Puppies from rescue centres, peoples experiences please

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lizness

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Hello,
Been looking to get a puppy for a while. Been to a rescue centre to look at dogs but decided a puppy would probably be best with my various livestock.
Has anyone got a puppy from a rescue? Why do they tend to turn up at rescues rather than being sold (sorry if this is a dim question)?
Liz
 
They turn up at rescues sadly because idiot people breed them then cannot be bothered to do the responsible thing and find homes for them so they dump them
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Any decent rescue will find you a dog which will match your livestock BTW
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My old YO got a dog from DogsTrust which was safe with horses, cats, ducks, chickens and a baby
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Be interested on this post as I'll be looking for a staffie pup. If I can't find one from a rescue I'll go to an approved breeder....refuse to buy off freeads!
 
We usually get puppies handed in because
A, They have been abandoned, along with mother.
B, They where purchased and the owner had no clue what owning a puppy entails and the breeder refused to take back.
C, The breeder could not sell or afford to hang onto puppies.

We carry out a home check and if you pass, we invite you to look at said puppies
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I got my 2 as pups from the local rescue. We think ours turned up there as the owners hadn't been able to shift them at 13 weeks and didn't want the cost of looking after them.
 
A couple of things you might want to look out for with rescue pups:

- if the pups have been hand-reared without their mum around they may have more difficulties relating to other dogs in later life
- if the pups have been brought up in kennels with little interaction with humans, especially during weeks 6-8, they may have more difficulties relating to humans later on
- if the pups have not been socialised in the first few months of life, they may have more difficulties later on

Privately sold puppies will also have exactly the same problems under the same circumstances, but just some thoughts to consider as rescue pups may have had a more difficult start in life (please don't shout at me, I know this is a generalisation, not all rescue pups have problems, not all private pups are fine, and not all problems are too difficult to overcome!!! Just something for the OP to consider when choosing the right pup!)
 
I think the previous poster is correct in that she/he says about irresponsible people over breeding animals. The problem is with any rescued animal particularly older animals is that new owners tend to spoil the animals either by spoiling them with too much affection or by treating them too kindly, ie. "Aahh you poor little thing, I won't shout if you bark/bite/become aggressive, I will just feel sorry for you as you have had such a rotten life up till now". This is the worse thing you can do for any rescued animal. An animal of any kind needs discipline, it needs boundaries and it needs to know there are consequences should it cross the boundaries.

As Caesar (The Dog Whisperer) says, dogs live for the day, they do not remember all the bad times, they live in the moment. If you are too laid back with a rescued animal they WILL take advantage, you have to be assertive and kind but fair to them. Just because they may have been beaten to within an inch of their life doesn't mean to say that you can never reprimand them or be strict with them. I have seen this type of scanario happen so many times in my life with friends that have rescue animals and it wasn't until recently whilst watching The Dog Whisperer and hearing Caesar explain about how to treat rescued animal that i actually realised and understood what he was saying.
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I had a six week old pup from Birmingham Dogs Home is 1990 and it was the best thing I could have done. The dogs home offered cheaper spaying /neutering if the pet had come from them and I knew the pup was in good health. Jemma lived till 12 and I loved her like crazy but if she had been older and had been ill treated in her former life I think I may have been guilty of spoiling her
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Also (as seen on the Many Tears site) lots of pregnant bitches get dumped too and the puppies are born in rescue or with fosterers.


Good points, Booboos.

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That's what I was going to say. Alot of people too clueless to have their animals spayed will no doubt dump them when it becomes apparent they are pregnant and there will be extra work/money involved.

I would buy a puppy from a rescue centre as I would suspect most would be temporarily homed, along with their mother, with foster carers whilst the she rears them.

When we bought Harvey, I purposely bought from someone who reared their pups in the home.
 
Argh, just went on Many Tears, silly me. LOTS of pups.
Lots of dogs dressed up in tinsel and some heartbreaking testimonials - thank God they are on another land mass or I would be in BIG trouble with Mother.....
 
I'm not in England, but the reasons Cala stated are exactly the same as the reasons over here. Our local no-kill rescue (maximum capacity of fifteen dogs) generally gets a litter of puppies in once a week, oftentimes with mum. Most are Shepherd/Pit/Lab X, and sometimes small terrier or beagle crosses. Some are owner surrenders, and some are found as strays.

My sister-in-law's dog, Crow, was rescued, along with two siblings plus mum, from a roadside in rural Georgia. The dogs were transported up to the New England area, as most rescues in the South are gassing shelters, and the dogs don't stand a chance of being rehomed, especially if they're a hound or a hound mix (bred indiscriminately, much like Staffs in the UK). This is Crow, a Basset/Border Collie mix, who has proven to be a lovely dog with a nice, stable temperament.

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OH and I were discussing this recently as we are going to be looking for a pup in the next few months, but I wasnt sure how many pups actually end up in rescues?
 
As mentioned by others, it does happen that bitches are handed in to rescues together with puppies. F.ex. when their "breeder" realises :
How much work there is with not house broken young puppies.
That they have to pay not only for the bitches food but also for the puppies food when they stop feeding on the bitches milk alone.
That if they want to sell puppies most people wants to buy them vaccinated etc. and that they have to pay the veterinarian for doing those things.
That people might not be knocking down their doors begging to be allowed to buy one of the puppies...

To only mention a few reasons.



Also the rescue might not know if the "brood bitch" was properly wormed and vaccinated before having the litter.
 
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lots of pregnant bitches get dumped too and the puppies are born in rescue or with fosterers. [ QUOTE ]


sadly this is true, when i was working at the local rescue a 13yo bitch was dumped who was in labour, owner hadnt realised she was even pregnant as she was so skinny, the pups all had homes lined up before they were even weaned, and ready to go, sadly the bitch wasnt so lucky
 
Hello,
Thanks for the information.

Have been to the local dogs trust to look round the dogs a while ago (ddin't look at the puppies. However out of about the 12 I shortlisted none of these were suitable for if I were to have children in their lifespan or with my kittens (who are atm pinning each other down and licking each others faces, wonder if a pup would get that treatment?) which made me consider a puppy although I accecpt this may have been unlucky.

The dogs and puppies at 'Many Tears' look lovely am suprised at how many nice looking crosses there are!

had been looking in the yellow paper but thanks to you lot thave realised that this is a bit irresponsible.

Thanks,
Liz
 
We got Leah from a rescue centre when she was 18 weeks old. She was only 12 weeks old when she came in, so she can't have been in her previous home for more than six weeks but that short time must have been pretty awful, because the behavioural problems it left her with still affect her today. She's a very nervous dog, claustrophobic, showed signs of fear agression when we first got her (but has the sweetest nature in the world now) - I don't know how much of that would have been in her personality anyway, but I'm sure her early experiences of abuse can't have helped.
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Despite all the trouble Leah gave us when we first had her, I would not hesitate for a second to get another rescue dog. We were well aware that she had a bad background and was very nervous and difficult when we took her on, and she has been the best, most loving dog I've ever known. And of course, many rescue dogs don't have the kind of issues she did, especially if you get them as a puppy before they've had time to get screwed up by a-hole owners! Seeing a frightened, miserable puppy come out of herself and turn into a happy, intelligent, loving dog is one of the best things in the world, I wouldn't swap Leah for anything.
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