Love only goes so far ?

[John Craig]

As we are getting on in life now, we have to consider the age of dogs we adopt and also the type of dog. At this time we have Whippet Dolly who is probably 11 years old. Up until five months ago we also had Greyhound Milly, now passed away and Dolly misses canine company.
We now find ourselves looking for a companion for Dolly, but have laid down pretty strict guidelines which are 10+years, small sighthound. This narrows our choices significantly, but we are prepared to make a big effort to find the right little creature. It would appear however, that we are not considered suitable to adopt by several rescues, our geographical situation being the problem. A recent example being " if you want one of our dogs, you'll have to move down here". Very hurtful considering we would have made a 1,300 mile round trip to collect an old lady.
Has anyone else had this sort of difficult to prove problem ?

 

[JudyN]

The Lurcher Link rescue, though based in the north of England, let their dogs go to people all over the country and are excellent at matching dogs to your requirements/lifestyle. Also, there's an Oldies Club rescue specialising in older dogs. They don't have a fixed location but have dogs in foster across Britain, so worth a try. Of course, you might already have found both of these in your search.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on

 

[Kara 1]

Rescue remedies also rehome anywhere in the country and have homed to the USA ..good luck

 

[Mad Murphy]

Sadly I have heard stories of rescues being very unrealistic in their demands. One person I know was refused 3 times for really silly reasons and what one rescue thought was ok another said made him not suitable..

Such a pity because the dogs are the ones who suffer from the draconian rules.

 

[Nanny71]

Being elderly we were never going to have a dog, certainly not a puppy, but due to circumstances we had Dudley a five month old. He is now just over three.
Hopefully we will remain active for several more years.
Certainly at the moment he keeps me going five miles a day at least.
Had open heart surgery a year ago and he was my motivation for recovery.

 

[leashedForLife]

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Yes, sadly, here in the U-S there are also rescues with unrealistic demands that really winnow the number of potential homes down to a pathetic few.

Let’s face it, few of us are self-employed or retired, with adequate income to take on a pet WITHOUT leaving the house to work. Unless U hit the lottery or have a sizable inheritance, that’s unlikely. Working for the majority of folks is a simple necessity, & punishing them for working by denying them a dog or other pet, is asinine.

The other 2 hurdles I find outrageous are the requirement that the applicant OWN THEIR OWN HOME, & / or that the applicant HAVE A FENCED YARD of adequate size for the dog to “exercise”.

The number of US-folks who own their homes has steadily shrunk since the 1970s; wages have not kept pace with inflation, & housing prices have soared astronomically. A ‘starter’ house that cost $35K in the mid-70s now has a 6-figure price tag, & it’s the same house - no bigger, no better insulated, no more bedrooms or bathrooms than before, no recently updated kitchen or baths.
The soaring cost of homes, plus the straggling value of wages, which have stagnated at 1970s levels in purchasing power, means the vast majority of Merikans are gonna be RENTERS all their lives - like it, or lump it, it’s a fact.

The fenced yard requirement is one that makes me froth at the mouth - as a trainer, I cannot tell U how many dogs i’ve seen, over the decades, who were neglected or had developed serious problem behaviors, BECAUSE there was a fenced yard... to put the dog into, & ignore them. They lived in the yard, with minimal attention other than to feed them.
If U live in an apartment & *must* walk Ur dog on leash to allow them to toilet, U cannot avoid interacting with the dog daily, at least 5 times each day. Even if U totally ignore them the rest of the time, they are indoors in a shared space, & must be toileted... by U, or by someone paid to do it, lest they pee & poop all over the floor, in which case, the landlord will have yer guts for garters.
Thus, having an apartment forces a certain minimal level of attention, every day.

If i ran a rescue, i’d see a “fenced yard” as a hazard to the dog’s life, given how often dogs are disposed of when they become nuisance barkers & fence-fighters. U install the undesired behavior, then U blame & punish the dog?!...

I’d insert a clause in the adoption contract, explaining that the dog CANNOT be left outside when no one is at home to supervise or intervene, CANNOT be left outside solo after dark, & CANNOT be outside solo for more than an hour in any given single day.
And i’d have my own microchip in that animal as 1st contact; if there was a complaint by the neighbors that the dog was barking when left alone in the yard, I would repossess her or him - which would also be in that adoption contract. Confiscation or the threat of it may make the owners think twice. [Maybe.]

Off the soap-box, back to work,
- terry

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[JudyN]

The fenced garden requirement is common in the UK too, at least for lurcher rescues - 6' is often the minimum height requirement. While it must be frustrating for people for whom this isn't an option, you have to balance this against the number of dogs who end up lost, stolen, or on open roads because they escaped a garden with ease - it's heartbreaking for the rescue staff for this to happen to a dog they've adopted out to what they think is a 'forever sofa'. I think rescues might be more likely to let a dog go to a home with no garden than an insufficiently fenced garden, because then at least people aren't going to leave them out in the garden thinking there's no way they could clear a 4' fence.

Mind you, in the UK I suspect it's less common for dogs to be left outside on their own for long periods of time than it is in the US.

 

[Dibbythedog]

I think one problem can be that if you live a fair way from the rescue , it makes it difficult to home check .

Its up to the Rescue what rules they have.

Sorry , LFL Im in England . perhaps its different here . but if I was fostering a dog I wouldn't want it to go to a home where it was left outside etc

Not all my fencing was 6 ft . I had a 4ft fence with thick privet and Pip Jet the little bugger scambled over it and jumped along all the neighbours' fenced gardens ! I had to heighten them .
My OHs parents adopted a whippet from Dogs trust , they are not so strict with fencing here and she jumped straight over into next doors garden .

 

[Nanny71]

My friends, whose collie I visit daily, bought a lovely kennel for the dog and with a large back garden they had this theory that he would live outside.
Just never happened, the kennel is still outside, he has never been in it. Over three years now.
The garden is great for throwing balls and playing with another dog but he lives inside.
They do walk him twice a day and myself and another friend visit him daily, one of us mid morning and one mid afternoon, so he is never alone for too long.

 

[leashedForLife]

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I definitely understand the need for a 6-ft fence as a standard ht, but personally, i’d opt for NO fence, vs a fenced plot that lets the owner abandon the dog to her or his own devices, for hours on end, or days & weeks & even months.
Been there, seen it. // A dog who lives inside a privacy fence for 6 or more months, with no human interaction other than being fed once or 2X a day, whose feces are scattered around or underfoot, having accumulated without being removed, is deprived just as profoundly as any human prisoner in solitary confinement, as that is precisely what this amounts to - incarceration, without the relief of other stimuli.

A 6-ft privacy fence cuts off the view of anything but overhead - birds, planes, clouds... it’s a very low-stimuli environment. They become reactive, or hyperexcited, or desperate for attention... they bark, jump up, lunge at anyone who enters [not necessarily aggro, just yearning for contact & stimulation], they are crazy when leashed outside their “compound”, it’s dreadful to see.
Only sounds-off interrupt their long days & nights, so they often become sound-reactive,, barking at noises BLOCKS away.

Shock-fences are a special threat.
I don’t think they are as common in the UK as in the U-S, but shock as a boundary causes very specific problem behaviors in dogs, & more & more gated communities, condo associations, & other non-Govt living spaces, PUT THEM IN THEIR CONTRACTS as the sole option for any fence at all.
Condo associations & other board of directors don’t know squat about dogs, & have no idea that these charming “invisible fences” cause huge problems for dogs, their owners, & the community at large.

An overhead trolley & limits on how long or at what hours, dogs may be on their trolleys, is a much, much safer, kinder option. HOWEVER - an overhead trolley, unlike a physical fence, shares one serious downside with shock-fences: they cannot keep intruders OUT of the yard, & do NOT protect the dog.
When tied, or when fenced only with a shock-boundary, dogs are vulnerable to nasty malicious passersby, teasing children, a roaming dog, etc, etc.

The reason various property-boards are so keen on shock-fences is that they are *hidden*.
This makes them uniform, as opposed to the randomness of every resident choosing the fence style that THEY like, for THEIR yards.
Shock-fences are also easily removed or simply disconnected when a tenant leaves, plus they don’t impede lawn mowers & other services from universal access.

I have seen & heard of adoption contracts that allow shock-fences as an option, if a solid physical fence is too expensive for the adopter. // I find this horrifying.
It appalls me that anyone who is responsible for placing pets in adoptive homes, could be so ignorant of the fallout caused by shock fences, & also by shock as it can be used for training [shock training collars, anti-barking collars], for EXclusion from a specific radius, or confinement - such as the ‘invisible crates” AKA shock-mats, which are seeded with pressure switches that punish the dog for stepping off the mat.



I’d put any qualified apt-dweller higher on my list of potential adopters, all else being equal, & would list potential adopters with a 2-acre fully-fenced yard lower on the ranking - simply because of the high relative risk that they will opt to dump the dog outside, for hours or day or weeks.
The apt-dweller doesn’t have that option.

JMO & IME - YMMV,
- terry

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[JudyN]

I must admit, if I had a 2-acre garden I might be tempted to see if I could entertain J out there and skip a walk (it probably wouldn't work though). UK gardens are typically much smaller. Again, I think in this country, the risk of not 'entertaining' an 'apartment' dog enough (e.g. playing with them in the garden) might be greater than the risk of just leaving the dog in the garden all day. Again, different culture, different experiences... and the rescues I follow most closely are those that vet their adopters very carefully (without having blanket rules).

Absolutely agree with shock fences. I'm not sure why they're still legal in the UK given that we've banned shock collars.

 

[merlina]

I'm really sorry you're having trouble finding a rescue dog- especially as you can offer such a nice sounding home. Can I speak up for rescues by saying they're mainly run by volunteers and many rescues can only do what they have people to - including homechecks? We've been on 70mile round trip to homecheck for a great home when no one else could. The sparser the population the fewer the volunteers! Also it is reasonable to place dogs in secure homes rather than not. Rescue dogs have already lost at least one home- often they are looking to escape and get back to the original owner that dumped them! So sad. As for age we place more dogs with retired people than any other demographic I think. Good luck with your search.

 

[Caro Perry]

It's a shame that smaller rescues couldn't have a reciprocal agreement to do a home check on behalf of a distant rescue given that they are all working to towards the same goal. The "instructing" charity could provide a check list of their requirements.

 

[Dibbythedog]

It's a shame that smaller rescues couldn't have a reciprocal agreement to do a home check on behalf of a distant rescue given that they are all working to towards the same goal. The "instructing" charity could provide a check list of their requirements.

Thats a good idea. Some might already do that . I was homechecked by someone from Lurcher rescue and they did it on behalf of pro dogs rescue.
On line, rescues often ask if anyone can do a home check on the rescue forums.

 

[merlina]

Actually they do! I homecheck for maybe four or five every year- I reckon I've homechecked for up to twenty rescues over the last fifteen years. There was a wonderful forum called Rescue Helpers Unite which acted as a giant clearing house for h'checks, transport, dog assessments, welfare news etc. Offered ridealongs for people to learn the necessary skills, so I was able to train a few others...But like everything else, in the end the volunteers running it just got exhausted.

 

[John Craig]

The Lurcher Link rescue, though based in the north of England, let their dogs go to people all over the country and are excellent at matching dogs to your requirements/lifestyle. Also, there's an Oldies Club rescue specialising in older dogs. They don't have a fixed location but have dogs in foster across Britain, so worth a try. Of course, you might already have found both of these in your search.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on

The Lurcher Link rescue, though based in the north of England, let their dogs go to people all over the country and are excellent at matching dogs to your requirements/lifestyle. Also, there's an Oldies Club rescue specialising in older dogs. They don't have a fixed location but have dogs in foster across Britain, so worth a try. Of course, you might already have found both of these in your search.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on

In

The Lurcher Link rescue, though based in the north of England, let their dogs go to people all over the country and are excellent at matching dogs to your requirements/lifestyle. Also, there's an Oldies Club rescue specialising in older dogs. They don't have a fixed location but have dogs in foster across Britain, so worth a try. Of course, you might already have found both of these in your search.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on

The Lurcher Link rescue, though based in the north of England, let their dogs go to people all over the country and are excellent at matching dogs to your requirements/lifestyle. Also, there's an Oldies Club rescue specialising in older dogs. They don't have a fixed location but have dogs in foster across Britain, so worth a try. Of course, you might already have found both of these in your search.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on

 

[John Craig]

In

In point of fact, we have already had a dog from Lurcher Link, as well as Dumfries and Cumbria, SPCA Scotland, KWK9s and others ( eleven rescued dogs so far). We've been home checked several times and done a couple of home checks our selves. All goes for nothing apparently when dealing with some rescues. Just have to keep looking and hoping.

 

[Kara 1]

I homecheck for several rescues ...this all came about from rescue helpers unite ...some have different rules ...most have a catchment area as if a dog needs to come back it is very hard to collect a dog that has been rehomed hundreds of miles away when the adopter wants them gone Now ...a few years ago a man that had adopted a dog a week before wanted to return the dog (which wasn't a problem )but he didnt want to bring the dog back it was over 80 miles away, a voulnteer had arranged to collect the dog in 3 days time ....when she arrived he had had the dog PTS ....so please understand why some rescues have strict rules in place

 

[Mad Murphy]

I know that rescues have to do home checks and they are pushed for time and money but refusing people for stupid reasons (size of garden when the person has indicated they want to be out walking the dog, age of adoptee over 50, fact that they have never adopted before, all things Ive heard from friends) and making it almost impossible for working people to adopt pushes people who want a dog into the arms of BYB, puppy farmers and internet sales sites none of which helps the situation.

 

[merlina]

Well maybe rescues do get it wrong sometimes- and sometimes they may give people the most bland reason for refusal when the homechecker has had multiple alarm bells going off during the visit. Homecheckers are human and not infallible. BUT I suspect I have erred on the side of caution and I can't apologise for that. All rescues should. The dogs they try to help have often been through more than enough. As for going to some BYB I've actually had someone threaten this to me on the phone. My answer to that is if the person involved is happy to support this grim puppy-farm trade then maybe they're not dog lovers after all. In which case you can't blame a rescue for refusing them in the first place.