Getting a dog from the dog warden?

N

NellRosk

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 May 2013
Messages
2,726
Location
West Yorks
Visit site
I know of someone that has done this recently (seen through fb but don't really know her well enough to ask the procedure) and it would appear she just went down the pound and picked a dog and took it home. Does anyone know if this is correct?! Are there no checks in place? I know that rescues do behavioural checks etc surely a dog from the warden could have a whole manner of problems? This is what would really worry me about getting an unknown dog. The woman I know of is lucky in that her rescue seems to have a good temperament. Has anyone got a dog from their local dog warden and how did you go about it? I only ask because we have a large garden that is impossible to fence and know we would get rejected from rescues but I am looking to add another pooch to our brood early next summer. If all else fails I will buy a pup but would love to give a deserving dog a home first. The last rehome we got early this year was through friends of a friend that have to give up their dog so I've never formally rescued or adopted a dog before! TIA :)
 
I got one of mine through a kennels that I happened to be helping at, at the time.
When a dog is picked up by the dog warden it then goes to a fairly local kennels which is contracted by the council to receive the dogs picked up.

The dogs are kept there for 7 days, once that time period has elapsed they either stay at the kennels (if they are willing/able to try to rehome), go to another rescue or are PTS.

So if you can get in touch with the local kennels then you can probably arrange something with them, but as you have mentioned they are often not as organised or well funded as 'proper' rescues.
 
I imagine it depends on the pound, some have rescue side attached or a warden that tries to responsibly rehome others just sell the dogs.

I would consider that they probably won't be assessed or had any health needs met more than basic care. May also have picked up KC etc. If it doesn't work out your responsible for rehoming too.

Have you thought about just making a smaller area near the house fully secure rather than fencing the whole plot? I have homechecked properties like this for rescues & its generally ok as the dog has a safe area when let out.
 
Last edited:
samlf said:
I got one of mine through a kennels that I happened to be helping at, at the time.
When a dog is picked up by the dog warden it then goes to a fairly local kennels which is contracted by the council to receive the dogs picked up.

The dogs are kept there for 7 days, once that time period has elapsed they either stay at the kennels (if they are willing/able to try to rehome), go to another rescue or are PTS.

So if you can get in touch with the local kennels then you can probably arrange something with them, but as you have mentioned they are often not as organised or well funded as 'proper' rescues.
Click to expand...

Thank you for this samlf, I may give the local council a ring early next year but as of yet I'm just looking into ideas!

2Greys said:
I imagine it depends on the pound, some have rescue side attached or a warden that tries to responsibly rehome others just sell the dogs.

I would consider that they probably won't be assessed or had any health needs met more than basic care. May also have picked up KC etc. If it doesn't work out your responsible for rehoming too.

Have you thought about just making a smaller area near the house fully secure rather than fencing the whole plot? I have homechecked properties like this for rescues & its generally ok as the dog has a safe area when let out.
Click to expand...

This is my worry, I could get something that is aggressive and bring it home and it attacks my 2 current dogs. I could try fence a bit off but the only area of garden which is flat and not on the side of a hill is about 5ft square so not sure if they would see this as big enough?! We looked into a rescue at the beginning of this year but when I took my bitch to see her my dog snapped at her and I got a phonecall later that night from some mad woman at the rescue effing and blinding at me and we're now effectively banned from that rescue... It's the nutjobs in these places that put me off! (Not suggesting for a second that all volunteers at rescues are like this just a select few :))
 
I got my bitch from the council pound. I rolled up, paid my £30 and took her home after she had been there for 3 days. I was warned if an owner came forward within the 7 days she would have to be returned, but they said it almost never happened. I also had the option to return her if she wasnt suitable for any reason. They didnt do any checks at all, and didnt take any ID so I could have given them a fake name and address and disappeared forever with someone elses dog!
 
FrankieCob said:
I got my bitch from the council pound. I rolled up, paid my £30 and took her home after she had been there for 3 days. I was warned if an owner came forward within the 7 days she would have to be returned, but they said it almost never happened. I also had the option to return her if she wasnt suitable for any reason. They didnt do any checks at all, and didnt take any ID so I could have given them a fake name and address and disappeared forever with someone elses dog!
Click to expand...

That's interesting! And also reassuring that you could take her back. I take it it all worked out okay :)?
 
I suppose effectively I took my latest greyhound unseen - I picked him up from Hopwood Services near Birmingham, took him to GRWE kennels, went for a 20 min walk with him & the other new rescues and said I would have him :) I was pretty sure he would be fine with my existing trio as he is the only dog with 3 bitches and I was right, he fitted in without any problems.

I also got my greyhound x whippet (the penultimate one) effectively unseen, as Cayla kept posting pics of her on here and I said I wanted her :) She also settled in fine with my two bitches at the time, and has proved to be absolutely perfect - a benefit of getting a dog from a good rescue like Cayla's I think :) :)
 
A lot of pounds will not rehome to the general public for obvious reasons, a few do. that little girl that was killed by a dog that looked like an Am. Bull x came from one of these pounds. They cannot assess them thoroughly or dog test them from pounds thats why they will only go to rescue.

Im currently fostering a Lab which was in kennels in rescue, Ive had him a week today and Ive never seen such a strong guarder in a Lab before, he is also dog aggressive although he is fine with my dogs, when he came here he accepted the status quo and that is still the case, they are part of my home and he sees himself as part of that but any outside dog is going to be fair game. He will take some sorting out and his home choices will be very limited as I want him to go to a very experienced home. The point Im trying to make is that in kennels he was everyones friend but put him in a home and allow him to settle and his true behaviour comes out, imagine this dog in the pound people would be queueing up and what a huge shock they would get. I know some pounds will take them back up to 7 days I believe and after that you are on your own, they will not be neutered/spayed,vaxed,deflead or wormed either unless they come in like that.
 
NellRosk said:
That's interesting! And also reassuring that you could take her back. I take it it all worked out okay :)?
Click to expand...

Yes and no! Shes majorly damaged mentally and will always be special needs. She is chipped and spayed and I assume vaccinated, and had good basic training and generally a good edd. However she came with a shed load of issues that at times I doubted I could cope with. We always say if she was a person she'd be a 1950s housewife with a gin and tranquiliser problem :lol: She used to wet herself if you even looked at her :( Shes snapped at me a few times, but its due to her past, and as we are an adult only household we just manage her. I strongly suspect she was in a lovely family home, snapped at someone and hit a downwards spiral

I've had her 2 years and finally managed to find someone who could diagnose and start treating her back pain. I knew something was wrong, but vets could never find anything. I am really hoping that as we bottom out the back issues the last of the tension and anxiety will improve.

She is my major achievement with dogs so far, and if you asked her, she would tell you that she is radiantly happy and would NEVER want to leave here and it makes me very happy to know I've done that for her. She hasnt been easy, but she is a very damaged dog and they arent all like that. i cant imagine how awful things would have been for her in a different home :(

If you are asking if I would take on another pound dog, then the answer is NO! But neither would I take on a rescue unless it was a young puppy. I feel my current 2 are my ode to rescue dogs but next time I want a clean slate and an easy life! :lol:
 
Thanks for the replies! There are pros and cons, the main downside being you don't know what you're getting. FrankieCob, it's lovely that you've come so far with your dog.. she really sounds like she landed on her feet with you! I completely know what you mean about wanting a clean slate and an easy life. I keep swinging from definitely wanting to go out and buy a pup to definitely wanting to go and rescue one! I'm torn!
 
Not all rescue dogs are damaged - any good rescue will work with both the dog and the potential new owner to ensure a good match.

Personally I wouldn't go get one from the pound just due to the lack of history, but I would approach a decent rescue who do pull dogs from pounds and do the vet/temperament checks and go from there. Yes it will cost more but a, you'll have a better idea what you are getting and b, you'll be able to return the dog if not suitable. There are plenty of them about and they will do what they can to make sure the dogs go to good, permanent homes.

I just couldn't buy a puppy - I felt awful even just thinking about it. We looked for a while and found several rescue dogs who had fallen on hard times but had no issues, they all found good homes thankfully and we eventually found the right dog for us.
 
I got Boomer from the local pound nearly 20 years ago, he was an owner surrender, so only had 7 days to find a new home or he would have been pts, I paid £30 and took him home without any checks. If they have been picked up by the dog warden they have 7 days for their owner to come (they can be reserved in this period) and then a further 7 days to find a new home. A friend got a dog from the same place about 3.5 years ago and they did do a home check before the dog came home.

I loved Boomer to pieces, but wouldn't get another from there.
 
If you think rescues will turn you down you could always look on Preloved and local Facebook pages for dogs needing homes. These are generally the dogs that will end up in a rescue if they do not find a home that way anyway.
 
There are lots of rescues. Pick brains on here as to what the rescue will want to see on a homecheck or show a plan in place. A good rescue will have assessed the dog,sorted out medical and vaccinations and you will have the opportunity to properly meet and great the dog and see if works for you. I have 4 rescue staffords of now varying ages from 13 to 1 year old. Going through Welfare and rescue meant I never had the problems described earlier.
 
I got one of my dogs a 5.5 month old (approx) pup who was on death row because of his "type" (Staffie x Lab) off of Croydon Council, he was in their pound for 11 days then they were going to pts.
I knew one of the dog wardens and I was asked if I could foster him just to save his life, I did, had no home checks as they already knew me and it was left up to me to look after him as I saw fit and find him a home.
I tried but failed to find anyone who was suitable (and stable enough!) to re home him so we kept him.
I had to sign a paper to say I had fostered him and the warden also signed it.
I got him chipped and neutered asap and he has a home for life here, I have 2 other dogs who love him.
Here he is (black one) with my Lurcher rescue Daisy waiting for a treat.
I wouldn't see a pup pts because he had the wrong breeds for parents.
twoscroungingbeasts.jpg
[/URL]
 
NellRosk said:
Thank you for all the replies everyone, they're extremely helpful. Cremedemonthe he is just gorgeous!! And Daisy is too. :)
Click to expand...

Thank you, he's had 6 years of life he simply wouldn't have had if I had not got him from the warden,we call him Barney the braindead as he's so dopey, certainly not the villain his breeding makes him out to be. I hope you get one too.Daisy is a rescue, I rescued her from Crunchies animal rescue who we managed to get raided and closed down with the owner thrown in prison, terrible place, so glad I saved Daisy from that hell hole.
Here's Barney with the Fat Russell, out rotund JRT also a rescue!
Good luck with your search, let us know how you get on.


fatrussellusingbarneybraindeadasapi-1.jpg
[/URL]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top