#sophiefromromania

Going back to UK rescues.
We couldn’t get a rescue dog in the UK.
When we were looking we had no kids, an 8ft tall fence round our garden, plenty of experience with rescue dogs, the ability to walk a dog multiple times a day and were willing to take on a dog with issues.

We were denied because we both work. We work different hours so dog are not left more than 5 hours tops. We were willing to get a dog walker or a second dog for company.

So we ended up privately rehoming dogs. Jezza came from a lady at work who was going through a nasty divorce and he wasn’t getting the time or attention he needed.
Daisy came through me answering an advert in the paper. The guy rehoming her had terminal cancer.
I didn’t pay a penny for either dog and they have both had many many years of comfort, love, care and attention.

We are probably going to lose Jezza on Monday. We wont be replacing him for many many years. We now have a little person to think about and whilst i know and trust our 2 dogs I won’t take the risk with an unknown dog.
 
conniegirl said:
Going back to UK rescues.
We couldn’t get a rescue dog in the UK.
When we were looking we had no kids, an 8ft tall fence round our garden, plenty of experience with rescue dogs, the ability to walk a dog multiple times a day and were willing to take on a dog with issues.

We were denied because we both work. We work different hours so dog are not left more than 5 hours tops. We were willing to get a dog walker or a second dog for company.

So we ended up privately rehoming dogs. Jezza came from a lady at work who was going through a nasty divorce and he wasn’t getting the time or attention he needed.
Daisy came through me answering an advert in the paper. The guy rehoming her had terminal cancer.
I didn’t pay a penny for either dog and they have both had many many years of comfort, love, care and attention.

We are probably going to lose Jezza on Monday. We wont be replacing him for many many years. We now have a little person to think about and whilst i know and trust our 2 dogs I won’t take the risk with an unknown dog.
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Sorry to hear about Jezza.
 
To be fair to the behaviourist, they can only advise and try to mitigate the damage if owners are set on a course of action.

That dog needed to be sent to an experienced foster or behaviourist who could take it into their own home, so the less experienced fumblings don’t occur.

I will say though that in my experience, traumatised feral animals do not ever choose human company. You have to take the initiative carefully and sensitively, to desensitise them to humans - on their own they will stay away altogether, following their instincts to avoid something they have experience of being dangerous.
 
Everything about this story is wrong. Bringing a traumatised dog in from abroad when there are loads of UK dogs desperately needing homes: wrong. Placing a clearly high maintenance dog needing seriously special care into a home of well meaning utterly unqualified numpties that is never going to work in their lives: wrong. Bringing camera crews into the house to gawp at a distressed animal for entertainment: wrong. Selling this situation as ‘aw how sweet, trying to do something nice for this poor dog’: wrong, it’ll mean other idiots try with lord knows what consequences. The way the dog was being stroked: wrong.

If that was my dog I wouldn’t be touching it or going anywhere near it in that state. It’s on a knife edge. Which leads me to the final thought: imo allowing that dog to continue in such distress is also wrong. Giving her a chance, fine, but with a specialist able to consistently work with the behaviour. I suspect the rest of her existence will be extreme stress and frankly I think that’s unfair. I would pts for everyone’s sake. And if that had happened months ago that would have been fine by me. This poor dog should not a prize or a virtue signal for a well meaning idiotic celebrity, it’s like taking Victorian middle class gawpers round Bedlam to enjoy the spectacle of the mentally ill. Actually makes me feel a bit sick.

My dad had a cardboard box that our telly came in, for our jack russell when we were little. It was fully enclosed like a den. My dad taught us the meaning of the word ‘sanctuary’ and we were absolutely forbidden from going near the dog in sanctuary. This lot keep pestering the dog when she’s in hers. It’s asking for trouble and utterly stupid. Urgh.
 
Agree they need to leave her alone and having the press there was disgraceful.
She does seem to have turned a corner in recent days though and is tentatively out from behind the sofa quite a bit now it seems.
 
They talked to Rory about Sophie on You and Yours (Radio 4) today (it's on BBC Sounds), and also talked to other people about their experiences of adopting dogs.

Rory said that they knew that they may be given a nervous dog, but never thought it would be anything like as bad as she is. Apparently the video they saw beforehand of her in Romania showed a much more confident dog, jumping about licking her foster carer's hand- this was prior to her being transported to the UK. He said that today Sophie has been having a bad day and hasn't come out from behind the sofa- she was better at the weekend but has got worse since then.
 
SilverLinings said:
They talked to Rory about Sophie on You and Yours (Radio 4) today (it's on BBC Sounds), and also talked to other people about their experiences of adopting dogs.

Rory said that they knew that they may be given a nervous dog, but never thought it would be anything like as bad as she is. Apparently the video they saw beforehand of her in Romania showed a much more confident dog, jumping about licking her foster carer's hand- this was prior to her being transported to the UK. He said that today Sophie has been having a bad day and hasn't come out from behind the sofa- she was better at the weekend but has got worse since then.
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It doesn't help Sophie but maybe her story might make people think twice before putting dogs though this whole rescue/transport business. That journey would be stressful for a well adjusted family pet with repeated breaks, I suspect a lot of these poor dogs are chucked in a van one end and don't get out till the other. I would imagine all the visitors and cameras haven't helped Sophie in recent days.
 
MurphysMinder said:
It doesn't help Sophie but maybe her story might make people think twice before putting dogs though this whole rescue/transport business. That journey would be stressful for a well adjusted family pet with repeated breaks, I suspect a lot of these poor dogs are chucked in a van one end and don't get out till the other. I would imagine all the visitors and cameras haven't helped Sophie in recent days.
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The programme also included a lady who had adopted a puppy from Spain that was shipped over to the UK with the rest of the litter when very small. She said that she thought as he was a puppy she would be able to train him properly and wouldn't have the problems that may come with an older foreign rescue.

18 months in and she has started to think that PTS may be the only solution; the dog is very reactive, bites humans and other dogs, has to be sedated in advance of being taken anywhere like the vets, and needs to be muzzled at all times around people or other animals. She has worked with behaviourists and vets to try to help the dog, but he is getting no better.

She said that she would never again adopt from abroad, she thought that the fact that he was likely to be from feral street-dog stock and had also had the trauma of being hauled across europe at such a young age had contributed to his problems, with the resulting adult dog being completely unsuited to being a domestic pet. She was clearly very sad about it, with the presenter gently pointing out that PTS may be the right thing, especially as the dog doesn't sound happy.
 
I agree about the traumatised dogs, it’s seem to be very common with foreign rescues, I feel that humane PTS in their own country is preferable to the long stressful journey together with having to live indoors with people they don’t know and a climate that is alien to them.. I know of a few failed rescues near me when people have given them up or they have run off and never been found . Our country needs to beef up the border controls and prosecute the offenders and confiscate the dogs and PTS if they have no chance of a happy relaxed life
 
The journey is the least of their worries.

These dogs have been free, free to roam, freedom of choice, free to make their own decisions, to socialise with conspecifics only if they wish. They know where best to beg for food and where to forage. They have survived.

They come to a life where they have no freedom, denied choice. Their movement is restricted, sometimes extremely restricted if they are confined in a small box or wire cage for many hours a day. When released from there they are not free to roam, movement once again restricted this time by a leash. Forced to encounter other dogs, often head on.

Not surprising then that there will be a period of adjustment as they try to adapt to their new life.
 
skinnydipper said:
The journey is the least of their worries.

These dogs have been free, free to roam, freedom of choice, free to make their own decisions, to socialise with conspecifics only if they wish. They know where best to beg for food and where to forage. They have survived.

They come to a life where they have no freedom, denied choice. Their movement is restricted, sometimes extremely restricted if they are confined in a small box or wire cage for many hours a day. When released from there they are not free to roam, movement once again restricted this time by a leash. Forced to encounter other dogs, often head on.

Not surprising then that there will be a period of adjustment as they try to adapt to their new life.
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A journey from mainland Europe by road/sea/rail to the western fringes is a massive part of their worries, on top of what you have said.
 
skinnydipper said:
The journey is the least of their worries.

These dogs have been free, free to roam, freedom of choice, free to make their own decisions, to socialise with conspecifics only if they wish. They know where best to beg for food and where to forage. They have survived.

They come to a life where they have no freedom, denied choice. Their movement is restricted, sometimes extremely restricted if they are confined in a small box or wire cage for many hours a day. When released from there they are not free to roam, movement once again restricted this time by a leash. Forced to encounter other dogs, often head on.

Not surprising then that there will be a period of adjustment as they try to adapt to their new life.
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I can well imagine that many of them (particularly those in good health and from warmer countries) would rather be left to roam free than cooped up for 22+ hours a day in a small house and garden in the rainy UK. If they have been born feral they won't associate humans with 'good' things (or necessarily with 'bad' things, may just be indifferent), so won't be relieved/pleased/happy to be housed with one/several humans at the cost of their freedom.

I think a lot of people (particularly novice dog owners and those who've never owned a dog) don't consider the fact that dogs aren't aware of what the future may hold, so the dog won't think 'thank goodness I've been rescued as I may have been hit by a car/starved next winter/been killed by another dog in a fight in two year's time/etc'.

I think some humans just think that they want to live in a nice warm home with company and regular meals so that must be what a dog would like too, rather than thinking about what curtailing the dog's freedom may feel like.

Edited to correct grammar!
 
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My little spanish dog has issues. He has arthritis in all 4 legs at the age of 6 or 7. This is mainly due to poor nutrition as a pup when he was a stray, his legs are very very wonky. Fitzpatricks described his xrays as "very interesting" and said it would be unethical to operate on all 4 legs (we wouldn't have done it anyway) but they fixed his worst one and said he might not make old bones. That and librella keep him comfy. He is reactive if big dogs approach him. He is fabulous with us and other people he knows well, especially in his own home. He is affectionate and confident at home and other familiar places but aloof and wary outdoors. He loves his garden - his safe outdoor space which he guards ferociously from pigeons and squirrels.
As said previously he was already imported and discarded and back in foster care when I took him on. Our family adore him but he has confidence issues, is reactive with big dogs, used to guard toys but doesn't now, is muzzled for vet procedures. I trust him with "his" people but not with strangers.
I love him and so does everyone who knows him well including our vets, but for a small dog he needs a lot of managing! I believe his issues stem from being small and having to look after himself from a young age.
 
The two rescues I follow (out of interest!) that rehome galgos in Spain are very up front about the disease factor, e.g. 'any dog who tests positive for Leishmaniasis in Spain who is re-homed via Project Galgo will require evaluation tests every 6 months after their last one in Spain, until they have three clear results at which point they can be evaluated annually. We advise all new adopters to also have a 4dx test carried out 6 months after their last one in Spain. After this point, if both results are negative, then the tests must be done annually.'

Which is good, but I don't know how much these tests cost to have done and the fact that the adoption fee to the UK as well is £450 (which doesn't generally cover the cost of rescuing/neutering/transporting etc), makes me wonder why you would choose a galgo over a greyhound or lurcher from a full-to-bursting UK rescue. They're lovely dogs and need rescuing from the cruelty over there, but what an expensive adoption. And our UK dogs need rescuing too.
 
My daughter also got a rescue from Romania and now has two of them. Her dog is beautiful and gets long walks on nearby open ground. However the reason my daughter had that rescue was that she was turned down by the UK places looking to re home dogs, as both she and her husband worked and, apart from going out with the dog walker, the dogs would be alone all day till her teenage kids got home from school.
 
ellieb said:
The two rescues I follow (out of interest!) that rehome galgos in Spain are very up front about the disease factor, e.g. 'any dog who tests positive for Leishmaniasis in Spain who is re-homed via Project Galgo will require evaluation tests every 6 months after their last one in Spain, until they have three clear results at which point they can be evaluated annually. We advise all new adopters to also have a 4dx test carried out 6 months after their last one in Spain. After this point, if both results are negative, then the tests must be done annually.'
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Do they talk about other disease testing/vaccination/risk too, or just leish?
 
I was only advised about Leish when I got Moti but I had him from foster care here rather than the rescue in Spain. He was £350 plus rabies test/passport and handling fees but someone else had already paid and "adopted" him but changed their minds when he was midair. I paid £80 to the rescue as a goodwill gesture but he was intact and too thin/young to castrate so had that cost too. He had 2 negative Leish tests and TBH I have not had him tested since. He is 7ish now. The money would not bother me as I paid many times that for my KC reg JRT and had to spay her as well obviously. The brucella canis I had never heard of until I read about it here! Scary.
 
misst said:
I was only advised about Leish when I got Moti but I had him from foster care here rather than the rescue in Spain. He was £350 plus rabies test/passport and handling fees but someone else had already paid and "adopted" him but changed their minds when he was midair. I paid £80 to the rescue as a goodwill gesture but he was intact and too thin/young to castrate so had that cost too. He had 2 negative Leish tests and TBH I have not had him tested since. He is 7ish now. The money would not bother me as I paid many times that for my KC reg JRT and had to spay her as well obviously. The brucella canis I had never heard of until I read about it here! Scary.
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I only asked as it seems that not many foreign rescues state whether or not they test for C.Brucellosis, which is quite alarming.

It sounds like the rescue Moti came from did a lot more health checks than some do :)
 
It sounds like the rescue Moti came from did a lot more health checks than some do :)[/QUOTE]

Yes and no. No mention of C Brucellosis and he was destined for a home that changed their minds when he was on his way on the plane.. I'm not sure how good they were.
He ended up with us because our old girl had died and we were looking for an older, female, midsized dog in the UK... hmmm that went well! He was a tiny male 6 to 9 month old from Spain. We just felt sorry for him and I knew he couldn't stay with his foster mum as she had 4 dogs and it was too much for him. She had to keep him on his own and take him to work with her - which is how I got to see him. He was very unappealing unless you like scruffy rat-like dogs who are semi house trained and bark a lot. He's turned out ok though:cool: mainly thanks to my older JRT girl who showed him life was ok.
 
I'm not convinced anything the rescues say about disease checks or anything else can be believed. Lady I know got a Romanian rescue which was said to be vaccinated and neutered but that didn't stop her coming into season and needing neutering once she had got the terrified little creature.
 
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SilverLinings said:
Do they talk about other disease testing/vaccination/risk too, or just leish?
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They talk about Leish, Ehrlichiosis and Filariasis (must admit I don't know anything about the second two!). I don't think Brucella canis is endemic to Spain, it's not as bad as it is in Eastern Europe, so they don't mention that - but it's probably still a possibility.
 
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Well I hadn't heard of those two ellieb so I am unsure how good Moti's rescue was - but as I say I did not get directly from them though I did get a lot of paperwork/passport etc and instructions on basic dog care that came with him.
 
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