#sophiefromromania

They love the publicity and everyone saying how great they are for taking her on . That dog would have been better PTS in her own country and not put through a long journey and stress in a household of people who don’t seem to be aware of her terrified she is … too many dogs are put through this trauma and many of them seize the opportunity to escape and try and live as street dogs over here, I doubt many of them survive ☹️
 
skinnydipper said:
I don’t think they are doing too badly with a dog removed from all that is familiar and transported to another country.

Especially when you consider how many people buy a puppy and f*ck it up. Dogs that people have had from puppies who are rehomed, put to sleep or languish in crates due to behavioural problems.
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But regardless of how many other people are already f*cking up pups and dogs doesn't make what they are doing with this particular dog OK IMHO. I think any reputable rehoming facility would most certainly have thought this couple far from ideal for this poor little dog with so many issues that they seem ill equipped and too inexperienced to deal with in the dogs best interests.
 
skint.spotty said:
IME that is most foreign dogs: the life they are used to is another universe to what dogs are expected to deal with in a typical British home.
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Totally agree. You cannot take a dog used to roaming on the streets and fending for its self, away from all that, confine it and expect it to cope.

A behaviourist friend that I help, sees them regularly, some are very resilient and cope, but lots don't. Its so unfair on the dog and the people who take them on, however well meaning they may be.
 
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I don't think that it's been mentioned before on this thread, but it's rather relevant that Rory Cellan-Jones has Parkinson's disease. His mobility is inevitably going to become increasingly restricted. I can absolutely understand the desire for a dog to walk to get him out of the house and into the fresh air, but the dog needs to be a well trained, easy to manage dog (on and off lead) with excellent recall.

A former street dog is unlikely ever to fit this bill.
 
The one thing that would probably decrease foreign rescues would be for UK rehoming charities to make their adopter criteria more pragmatic/realistic.

I know two people who rehomed from abroad (their dogs are lovely - well-trained and well-socialized) because they could not get a dog from a UK-based charity. One is a single doctor who works full time. She said she would get a dog-walker, but that was not acceptable. Apparently if you live alone and work full time, you are out. The other friend was a vet student. They would not rehome to a student. Both these women were experienced dog owners. I also know an older lady (late 60s/early70s) - she used to have a horse at my previous barn - whose old dog died, and she could not rehome a new dog because the charities deemed her too old. She doesn't have a dog anymore, which is a shame because she could have provided a nice home for an elderly dog that people are not lining up at the door to adopt.

Requirements seem to be under 60 but not a student, working from home or independantly wealthy so you can be home all the time, and middle-class enough to have a large yard with a 6ft fence. And people wonder why the rescues are full......
 
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Caol Ila said:
The one thing that would probably decrease foreign rescues would be for UK rehoming charities to make their adopter

Requirements seem to be under 60 but not a student, working from home or independantly wealthy so you can be home all the time, and middle-class enough to have a large yard with a 6ft fence. And people wonder why the rescues are full......
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And don't forget- No children.
 
That too. That's the stay-at-home parents out.

I do get that a lot of these animals are seriously messed up and many will not be compatible with kids, flat living, working outside of home full time, city parks, etc., but there's a difference between being rejected at the initial application screening stage vs. being told, "We don't have anything quite suited to you at this time but stay in touch."
 
Yep, no dogs, no cats, no kids, no old people, no young people, no dog walker, no activities or socialising that you can't do with your new dog in tow, no gardens less than one acre.

Basically no life whatsoever and they might, just might let you have one of their dogs, but definitely not the poster dog you are enquiring about, they keep those specifically for heartbreaking, loose wallet inducing, attention seeking, fluffy bunny fundraising activities.
 
Agree Mrs J. , I couldn’t even get as far as a home check but I would have failed on the fencing as although solid with no holes, it’s only 5 ft tall☹️☹️.
im not sure how I’ve managed to keep lurchers, collie and terriers in my own garden , yes my lurchers could have jumped out but they would only go into next doors garden as I’m in a terraced cottage , they never even tried ..
 
Mrs. Jingle said:
Yep, no dogs, no cats, no kids, no old people, no young people, no dog walker, no activities or socialising that you can't do with your new dog in tow, no gardens less than one acre.

Basically no life whatsoever and they might, just might let you have one of their dogs, but definitely not the poster dog you are enquiring about, they keep those specifically for heartbreaking, loose wallet inducing, attention seeking, fluffy bunny fundraising activities.
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Not forgetting the rescues that won't let you have a dog if you plan to EVER let it off the lead.
 
There're a lot of anti-rescue people who say they've 'tried everywhere' and can't get a dog, but to what extent are they being picky about what breed/age of dog etc they want? You can easily rehome a greyhound. Most greyhound/lurcher rescues are fine with full time workers as long as the dog gets a break in the middle of the day, because they're dogs that tend to sleep more than other breeds. My fences are only 5ft and that wasn't an issue either (might need to be 6ft for a lurcher, but not all of them).

People lie to rescues all the time and it's the rescues that get it in the neck if something bad happens, so as frustrating as it might be I can understand why they're overly-cautious. They also take in the dogs that people get as puppies (often people who complained they couldn't rehome a dog), screw up because they have no idea what they're doing/the breed is wrong for their lifestyle, and then dump.

I also understand if you're e.g. a spaniel person then you might not like greyhounds and lurchers, but at the same time if you really want a dog...I'd really love to have a whippet from a puppy one day but since I work full time and I'm single I'm resigned to not having one for a long, long time.
 
I also understand if you're e.g. a spaniel person then you might not like greyhounds and lurchers, but at the same time if you really want a dog...
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I don’t think anyone should be singled out for rejecting a particular breed. People want a dog for a variety of reasons, and people seek to choose the right dog for their situation.

The large rescue organisations are renowned for being particularly tricky to deal with. I would only ever deal with small local rescues who have more flexibility and understand the real world lives that people have.
 
I think there also seems to be a huge difference in requirements between different rescues, with some being relatively lax and some seemingly terrified of being sued. Trying to work out whether potential adopters are telling the truth or not must be very difficult too.

I think most people who have decided they want a dog will go and get one from somewhere else if a rescue turns them down. Unfortunately that means that the most unsuitable potential owners will then go somewhere completely inappropriate to get a dog- such as re-homing a dangerous or damaged dog, or buying from a puppy farm- which will then have ramifications on dog welfare at some point.
 
I recently applied to a rescue for a pup that was available for rehoming. I have had a dog from them previously, who is happily still here. I can only assume that I am considered too old (and apparently also not worth replying too), as today the puppy is shown on their website in it's new home with it's, and I quote, "ickle new hooman" child owner. Presumably and hopefully there are parents also involved.
 
Well turns out the vet insists on it for any imported dogs on their books (unless evidence can be provided that it is already done) and as such, although they were not tested 3 months after import, they were tested when they signed up to the new vets a few years later.
 
Amymay said:
I don’t think anyone should be singled out for rejecting a particular breed. People want a dog for a variety of reasons, and people seek to choose the right dog for their situation.
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I agree, although I'd also say there are a lot of people who are not very realistic about the breed they set their heart on and then get angry with rescues because they won't let them have e.g. a collie when they work all day or whatever. But yeah, rescues that can be flexible with people who will actually be good owners are wonderful.
 
Caol Ila said:
Aye, I've heard that the greyhound rescues are pretty down-to-earth but my friends wanted a hillwalking dog. Correct me if I'm wrong, but greyhounds are not the dog for you if long hikes over steep, rough ground is what you want do with it.
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Mine will walk for miles and miles but no, rough ground isn't so good! A lurcher would love it, though. Again I suppose it's that line of needing a dog that loves exercise and yet will switch-off all day if you're out at work, it's tricky.
 
ellieb said:
There're a lot of anti-rescue people who say they've 'tried everywhere' and can't get a dog, but to what extent are they being picky about what breed/age of dog etc they want? You can easily rehome a greyhound. Most greyhound/lurcher rescues are fine with full time workers as long as the dog gets a break in the middle of the day, because they're dogs that tend to sleep more than other breeds. My fences are only 5ft and that wasn't an issue either (might need to be 6ft for a lurcher, but not all of them).

People lie to rescues all the time and it's the rescues that get it in the neck if something bad happens, so as frustrating as it might be I can understand why they're overly-cautious. They also take in the dogs that people get as puppies (often people who complained they couldn't rehome a dog), screw up because they have no idea what they're doing/the breed is wrong for their lifestyle, and then dump.

I also understand if you're e.g. a spaniel person then you might not like greyhounds and lurchers, but at the same time if you really want a dog...I'd really love to have a whippet from a puppy one day but since I work full time and I'm single I'm resigned to not having one for a long, long time.
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I wanted an older dog about 8 ish and medium or small size so it didn’t bully my collie who was 10. There were plenty of staffies , greyhounds, huge lurchers, but it seems that the problem was I was honest and said the dog would be left every day while I did my horse, maybe 2 hours max, I was happy for either mine to be crated or the new one while I was out at the beginning, I was not successful .. I had a small car at the time so couldn’t accommodate a large dog.
I was turned down by Wood Green , I wanted a small lurcher that I saw in the kennels , was interviewed by a young person who decided that I couldn’t adopt as I had Guinea pigs in the house , in a cage on the table, she said if I had the pigs outside I could adopt.. so they lost out as I wasn’t banishing my pigs to the garden. At that time I worked at the stables and the dog would come to work with me and would have hardly ever been left on his own indoors , but there are docs appts etc that mean the dog had to stay at home. Those are the 2 main problems I had over the years and each time I bought a puppy … I did try a few more times but I was in my 60’s by then and it seemed I was too old even though I walked for almost 2 hours with my dog every day, rain or shine… yes I was picky but I knew what would suit my lifestyle and facilities and I consider that responsible
 
Cortez said:
I recently applied to a rescue for a pup that was available for rehoming. I have had a dog from them previously, who is happily still here. I can only assume that I am considered too old (and apparently also not worth replying too), as today the puppy is shown on their website in it's new home with it's, and I quote, "ickle new hooman" child owner. Presumably and hopefully there are parents also involved.
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And I suspect from the language used that refers to a rescue in Ireland who dresses Mali's up in scarves and beads and posts as 'family pets' and who took a stray dogo argentino from a pound in Dublin, drove it home and allowed it to sit on a 12yr old girls lap licking her face. They prefer to rehome to UK - less chance of a comeback if something goes wrong.
 
splashgirl45 said:
I was turned down by Wood Green , I wanted a small lurcher that I saw in the kennels , was interviewed by a young person who decided that I couldn’t adopt as I had Guinea pigs in the house , in a cage on the table, she said if I had the pigs outside I could adopt.. so they lost out as I wasn’t banishing my pigs to the garden.
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Sorry to hear you had so much trouble, I've heard other people say Wood Green wasn't easy to adopt from. Like Amymay said I think the smaller local or breed-specific rescues are the way to go. For example I know someone who got a lurcher from Lurcher Link and they were fine about her having house rabbits as long as she was prepared to take responsibility for the management of it - and also LL chose which dogs suited her, not the other way around.
 
ellieb said:
Sorry to hear you had so much trouble, I've heard other people say Wood Green wasn't easy to adopt from. Like Amymay said I think the smaller local or breed-specific rescues are the way to go. For example I know someone who got a lurcher from Lurcher Link and they were fine about her having house rabbits as long as she was prepared to take responsibility for the management of it - and also LL chose which dogs suited her, not the other way around.
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well I was told a definite no and ended up buying a lurcher puppy and my pigs died of old age because I have had dogs all of my life and I understand that lurchers have a high prey drive having owned them before, and I homed the Guinea pigs when I had an adult lurcher and they all survived . If a rescue tells me which dog they think is suitable it might not suit me as I know my capabilities and situation much better than they do . However Wood Green just said no!!!!
 
Sorry but I believe a lot of this enthusiasm for 'rescues' (whither horses or dogs) is about virtue signalling and not about an actual deep seated concern for the/any animal's welfare but more about stoking the individual's ego. This seems particularly true with horses where almost everyone who buys a horse these days (according to social media) has 'rescued' it. Or am I just too cynical?
 
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