#sophiefromromania

Hold's hands up I have two one from Crete one for Portugal both from the same company. Purchased (I used that word not rescued) when after travelling for 2 hours towards a rescue centre to see a dog and calling every half an hour the dog was given to someone that got there before us even though they knew we were travelling a great distance. I was told first come first service. Everyone we saw had issues which we were willing to take on until they realised we both worked (my office was a five minute walk to the house and I worked flex hours). We gave up and found this company and the reviews were excellent. We have had them both for over 4 years they are perfect totally perfect. One has people issues but just hides until she is ready to say hello. They bring us total joy everyday and have enriched our lives.

All that said these are in foster homes and checked for temperament etc and mine came to me already spade (sp) I believe some should be pts but this family are really trying for this poor girl. I do struggle with the 'experience' comments as this is the same for horses. Just because you have had lots does not mean you are experienced and know what you are doing it just means you have owned lots the same with dogs. A person that has had one dog for the duration of its life does not mean that they have no experience of behaviour or other issues.
 
Ouch05 said:
I do struggle with the 'experience' comments as this is the same for horses. Just because you have had lots does not mean you are experienced and know what you are doing it just means you have owned lots the same with dogs. A person that has had one dog for the duration of its life does not mean that they have no experience of behaviour or other issues.
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Fair point and to a certain extent I do agree. I would hope anyone who does not have enough experience/knowledge, or in some cases even if they do, call it what you will, would engage the help of qualified behaviourists if they found themselves out of their depth with either a dog or a horse.
 
I had trouble rehoming from the rspca, reserved dog, many visits, had house check, advised higher fence, put fence up as directed within days, kept in contact with them, then found out when i went to arrange a collection day, they had given the dog to someone else who worked at the centre! Lost total faith in the English system so acquired 2 over the years, from a 'genuine' local Irish rescue.
Although i agree there should be certain checks for the rehoming process, I think Uk make it extremely hard, there needs to be a happy medium, it's ironic it is easier to adopt a dog from abroad than it is in our local rescues.
 
CorvusCorax said:
To be fair, would RSPCA or Dogs Trust have let a dog like that out the door?
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No, they wouldn't, but neither would a good Romanian one. They do have to PTS some dogs, others stay on in Romania as rescue kennel dogs if they are unsuitable for family life. I know several people with foreign rescues, the Romanian ones came with background and fitted in well, in fact you wouldn't know they were rescues, the Greek dog took longer to settle in and is still a bit of a loose cannon. All dogs are different!
 
SilverLinings said:
It was reported in the news yesterday (BBC R4) that all of the RSPCAs rescue centres are now completely full, so we appear to have a large domestic (as in UK) pet crisis looming, particularly with regards to dogs and the aftermath of the 'pandemic puppy' craze. I also personally know of three European rescues who have been handed into UK rescues since the start of the pandemic because their adopters couldn't cope (two were completely feral and terrified and one was very aggressive), so the UK charities are dealing with these too.

The UK rescues are going to have to be more realistic/practical in their rehoming policies or accept that they need to start euthanising quite large numbers of dogs- or refusing to take any more in which will result in an increase in strays and even larger welfare problems.
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The kennels that house the dogs belonging to the rescue that I volunteer for are also used by the RSPCA (and other rescues). While I don't agree with many of their policies including some rehoming practices, I don't see them put unreasonable blockers in the way of rehomers usually. But I'm afraid that many people who might not tick all the 'right' boxes on the application form are refused and it's because of the idiots who have gone before them. Those who promise that the dog will never be in the garden unsupervised because they only have 4ft fences - more often than not, the dog will be returned in weeks because the neighbours are complaining, it got picked up by the dog warden or was involved in a RTA (returned with a large vet bill then). Those who swear that the dog won't be left for more than 4 hours - many will give the dog back cos again, neighbours complaining, house wrecked - can you believe it? their job changed totally unexpectedly days after they got the dog. Dog returned because they growled at the kids - what kids? Oh my kids, they don't live here, just here every other weekend and half holidays. Or it turns out that they care for grandchildren M-F. None were disclosed before rehoming... Or the dog had a pop at a visitor - the dog that they were warned was wary of strangers, that they promised would be shut back securely and proper intros made but since it had been 'so good' with them it was allowed to greet visitors at the front door loose in a narrow hallway. What could go wrong there?

When I'm reviewing application forms and doing home checks I must admit that I love when it's a horsey person who is applying. IME they are not overly fluffy, can read an animal and step in before it goes south, tend to be realistic about letting a dog settle in, understand that walks are not optional and most importantly, do not give up and return a dog at the first hurdle! They are the people I am happy to rehome to even if it's not the perfect home on paper but we are a small rescue who can be more flexible. The bigger rescues have policies and procedures in place that must be followed regardless due to their size and how chaotic it would get if everyone did their own thing. They are very corporate.

The 'stray' dogs are coming in thick and fast at the moment. I'm not convinced that many are actually strays, they are being handed into vets/kennels by people who claim that they found them loose locally. As far as I'm aware, the only big rescue in the South East that will take owner surrenders now is Battersea but many people who can't keep a dog wouldn't know about them/be able to get there and after calling a couple of rescues and being refused, claim that their dog is a stray that they are handing in. Also, we seem to be getting lots of calls from vets asking us to take dogs that have been brought to them for PTS often with behavioural problems or expensive chronic medical conditions. While I completely empathise with vets who do not want to PTS for what they see as a treatable or trainable condition, the reality is that a small rescue cannot rehome a dog with uninsurable medical costs without agreeing to pay for the treatment for life and they do not have the resources to do that. Even the RSPCA has stopped doing that fairly recently. We do take some of the dogs with behavioural issues but not the one that has put three people in hospital to date. I asked both the vet and the owner where they thought we could rehome to. Both said an experienced home - issue is that an experienced home, knowing the history and the dogs breeding would not want him! Then he's stuck in kennels for a long time - fosterers are not asked to take a dog with a bite history - many kennel staff (understandably) do not want to handle them so a volunteer has to be available a minimum of 3 times a day to feed and exercise and as a volunteer, I freely admit that I'm not really up for being damaged either... PTS in circumstances like that is justifiable IMO but the backlash that rescues get if there is a suspicion that they refused a dog who was then PTS is unreal.
 
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cbmcts said:
The kennels that house the dogs belonging to the rescue that I volunteer for are also used by the RSPCA (and other rescues). While I don't agree with many of their policies including some rehoming practices, I don't see them put unreasonable blockers in the way of rehomers usually. But I'm afraid that many people who might not tick all the 'right' boxes on the application form are refused and it's because of the idiots who have gone before them. Those who promise that the dog will never be in the garden unsupervised because they only have 4ft fences - more often than not, the dog will be returned in weeks because the neighbours are complaining, it got picked up by the dog warden or was involved in a RTA (returned with a large vet bill then). Those who swear that the dog won't be left for more than 4 hours - many will give the dog back cos again, neighbours complaining, house wrecked - can you believe it? their job changed totally unexpectedly days after they got the dog. Dog returned because they growled at the kids - what kids? Oh my kids, they don't live here, just here every other weekend and half holidays. Or it turns out that they care for grandchildren M-F. None were disclosed before rehoming... Or the dog had a pop at a visitor - the dog that they were warned was wary of strangers, that they promised would be shut back securely and proper intros made but since it had been 'so good' with them it was allowed to greet visitors at the front door loose in a narrow hallway. What could go wrong there?

When I'm reviewing application forms and doing home checks I must admit that I love when it's a horsey person who is applying. IME they are not overly fluffy, can read an animal and step in before it goes south, tend to be realistic about letting a dog settle in, understand that walks are not optional and most importantly, do not give up and return a dog at the first hurdle! They are the people I am happy to rehome to even if it's not the perfect home on paper but we are a small rescue who can be more flexible. The bigger rescues have policies and procedures in place that must be followed regardless due to their size and how chaotic it would get if everyone did their own thing. They are very corporate.

The 'stray' dogs are coming in thick and fast at the moment. I'm not convinced that many are actually strays, they are being handed into vets/kennels by people who claim that they found them loose locally. As far as I'm aware, the only big rescue in the South East that will take owner surrenders now is Battersea but many people who can't keep a dog wouldn't know about them/be able to get there and after calling a couple of rescues and being refused, claim that their dog is a stray that they are handing in. Also, we seem to be getting lots of calls from vets asking us to take dogs that have been brought to them for PTS often with behavioural problems or expensive chronic medical conditions. While I completely empathise with vets who do not want to PTS for what they see as a treatable or trainable condition, the reality is that a small rescue cannot rehome a dog with uninsurable medical costs without agreeing to pay for the treatment for life and they do not have the resources to do that. Even the RSPCA has stopped doing that fairly recently. We do take some of the dogs with behavioural issues but not the one that has put three people in hospital to date. I asked both the vet and the owner where they thought we could rehome to. Both said an experienced home - issue is that an experienced home, knowing the history and the dogs breeding would not want him! Then he's stuck in kennels for a long time - fosterers are not asked to take a dog with a bite history - many kennel staff (understandably) do not want to handle them so a volunteer has to be available a minimum of 3 times a day to feed and exercise and as a volunteer, I freely admit that I'm not really up for being damaged either... PTS in circumstances like that is justifiable IMO but the backlash that rescues get if there is a suspicion that they refused a dog who was then PTS is unreal.
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Lots of really good points although I remember years ago being refused a cat from the Blue Cross as we were in the Forces - they wouldn’t rehome to the Forces due to the number of animals given in when the people moved. Cats Protection let us have one and he lived with us for 15 years, even moving to Germany with us at one point. So I can see both sides of view of the charities.

When a friend was looking for a dog I was browsing the Dogs Trust site and was surprised that any dog finds a home as there were so many restrictions (as listed in post above).
 
cbmcts said:
The kennels that house the dogs belonging to the rescue that I volunteer for are also used by the RSPCA (and other rescues). While I don't agree with many of their policies including some rehoming practices, I don't see them put unreasonable blockers in the way of rehomers usually. But I'm afraid that many people who might not tick all the 'right' boxes on the application form are refused and it's because of the idiots who have gone before them. Those who promise that the dog will never be in the garden unsupervised because they only have 4ft fences - more often than not, the dog will be returned in weeks because the neighbours are complaining, it got picked up by the dog warden or was involved in a RTA (returned with a large vet bill then). Those who swear that the dog won't be left for more than 4 hours - many will give the dog back cos again, neighbours complaining, house wrecked - can you believe it? their job changed totally unexpectedly days after they got the dog. Dog returned because they growled at the kids - what kids? Oh my kids, they don't live here, just here every other weekend and half holidays. Or it turns out that they care for grandchildren M-F. None were disclosed before rehoming... Or the dog had a pop at a visitor - the dog that they were warned was wary of strangers, that they promised would be shut back securely and proper intros made but since it had been 'so good' with them it was allowed to greet visitors at the front door loose in a narrow hallway. What could go wrong there?
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It must be incredibly difficult for charities/staff to make rehoming decisions, and I can certainly see how having rehomed dogs return to charities must make it harder to trust applicants in the future.

Do most charities do random home checks after the dog has been rehomed? If the adopter has said they WFH/don't have children/will carry out training/etc then surely a few random checks during the first year would weed out some of the adopters who were 'creative' with the truth in their applications? And hopefully the threat of random checks at the point of applying would reduce the number of people lying/exaggerating in the first place. Yes, it would cost money to do the checks, but if it weeded out homes that were likely to fail and also widened the potential pool of adopters (by being better able to trust any promises they make) then surely it would work out cost effective in the long run.

If regular random checks are already being carried out and this is how the 'mistruths' in the applications are discovered, then does the 'threat' of these checks need to be made clearer at the application stage? That said, I do realise that some people appear perfectly able to lie about circumstances whilst appearing to believe themselves that they are telling the truth.

There does seem to be some good homes being missed out on (particularly by the larger charities), but I understand that the rules are intended for the benefit of the dogs and may have been informed by previous unsuccesful rehoming experiences. It is more worrying though that some of the most obviously unsuitable homes who are legitimately turned down by rescues will just go straight out and buy a puppy instead, and god knows what the answer to that is.
 
If you look on some of the dog sites, especially dogs trust. they have very few dogs that can be rehomed with other dogs. People who have had dogs are Usually the sort of owners who can cope with integrating a new dog carefully so that neither dog gets injured but the charities don’t seem to be prepared to see each person as an individual and judge accordingly. I tried quite a few rescues and was turned down by one because I had guinea pigs in a cage in the house and although the dog would be coming to work with me , I said it would be left once a week when I went shopping or if I had docs appt etc so unless I was there 24/7 I couldn’t adopt a dog, and then when I tried to adopt a dog to Be a pal for my dog (who I had from a puppy) and i didn’t mention the Guinea pigs, I still couldn’t even get a 6 month old puppy b3cause they said it had to be an only dog. And more recently I had no success again I assume because I had a resident dog or maybe it was my age, who knows but the rescues missed out again. Then we hear of a first time owner adopting a foreign rescue dog who is so petrified of anything and everything it really shouldn’t have been bought over here at all..poor thing
 
When I was a kid my mum took on a rather shut down cat. She had been badly beaten as a kitten and abandoned. She was taken on by the CPL. They had fully expected to keep her themselves as not suitable for rehoming but our house was quite rural and we'd fostered for them before so they trusted us with difficult cases. We could give her the hands off life she needed. A few years later and she'd become the perfect pet but every step was taken at her speed and we had never asked for or encouraged that from her. She could have just used our home as nothing more than a base if she wanted to.

It's a long and difficult journey for any pet but much easier with a cat than a dog. (And it helped having an understanding vet with their own metal gauntlets for vaccination or treament)
 
When we were looking in Ireland one of the conditions, at one rescue, was that if a dog was going to left alone for a length of time you had to have 2 dogs in the household for company. Obviously you had to conform to the rest of their adoption criteria which was similar to UK
 
I've said it before but...I know UK rescues can be OTT with requirements but I still do not understand how people go from that to 'let's invite a semi/completely feral animal into our home' when searching for a companion/pet. I usually try to be open minded about most things but with the dog rescue crisis coming/here, bringing more dogs in from abroad, subjecting them to days long drives and then plonking them in totally alien environments with humans they have never needed or been in contact with so they can be pets, doesn't sit right at all. That said, I hope this dog makes progress and he and his owners are able to have an enjoyable life together.

It was actually one of the bigger rescue organisations we got Ivy from. A smaller rescue was unhappy with a few of our fence sections being 5ft instead of 6, and wanted us to look at day care options instead of walkers. In the time it took to source dog fencing and try to find home-based day care (not easy!), we found Ivy. We didn't hide anything and disclosed the info about our fencing and work. They were just more relaxed, we brought Ivy home, and have not looked back!
 
I'm astonished that we still import dogs from abroad. Why?

I met a couple with a Caucasian shepherd last weekend. Massively overweight and has cataracts. They wanted to chat but clutched on to her via her harness, so I wasn't keen. I don't see the point of importing dogs with major issues when rescues are full and our rescues are lovely.
 
cauda equina said:
How can people hand in their own dog claiming it's a stray now that all dogs are (or should be) microchipped?
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Lots of dogs never have their original microchips updated - many microchips are of Welsh or Irish origin, puppy farmed/gumtree dog breeders don't register the buyers details - and the peeps handing them over don't give their real or any name! When the last registered contacted owner is contacted they claim that gave away or sold the dog aaaaaagggges ago.

asmp said:
When a friend was looking for a dog I was browsing the Dogs Trust site and was surprised that any dog finds a home as there were so many restrictions (as listed in post above).
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The dogs that actually make to the websites or social media are the ones with issues. Rescues still have waiting lists for straight forward dogs so they never need to be advertised.

SilverLinings said:
It must be incredibly difficult for charities/staff to make rehoming decisions, and I can certainly see how having rehomed dogs return to charities must make it harder to trust applicants in the future.

Do most charities do random home checks after the dog has been rehomed? If the adopter has said they WFH/don't have children/will carry out training/etc then surely a few random checks during the first year would weed out some of the adopters who were 'creative' with the truth in their applications? And hopefully the threat of random checks at the point of applying would reduce the number of people lying/exaggerating in the first place. Yes, it would cost money to do the checks, but if it weeded out homes that were likely to fail and also widened the potential pool of adopters (by being better able to trust any promises they make) then surely it would work out cost effective in the long run.

If regular random checks are already being carried out and this is how the 'mistruths' in the applications are discovered, then does the 'threat' of these checks need to be made clearer at the application stage? That said, I do realise that some people appear perfectly able to lie about circumstances whilst appearing to believe themselves that they are telling the truth.
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I can't speak for other rescues but as a small breed rescue who rehomes nationwide, we rely on a small network of contacts within the 'breed world' to home check for us. Most of them also home check for other rescues too. They are offered mileage only (many don't take it) but a single home check can take half a day or an entire evening depending on distances. It can be really difficult to schedule home checks as it is - both parties have to find a mutually agreeable time and as a sign of the times, often home checkers are not comfortable going to random addresses solo so you add a third person whose availability has to taken into account. Random checks would be great but there just aren't enough people to do them! There is also the issue that the dog is now the property of the new owner and if the rescue want to remove them, I would imagine that court/legal action would have to be taken. That would take time and a lot of (non existent) money. It's every rescues worse nightmare that one of their animals ends up in a worse situation than they were rescued from which is another reason that they are so cautious when rehoming.

splashgirl45 said:
If you look on some of the dog sites, especially dogs trust. they have very few dogs that can be rehomed with other dogs. People who have had dogs are Usually the sort of owners who can cope with integrating a new dog carefully so that neither dog gets injured but the charities don’t seem to be prepared to see each person as an individual and judge accordingly. I tried quite a few rescues and was turned down by one because I had guinea pigs in a cage in the house and although the dog would be coming to work with me , I said it would be left once a week when I went shopping or if I had docs appt etc so unless I was there 24/7 I couldn’t adopt a dog, and then when I tried to adopt a dog to Be a pal for my dog (who I had from a puppy) and i didn’t mention the Guinea pigs, I still couldn’t even get a 6 month old puppy b3cause they said it had to be an only dog. And more recently I had no success again I assume because I had a resident dog or maybe it was my age, who knows but the rescues missed out again. Then we hear of a first time owner adopting a foreign rescue dog who is so petrified of anything and everything it really shouldn’t have been bought over here at all..poor thing
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Some rescues are a bit OTT I can't deny that. :) On the other hand, a 6 month puppy probably had a lot of applications and the rescue could be very choosy about who got it. If it was me, I would have offered you a chance to go on a waiting list and contacted you when a suitable (IMO)dog came in - that might have been in 6 weeks, 6 months or even longer and by then you might have got another dog somewhere else or your circumstances may have changed. It would be lovely if we could treat all applicants as individuals and had the resources to check each and every potential home out thoroughly but please remember, in this case we are all volunteers (not many of us!)usually with jobs/families/our own animals as well as the rescue dogs to care for, evaluate and train as well as rehome. Plus the time spent fundraising... And most of us are not professional dog trainers or expert in assessing people so I'm sure we all have our unconscious bias going on with a healthy dose of cynicism after listening to so many excuses from various people.

I do get the frustration and hurt when you know you are a great home but no one seems to be listening. I too would not meet the criteria for the national rescues but I got involved as a volunteer at another rescue because a lady where I kept my horses was a trustee and roped me in. On the back of that, I fostered for a now defunct breed rescue and the contacts I made through them involved me in the breed world. It was never planned like that but it does mean that if I wanted another breed through rescue I would be vouched for by somebody who knows somebody and would not have to strictly fulfil the official requirements. Whenever someone tells me that they can't rescue because no rescue will rehome to them or they never have a suitable dog I always wonder if they considered asking if they could volunteer for them, if they could offer references - rather than waiting to be asked - from vets/trainers/dog walkers or asked if there was a waiting list that they could join. Really what could you do to reassure the rescue that you would be a good owner. Once you are involved in rescue, you have the opposite problem, so many dogs that you could take home. That's how I ended up with 4 rottweilers, 2 terriers and 3 cats at once some years ago! I also had 2 horses at the time and needed a very big car :D
 
I can appreciate what you are saying but as a retired active person(age 55 at the time) I found it so frustrating that it was so difficult to rescue a dog. I walked my dog twice a day and she also came to the yard with me so had company most of the time , I owned my property , with a mortgage, and had a fully enclosed garden, didn’t have young children visiting, and only went out about once a month for a meal with friends. I don’t know what else they would need to let me have a dog so after trying for over 6 months I got a puppy. Over the years I tried a few more times but was never successful so the last 5 dogs were all bought as puppies.as I am now 76 I will not be getting any more dogs as my 3 will see me to the end of my days and if I go sooner I have made arrangements for their care
 
nagblagger said:
I had trouble rehoming from the rspca, reserved dog, many visits, had house check, advised higher fence, put fence up as directed within days, kept in contact with them, then found out when i went to arrange a collection day, they had given the dog to someone else who worked at the centre! Lost total faith in the English system so acquired 2 over the years, from a 'genuine' local Irish rescue.
Although i agree there should be certain checks for the rehoming process, I think Uk make it extremely hard, there needs to be a happy medium, it's ironic it is easier to adopt a dog from abroad than it is in our local rescues.
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that was my friends parents experience totally.
 
SilverLinings said:
It must be incredibly difficult for charities/staff to make rehoming decisions, and I can certainly see how having rehomed dogs return to charities must make it harder to trust applicants in the future.
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I've watched a few episodes of The Dog House and thought some of the matches were a bit dubious. It must be very hard for centres as outwardly people who contact a rehoming centre might give an impression of themselves or their lifestyle, which in reality couldn't be further from the truth.
 
CorvusCorax said:
Whoever they have staying in the house at the minute seems to be getting more out of her. Probably less stress.
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Yes I saw that update this morning, despite all my disapproval of the whole rescue from abroad thing, I have to admit to being absolutely thrilled to see some positive progress. Lets hope it continues in the right direction.
 
Apropos of nothing, my eldest dog DETESTS having a camera or phone shoved in his face, he used to get really grumbly and I had to tell a boarding kennel not do to the 'pics of dogs eating' thing (they ignored me and I saw him on their Facebook with his ears wrapped and giving them whale eye, rather them than me....)

I know people are desperate for updates but I am wondering if people stopped hovering around the sofa with a weird thing in their hand.....
 
I was a little disappointed to see continuous stroking rather than a gentle stroke and then let the dog show how she feels about it before going back for more, but I mean, I guess she's not behind the sofa anymore? I'm not in any way an expert or even that knowledgeable on body language but when I pet a dog I like them to engage/show they're enjoying it and Sophie looks like she is just tolerating it.

I have many complex feelings about poor Sophie but I think her people are doing better than I would in the circumstances and are trying their best.
 
CorvusCorax said:
It is an improvement but she is still very, very, very, shut down. I would expect a bite from a dog with that body language, although if that is Diane, she is very 'over' her and would be better being off to the side.
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I do agree and I have already expressed my feelings on the whole issue. But having said that, she is here now, they are doing their very best by her so I am certainly not going to knock them for that and I am quite happy to wish them the very best and applaud the progress made so far. I do believe they are also engaging with a behaviourist and he was in fact their today so I imagine that input is helping to guide them somewhat.
 
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