Rescue dogs- all very depressing

[Marquire]

Just need to vent so apologies in advance.

I currently have a 3 year old Lab (Holly) and my OH and I have been talking about getting a second dog for sometime now. So rather than get another puppy we thought we'd do our bit by rehoming a rescue dog. However, we both work full time and this seems to rule us out of adopting a rescue dog completely.

It's not as if Holly is currently left at home all day alone. During the week she has a 45 minute off lead walk at 6.30am and then bumbles around the garden until I leave for work at 7.45am. The dog walker comes in at 12.30pm and she has 1 hour off lead exercise with her and then I'm home again at 4.45pm and she goes out for another 1.5 hours off lead walk with me and/or OH. She has a final little whizz around the paddock behind the house at 9.30pm before bed. At weekends OH and I are outdoorsy so she'll normally have a 3-4 hour walk each day plus a couple of shorter leg stretches. We also do agility once a week for variety.

We live in decent sized detached house with a fully enclosed 0.5 acre garden surrounded by countryside we have access to loads of woods, fields and the beach is nearby and I (stupidly) thought we would be offering a pretty good livestyle for a rescue dog.

It's really sad that rescues assume because you work full time you can't provide a good home for a dog. We are now faced with either not getting a second dog or buying a puppy which seems crazy when there are so many rescue dogs in need of homes.

I makes me really sad.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I can see you're not a million miles away from CAYLA who posts on here - PM her, I am sure she will be able to help

 

[mollichop]

Sounds pretty spot-on to me! Have you mentioned that fact that a dog walker breaks the working day up for your dog? This would make a big difference.

Sounds like you would give a fantastic home to a rescue - good luck

 

[FestiveSpirit]

www.grwe.com will let people who work full time adopt a dog - I have two from them and one from Cayla at the moment

With your dog walker at lunchtime etc it isnt as if they are left that long

 

[s4sugar]

I co-ordinate for one breed rescue and kennel for four others and we would have no problem adopting a suitable dog to someone in your situation.

 

[BBH]

Lie.

Your set up is more than most dogs get who are owned by those that don't work

 

[ladyt25]

This is a common issue it seems and makes no sense really. I mean if you don't work then how are you going to afford to keep a dog? Plus, how many people are lucky enough to be able to work from home or take a dog to work with them? It's daft really - there are plenty of people out there perfectly capable of giving a dog an excellent home but, because they work they are discriminated against even though they are perfectly capable of arranging other people to do the necessary letting out of the dog etc throughout the day.

 

[pipsqueek]

Have you considered getting a retired greyhound? I am quite sure that the re-homing kennels would let you have one. We got ours a year ago (have always wanted one!). She is a really lovely dog & adapted to living in a house straight away & was easy to house-train. She loves racing round the field a couple of times when I take her up to the yard to see to my horse in the morning but then just follows me round whilst I get on with things. She gets on with our other dog, a jack russell really well too, for most of time she just likes sleeping! She is really playful & loves chasing & bringing back balls etc. We don't actually leave them at home much though, they are out with my OH who is a farrier all day. Good luck with your search, i'm sure you will find a rescue dog somehow, sounds like it would have a lovely home!

 

[horsegirl]

I have heard that the greyhound rescue place is hersham (I know it's a long way from you) is now much more flexible about re homing dogs to working people. I always wanted a greyhound but when I went there they wouldn't rehome as was working full time. In the end all my dogs have been found dumped at the side of the road (2 westies and a JRT).

that's I found them dumped not I dumped them

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

We went to the Blue Cross last year when our little terrier died, as Jessie our remaining dog (a rescue - but not from them) was pining dreadfully.

We went over, filled out forms, gave details etc. We had a brief look through their portfolio of dogs they had in kennels but nothing was suitable at that time, mostly bigger dogs which we knew we couldn't deal with. So they said OK we'll be in touch and will keep your details on file for six months.

Well, we heard nothing from them after that. What a waste of time us traipsing over to their place (not a short journey) and giving them all those details: and the tragic thing is that we could have given a lovely home to a poor dog needing it.

I'm unfortunately a tad cynical about these "rescue" places: OK so they need to be there BUT they're excluding people who could otherwise take on a dog/cat or whatever. We all don't lead idle lives where we're home all day - and most dogs are fine to leave for at least a couple of hours without having a major crisis. They need to get real and face the fact that people are living in the real world.

Our dog Jessie came from a local rescue centre; basically they fobbed us off with a dog with behavioural difficulties, which OK we've sorted as time's gone on, but they never said what she was like & we didn't have the heart to send her back, poor love. She's a sweet girl and we love her to bit, however no-one from the rescue place ever bothered to come back to check how she was or to see her. A fat lot they cared!

 

[CAYLA]

What is it you are looking for? PM me if you like, Im literally up the road from you, you sound like you could offer a rescue dog a lovely home and im sure we would have someting to suit your set up
Im part of a rescue, just incase you though, strange

 

[Ditchjumper2]

We got our last boy from the Blue Cross. At the time we both worked full time but they never asked us about our working hours. Our boy was less than a year but had had 4 homes. He had loads of issues but when we went to see him you could tell he wasn't a bad dog. Anyway, they came and home checked us (spent ages looking at the horses) and then we had him. We lost him in January after 13 wonderful years. He was the best dog we ever had. How can being locked up all day be worse than being in a loving home? Tried them again for his replacement but all they have are Staffies and the like. So we are having a pup this time and pick up our new girl on Saturday.

 

[Shutterbug]

No wonder the PDSA are so over stretched when they only give dogs to people who dont work - and what happens to these dogs when their owners gain willfull employment? Do they expect all unemployed dog owners to remain unemployed? Madness!! You have a great set up and could give a dog a lovely caring home.

 

[Luci07]

Tried them again for his replacement but all they have are Staffies and the like. So we are having a pup this time and pick up our new girl on Saturday.

PLEASE don't say that. Staffies can be lovely dogs and very people focused. They are country dogs who need exercise and stimulation - in other words they are proper terriers. Its not the fault of the breed that idiots choose them to make themselves look big and brave.. when really they are totally relying on this breeds overwhelming devotion to its owners to compensate for their own shortcomings. All of mine have been rescue staffies. My family have had the breed for years and mine are proper yard dogs. The norfolk terrier 2 doors down is a little b**ger who disappears for hours, a friends dog was mauled to death by a labrador, another ended up in vet hospital after being heavily savaged by a St Bernard - one of mine was attacked by a working cocker...

Its the owners, not the breed. Any dog can be "made" bad.

and OP - ring around the rescues, there a lot who will consider you (they did me) because you have clearly demonstrated that you have already manage a dog properly and have made arrangements. I work full time but have a dog walker to break up my dogs day plus working from home some time too - in fact, staffie rescue recommended a much younger dog to keep up with the lifestyle I was offering...

 

[keeperscottage]

Luci07 - Re: Staffies (don't mean to go off the "rescue" aspect of the thread, but had to add a comment!)......went to our local country fair and dog show on Sunday.....we had a lovely time and bumped into a friend I hadn't seen for some time who had her Staffie with her. She was fuming because she'd just taken her dog into a "novelty" class and the commentator (not the judge) asked her to stand away from the other dogs "because Staffies can be nasty". To say she was livid was an understatement.....and I was livid too, when my daughter pointed out that the commentator was no less than our local parish councillor with whom I have had endless problems regarding one of my springers escaping into the village hall gardens (which are adjacent to my garden). I repaired the fence, but the grief I got from him has just gone on and on......He hates dogs, so why was involved in the dog classes!!???

Regarding rescues - rescue centres are just as bad with other pets; we wanted a rescue rabbit. Our other rabbit's hutch was in a 10' x 10' shed and the hutch was left open all the time so bunny could come and go as he pleased. FIVE days per week, bunny had almost unlimited access to our rabbit-proof garden, so pretty much a good life for him but, no, unless we could let a rescue rabbit have access to a grass run every day, they wouldn't entertain us as prospective owners. Their loss!

 

[Autumn_Fairy]

Lie.

That's what my friend did. She worked full time but intended to exercise her dog before and after work as well as having a dog walker half way through the day. So she told them she worked part time and got her rescue dog - who is now one of the most pampered dogs ever! They've just moved to the country with acres of land and now she really does work part time.

 

[Luci07]

When I have helped on a rescue stand, one idea I came up with was to have a board with pictures of a variety of staffies doing what people think they don't do. So we had a variety of pictures showing staffies.. with other dogs, staffies with small people, etc etc. The number of people who were truly surprised to see the pictures (of different dogs not just one set) was really surprising.

Have also found the staffie owners (and actually GSD's too) tend to go overboard on ensuring their dogs really behave as they have such a bad reputation and when I have gone to watch a dog show - its not the staffies who misbehave!

 

[MurphysMinder]

Keepers cottage, something similar happened to us years ago at a companion show. My daughter, who was aged about 6 at the time, was taking my GSD into the childs handling, one of the other parents freaked out at her being in the ring in case the dog "turned". Luckily the judge and steward told her not to be so bl***y stupid. I agree that responsible owners of dogs with a bad reputation usually make a real effort to have them very well trained.
Re rescue, I have said on here before that I get frustrated sometimes with the rescue I home check for as they have such strict conditions (I wouldn't be able to have a dog from them according to their rules). However when homechecking we are told to be flexible and use our own judgement, sadly though I suspect the initial form filling may lead to excellent homes being rejected.

 

[CorvusCorax]

And just to be awkward - I still have my little red first place rosette from when I won first junior handling in a mixed class with my old GSD in the 1980s, in fairness though, it was an NCDL fun day and show, if any of you remember what that used to stand for
And yes, we did get some LOOKS, it was the 1980s when all GSDs were the unmitigated killing machines of the day

 

[Stroppy_mare 73]

You are so right! The best homes are not decided on whether you tick certain boxes or not... But sadly many organisations do seem to work on this principle. Have you thought about a breed rescue society or a breeder who is looking to re-home an older pup/young adult? They may be willing to talk to you & assess your situation for what it is? I know when I sell my pups or re-home I always work on an individual basis and assess each person/family carefully and make my decisions based on that.

Good luck in your search, sounds like whatever hound you end up with will have landed on its feet!

 

[Marquire]

What is it you are looking for? PM me if you like, Im literally up the road from you, you sound like you could offer a rescue dog a lovely home and im sure we would have someting to suit your set up
Im part of a rescue, just incase you though, strange

Hi Cayla,

I'm ideally looking for something mid size as Holly (current dog) is a smaller sized Labrador. I'm not fussy about sex, breed or anything but am a sucker for Labs or Lab crosses. Holly has a fear of GSDs as one attached her when she was little and now she is terrified of them and won't go anywhere near them. She is great with any other breed especially if they are happy to chase her around.

My only real restriction is I have two elderly cats so new dog would have to be kitty friendly.

Marquire

 

[Cliqmo]

Have you considered getting a retired greyhound? I am quite sure that the re-homing kennels would let you have one. We got ours a year ago (have always wanted one!). She is a really lovely dog & adapted to living in a house straight away & was easy to house-train. She loves racing round the field a couple of times when I take her up to the yard to see to my horse in the morning but then just follows me round whilst I get on with things. She gets on with our other dog, a jack russell really well too, for most of time she just likes sleeping! She is really playful & loves chasing & bringing back balls etc. We don't actually leave them at home much though, they are out with my OH who is a farrier all day. Good luck with your search, i'm sure you will find a rescue dog somehow, sounds like it would have a lovely home!

This is interesting Pipsqueek, as when I looked at getting a greyhound from rescue a few years ago they practically shut the door in my face because (A) we did a lot of off-lead walking and (B) my Parents have jack russells

 

[Roody2]

Just need to vent so apologies in advance.

I currently have a 3 year old Lab (Holly) and my OH and I have been talking about getting a second dog for sometime now. So rather than get another puppy we thought we'd do our bit by rehoming a rescue dog. However, we both work full time and this seems to rule us out of adopting a rescue dog completely.

It's really sad that rescues assume because you work full time you can't provide a good home for a dog. We are now faced with either not getting a second dog or buying a puppy which seems crazy when there are so many rescue dogs in need of homes.

I makes me really sad.

WOW, I just came on here to have a mini grumble about EXACTLY the same thing!! My partner and I are looking for another dog to go with our 6 year old lab x collie because my mums dog is getting on a bit and ours loves to run like a lunatic!! I have rung a couple of rescue centres and they have a 'policy' that they don't re-home to someone who will leave their dogs for more than 4 hours a day.
I understand the reason why (seperation anxiety, dogs would naturally not be confined etc), but it also frustrates me that my dog is fine being in the house with no humans for 7 hours a day for 4 days a week. She has the company of another dog and is also walked in mornings and evenings and almost excessively at weekends. She wants for nothing.

So if anyone knows of any dogs looking for a new home that fit criteria below please PM me (I am in Surrey):
Male, neutered
Approx 20kg size (border collie ish)
Over 4 years old

 

[CAYLA]

Hi Cayla,

I'm ideally looking for something mid size as Holly (current dog) is a smaller sized Labrador. I'm not fussy about sex, breed or anything but am a sucker for Labs or Lab crosses. Holly has a fear of GSDs as one attached her when she was little and now she is terrified of them and won't go anywhere near them. She is great with any other breed especially if they are happy to chase her around.

My only real restriction is I have two elderly cats so new dog would have to be kitty friendly.

Marquire

Im on me way up to rescue shortly to get some pics of a rather stunning saluki x greyhound, so will have a spy and see what else is in.