' check they never went past the garden and I'd done housework and everything:mad:) and even though I live on a farm with sheep etc could see it was 'Labrador heaven' (their words) I think the breed specific rescues are possibly more aware of the dogs needs and can make compromises on the 'ideal' home without compromising the welfare of the dogs.

Let's face it you could be in an ideal home they day they come and house check you and you could move to the 20th floor of a tower block the day after you get he dog:rolleyes:
 
How annoying! While I see where they're coming from, it's very silly of them given your lifestyle.

Second slinkyunicorn, try a breed specific rescue. And good luck :)
 
This is how we ended up buying as OH wanted to take dog to work, apparently this was a no go as dog might wait for it....meet kids! ! Kids eat dogs apparantly. Anyway my other 2 were rescues/rehomed privately though.
 
Agree with others, try a breed specific rescue or a smaller, privately run one if possible.
I wish some of these jobsworths would come on here and see what kind of publicity they are generating - what's better Amage, your set-up, or dogs languishing in kennels for months...sadly developing the very issues that put people off getting a dog from rescue in the first place and rush out and get a puppy from an unsuitable source because they are fed up waiting.

We don't have a 'garden' per se, we do have a couple of scrubby fields and live in the middle of a huge forest and are only a couple of miles from the beach and we do our dogs enclosed, DD makes a great point about people chucking their dogs out in the garden.
 
CaveCanem said:
Agree with others, try a breed specific rescue or a smaller, privately run one if possible.
I wish some of these jobsworths would come on here and see what kind of publicity they are generating - what's better Amage, your set-up, or dogs languishing in kennels for months...sadly developing the very issues that put people off getting a dog from rescue in the first place and rush out and get a puppy from an unsuitable source because they are fed up waiting.

We don't have a 'garden' per se, we do have a couple of scrubby fields and live in the middle of a huge forest and are only a couple of miles from the beach and we do our dogs enclosed, DD makes a great point about people chucking their dogs out in the garden.
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I see it so much at work, dogs not walked due to being dumped in the garden!

You make me laugh on nearly every post we agree and give the same advice, you must be a great person!! haha x
 
Surely not having a garden will mean the dog is even **better** exercised/stimulated/more toilet breaks to over-compensate for not having free space to roam. I am spending an inordinate time socialising, training and playing with the pup to prevent him from eating the house :p and that is WITH space outside :p and for dogs that like to laze in one place anyway, how is a garden different from a house?
 
we had a really tough time with a dog rescue as they wanted us to take "unlimited annual leave" from work until the dog settled :confused: we ended up getting our two spaniels from a private rehome after seeing an advert on epupz :)
 
I agree with you!
I have had GSDs all my life and when I saw one that had been in a rescue for two years it seemed to be the challenge that I wanted but I was turned down as a suitable fosterer/owner as I was outside all the time (and the dog would be with me) and I had sheep. Oh, and the fact that I raw feed also went against me.
Excuse me I want a German SHEPHERD - not a Pug. What the heck does she think the breed was intended to do! I would not expect the dog to be sheep wise but I would have no doubt of my ability to TRAIN the dog to be sheep wise.

My ancient mother has just had to have her old dog PTS and is lonely without one. She has never been without a dog except when she was in the forces during the war. Trying to find something suitable has proven to be what seemed a mission impossible! I can understand the concern about her age (90) but the dog would be well exercised by my sister and a friend and would never be returned to a rescue as it would live with either of us should anything happen to Mum. In the end I did find a rescue English Pointer, her favourite breed. He is an 'oldie' of about 10 - 12 years old, no adoption fee as they are grateful for oldies to be rescued and fully understand the loneliness an old lady can have without a dog. A match that was meant to be.

So, some people in rescue do have sense to know that a fenced in garden, having small children, cats or any other factor should not be a reason to stop a person/family from rescuing a dog.
 
CaveCanem said:
Surely not having a garden will mean the dog is even **better** exercised/stimulated/more toilet breaks to over-compensate for not having free space to roam. I am spending an inordinate time socialising, training and playing with the pup to prevent him from eating the house :p and that is WITH space outside :p and for dogs that like to laze in one place anyway, how is a garden different from a house?
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This is what I was thinking re: garden! It is mental. CAYLA if your wee cocker comes back for any reason stick some airmail stamps on it's bum and I'll be eagerly awaiting the post lol!! Will def have a look into breed specific rescues though I'm not sure if there are many over here!
 
Foxhunter49 said:
I agree with you!
I have had GSDs all my life and when I saw one that had been in a rescue for two years it seemed to be the challenge that I wanted but I was turned down as a suitable fosterer/owner as I was outside all the time (and the dog would be with me) and I had sheep. Oh, and the fact that I raw feed also went against me.
Excuse me I want a German SHEPHERD - not a Pug. What the heck does she think the breed was intended to do! I would not expect the dog to be sheep wise but I would have no doubt of my ability to TRAIN the dog to be sheep wise.
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ARRRGGHHH!


Right, off to watch Eurovision and calm the hell down :o
 
I agree op there is no need for rudeness and I would have thought your home sounds ideal, being cynical here but I wonder what their stance would be if you were on benefits.

Both of my dogs came from a breed rescue and they were more concerned about me being used to the breed and their specific needs. They did come and do a home inspection and although my garden is fenced it is not FortKnox. Their response was if a dog wants to get out it will get out which I thought very sensible. Darcey has got out twice into our fields, we have foxes and badgers throughn the garden at night so its impossible to make it water tight. The dogs are not allowed in the garden by themselves anymore but they get a lot of exercise walking, training and playing in the garden.

Good Luck with your search and hope you find a dog soon.
 
CaveCanem said:
Surely not having a garden will mean the dog is even **better** exercised/stimulated/more toilet breaks to over-compensate for not having free space to roam.
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Nothing shows dedication like hanging around the village green at midnight, in the pouring rain, waiting for a dog to have a dump. :p
 
Its so true that having a garden can mean people can cop out of walking their dogs and certainly does not guarantee the best home. I have told before of the pup I sold to a flat in Hackney :eek:, no dog had a better life. So many rescues lose wonderful homes by being so blinkered.
 
We tick just about every box on a rescues 'do not rehome to' list: no garden, both work full time. But our dog is very happy.
 
I know one should not lie, but could you say that the dog would live at OH's farm?

Then again they would probably insist you had 6 foot panel fencing put all round it!
 
lexiedhb said:
I know one should not lie, but could you say that the dog would live at OH's farm?

Then again they would probably insist you had 6 foot panel fencing put all round it!
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I did consider doing that or getting my parents to adopt one and it could live with me but there us a part of me that feels if I have to lie to get a rescue I would rather start from scratch with the specific breed I would like. I am currently researching some breed specific rescues and have also been talking to a lovely field trial judge who said he occasionally comes across older dogs that are finished working and may be looking for a home. He said they are a rarity but given the current economic climate you never know!
 
lexiedhb said:
I know one should not lie, but could you say that the dog would live at OH's farm?

Then again they would probably insist you had 6 foot panel fencing put all round it!
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You're not far wrong there. A friends mum (who has always had westies), tried to rehome one from a westie rescue when her last dog died. She has a smallholding of about 8 acres, and is at home all day. The rescue turned her down because the whole acreage was not westie proofed, luckily a local rescue had more sense and she now has a lovely lurcher. :D
 
blackcob said:
Nothing shows dedication like hanging around the village green at midnight, in the pouring rain, waiting for a dog to have a dump. :p
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*Hands up*

Tis my experience as a garden-less dog owner, too, although I tend to shame myself by urging, "Come on. Make poopie, Prince":D

Happy to say that the rescues in NYC are far less concerned about gardens and such. If one adopts a puppy, for example, the emphasis is on getting new owners to sign the dog up for training classes, and they pair very active dogs with people who are dedicated runners and bikers.
 
amage said:
I did consider doing that or getting my parents to adopt one and it could live with me but there us a part of me that feels if I have to lie to get a rescue I would rather start from scratch with the specific breed I would like. I am currently researching some breed specific rescues and have also been talking to a lovely field trial judge who said he occasionally comes across older dogs that are finished working and may be looking for a home. He said they are a rarity but given the current economic climate you never know!
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A woman at work recently had to get her MIL to adopt her a pup from the RSPCA, as they would not rehome any dog to anyone with kids under 10, or something totally daft!

WHY she wanted a Husky X GSD pup is a bit beyond me anyway :eek: This thing is going to be enormous!!
 
lexiedhb said:
A woman at work recently had to get her MIL to adopt her a pup from the RSPCA, as they would not rehome any dog to anyone with kids under 10, or something totally daft!

WHY she wanted a Husky X GSD pup is a bit beyond me anyway :eek: This thing is going to be enormous!!
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Tbh for once I agree with the RSPCA there, not a dog for the faint hearted. If she works and has children under 10 I would imagine she would struggle to give the dog the time and exercise it needs.
 
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