Question about dog rehoming/rescue centres/charities.

Ravenwood

Ravenwood

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I'm still on the look out for another springer but I keep shying away from a rescue or rehoming centre/charity. My friend has just gone through the process via a breed specific charity (not spaniel one!) and the whole thing was very stressful and quite frankly a bit of a nightmare - so much so that in the end they had to refuse any further contact from the woman in charge of rehoming this dog and would only talk to the area co-ordinator. However they have finally ended up with a lovely dog
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Do they all insist on having the dog neutered? Do they all retain ownership even though you pay for the rehoming? Are they always so downright rude and intent on making you feel inferior or I have got the wrong end of the stick?
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We re-homed a dog some 14 years ago, from our local RSPCA centre and they were great. We had a home check before we took dog and were meant to be visited after dog came home but never heard from them again. When dog became ill I contacted them and they were really helpful. I think all charities insist on neutering, and who can blame them when they have so many unwanted dogs why would they encourage more to be bred. Maybe you just had a bad experience.
 
I had a good experience with the Dogs Trust, Henry is mine - or at least I was pretty sure he is until you said that
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(although if I peg it they get him back), although he was neutered, I think they fix all their dogs. Everyone there was very nice to me, although the bog standard rehoming talk was a bit basic but everyone has it and it is a good thing I think.

There is a 5YO Springer called Chaz at their Snetterton kennels at the moment (or there was last time I snuck a look in the site...)
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I have to put my hands up and say some rescues are a nightmare, esp some breed rescues (no names mentioned)
Not all have neutering conditions, but I do find that highly irrisponsible, as if a dog is placed on death row or it's life is in threat and it's ended up in rescue then leaving it entire for the possiblility for it to reproduce is defeating the purpose of rescue really.

Again not all retain the right to own the dog, we do have a legal contract to state the dog is legaly owned by us, this is to offer life time back up for the dog, there is no point in offering rescue facility and again saving a dog from pts, for it to be rehomed and possibly end up in the local pound or passed on from pillar to post, we stipulate that the dog must be returned to us is it no longer be kept by the adopter, and the dogs are also chipped to us and the new owner, again this is for back up incase they cannot be contacted if the do goes missing.

We rarely have had to take legal action in regard to take back to take a dog back, I think once in the whole 25 years my mam has done rescue.
We tend to neuter all of ours before they go, so we rarely deal with the must be returned for neutering.

I agree though some can be a nightmare.
 
QR

I don't want to generalise too much, but my horse experience tells me that the smaller the rescue, the worse really...
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Obviously that is not the case everywhere though and there are great small rescues out there and the big boys aren't always perfect by any means!

*ducks and runs for cover*
 
IME some places are fab, others really aren't!

Friend got a Dogs Trust dog and said it was plain sailing the whole way (until doglet ended up with Kennel Cough so it was a while before she came home) Whereas nother 'rescue' seem to want to come up with excuses not to rehome!

I do think that all the dogs should be neutured. I was always told a contract being signed stating they are not to be bred from has no legal standing in court?

Apaprently the CPs over here are awful!
 
[ QUOTE ]
The one and only dog we legally took back was a male that the adopters refused to neuter, we gave them umpteen chances and the neuter was already paid as part of the adoption fee when the dog was a puppy, so all they had to do was return the dog for the snip and take it away, but the fella, took a stupid male, "oh he will be sad without them, and we where thinking of studding him for a family member
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it was a lab.

Needless to say, we called our solicitor and the dog was returned.

[/ QUOTE ]
I should add , they where given yet another chance to neuter and the bloke was a bad tempered stuborn spiv, so we choose to take back, otherwise he would have been facing a lovley big legal bill
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I would say it is like life in general, some people are great, some people are not. Somebody that you don't like, might be liked by others and so on. Admittedly it can be a minefield, especially whenever people feels passionately about something, it really isn't just rescuing that can make people put their blinders on...

So give it a try, if you don't like someone at one rescue, go to another. I say the same as I would say if you where choosing a breeder, make demands, if you don't like them, if what they say doesn't make sense to you etc, go to someone else. Though it doesn't hurt to remember that they probably have to put up with a number of "idiots", think of Kao, when she first put up her horse for sale it wasn't even 2 years old and still people phoned asking about if they could ride it...
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If people with such limited basic horse-knowledge can phone on a horse costing x-thousand £, I'm sure that the people working at dog-rescues gets their fair share of people, lacking basic dog-knowledge, contacting them.


Good luck.
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Off topic, Wow
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! I've finally figured out how to make the pound sign show up in my text, wonder if I'll remember it the next time I need it...
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The GSD rescue I do homechecks for retain ownership of the dogs, but it is really just for the dogs protection so it isn't sold on. I think it is highly unlikely they would ever take a dog back without very good cause, they have plenty more that need homing. I feel quite guilty when I am giving people the third degree, but it is actually no different to the questions I used to ask people wanting to buy a puppy from me when I was breeding.
The criteria for rehoming a GSD is very strict, but I am allowed to use my own judgement if people don't exactly meet the criteria (on paper I would not be eligible to have a dog from them
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).
I would just persevere, try different breed rescues and charities and hopefully you will soon find the dog for you.
 
The rescue we got both of ours from (Greyhound Gap) has similar rules to the ones Cala laid out and also seem to use discretion in some cases if a dog has special needs OR would be fine in perhaps a less "perfect" situation because it's older, particularly mellow etc.

Yes, they do a home check and expect certain commitments from adopters but fair enough, I think. You have to remember rescues deal all day with dogs people thought they wanted or used to be able to look after and now can't so it's no surprise they're a bit gunshy. Also, as said, I'm sure they get a lot of people saying all the right things when they know it's probably not quite as advertised. I've been in the horse business long enough to know people don't always come completely clean in such situations.
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On the flip side we got dogs that had been thoroughly assessed by people that know the breed well, tested in different situations and came with at least an idea of what they were like. Plus we got lots of support if we needed it and access to a network of people who had owned pointy dogs for years. Both dogs have been exactly as advertised on the tin and I wouldn't hesitate to take another from them or direct someone else, even a first time dog owner, there as I know they may have a vested interest in getting dogs into homes but not at the expense of what's best for the dog.
 
I on the otherhand had an experience at the opposite end of the scale; for £100 and proof of your address you could walk out with any dog of your choice. No requirement or agreement to neuter, chip, or vaccinate; however you are encouraged to do so with discount vouchers.
Am sure this is open to potential abuse.
Luckily it worked out really well for us - we got a cracking lurcher (greyhound x collie)
 
All of my dogs/cats have been rescues from our local shelter and with all of them we walk in, chose the one/s we were going to take home, went and told the kennel staff who got the dog/cat out for us to look at, paid for it and did all necessary paperwork and took said animal/s home
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Not ideal as I could have been an animal hater who was intending in taking it home and mistreating it but as Im not it works out great!
 
QR: Thanks for all your replies everyone
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I think perhaps I was being a bit blinkered and didn't stop to think of all the numpties that the rescue homes must have to sift though
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I think also that because I am looking for a specific breed for a specific purpose (family pet and working gundog) that, although I will perhaps give some local ones a ring just in case, I may be walking down the wrong road.

Don't think I would want the microchip to be registered to someone else (possibly a bit irrational!) and don't want to be dictated to about neutering a dog - Not because I want to breed, I most certainly don't, but because I have found with Toby that a neutered male in a truck load of entire males makes him fair game and they won't leave him alone - its almost as if he gives off a different scent (one would think it resembles a bitch in heat!!!) and I did say that I wouldn't neuter another dog unless it was medically necessary.

So to that end I guess rehoming a dog from a rescue centre is out for me really. Better get a copy of Shooting Times this week then!!
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Quite possibly - but was hoping to pick up one that was about a year old that I could introduce at the end of this coming season and be ready to work for the next season (2010/11) by which time I don't think Toby with his joints will be able to do very much and can take a back seat. But....without the £1,000 price tag
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Oh yes easily! If you want to buy a springer from a gundog kennel they will probably have put a lot of work into it and are selling it part trained and I know you are aware, gundog training is quite specialist - hence the price tag!

Perhaps I should start up a new business!!!
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Not all will have double registered chips, we started it, because we had a rescue handed to the pound, the pound contacted the registered owners and they said they no longer owned the dog
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they traced the chip code back to us at the vets (the pound that is) and we heard nothing from the adopter
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when we did eventually contact them, they simply said, "we did not want the dog anymore"
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So we decided to keep our names as secondary contact incase this happens again, we have no problem if the dog end up with us, as long as we get a call of concern and wanting the dog back.

We have no young spaniels in at the mo, but the police normally snap the bouncy ones of us straight away, we just had confirmation that 4 spaniels and 2 labs that we gave to them have passed and are now professional sniffers
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Cala - I quite understand your thoughts
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And (being in the trade!) I am going to give the dog section a ring on Monday
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Good idea, they do have fails and I think they rehome them, we get ours back but im sure alot are rehomed via the police, u would prob know more than me on that
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Have been reading this with interest.

I think that failed police or armed forces dogs may be a good option. Already partly trained but generally not quite 'steady' enough.
 
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