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We've finally reached the point in life where we are confident we can give a dog what it needs in life, and I'm desperate to rescue one rather than buy one.
I'm fortunate to spend most of my working days in the forest either walking or riding, and can take a dog with me. Our office is also generally full of dogs, so it would get plenty of exercise and socialisation. It would rarely if ever be left on its own for more than an hour or two. We have two young children (5/7) who are both well used to and good with dogs. We are open to any breed really, but one which would have the stamina and mentality to be out all day would be ideal.
I've been trawling rescue centre websites for months, and have yet to find any dogs which are happy with both kids and other dogs.
I'm beginning to question whether these sorts of dogs can be found in rescue shelters. Anyone know differently?
I’m struggling too. Doesn’t help that I’m targeting a specific breed, but seems to be slim pickings out there right now. Still waiting for this rush of abandoned furlough puppies to come.
Also know of a couple of people that have taken rescue dogs from abroad recently so maybe that is an indication of the limited availability of domestic up dogs?
A guy at my work took a rescue dog from bulgaria, (we are in uk)
I think he saw the rescue centre on facebook.
He was meant to collect it in April, but lockdown happened so he eventually picked it up in October.
It’s a white alsation, and it has its issues (it’s absolutely petrified of loud/sudden noises) but it’s perfectly healthy and he’s really happy with it.
For most of his life he’s had either 1 or 2 dogs, and afaik they’ve almost all been rescues.
I’ve been trawling rescue centre websites for months, and have yet to find any dogs which are happy with both kids and other dogs.
That may indicate a lot about how / why dogs are 'rescued' in the first place - that they are dogs that have failed to fit into that kind of situation.
A household with kids and other pets is maybe not the best model for homing a rescue animal. Although its noble to want to play that role, you've got plenty of time to be that kind of home for a pet in future - Wait til your kids have left home and you're retired - and have oodles of time and patience for pet that has weird hangups and needs that kind of care and attention.
We got our Romanian rescue via a local UK rescue.
Have a look at Dogbus Rescue, or Monica's
Monica is the Bucharest rescue lady.
"Paging Bert, Bert to the forum please"
Bert - rescued from Manchester Dogs Home just over two years ago. Thought to be Malamute/Collie cross but subsequent DNA test showed to be a purebred Karelian Bear Dog. Great with kids but is the absolute top alpha dog and doesn't take kindly to any dog challenging that.
Friends have taken on an Andalusia Sheep Dog from a Spanish rescue centre that is equally stunning so they are (or were) out there but this was before Covid.
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Hopefully you can find a fairly local,dog to rescue, a good few visits so you and the family, can spend plenty of time, with the dawgs and staff, good ones encourage it.Expect delays though.
If your near West Yorkshire can highley recommend ‘Woodhaven rescue’ they were brilliant with us, and they really do care for the dawgs, and will be keen to make sure ,you and your chosen pooch are suitable, including home visits, and lots of walkies/playtime before you adopt.
👍🏼
You will struggle to get a rescue dog with young kids. We have been looking for ages and always get turned down
Forgot to say - good on you for taking on a rescue, it sounds from your post above that it's going to have a great life with you!
MIL has two dogs from overseas (arrived at different times, not as a pair). Both are great but took a while to settle.
We had one from the Dog’s Trust many years ago, originally found wandering the streets of Stockton. She was great (a mongrel, mostly Labrador and collie, with the typical traits of each, basically a slightly bonkers stomach on legs). We couldn’t have let her run loose though whilst out on the bike though - one sniff of a rabbit three fields away and she was off... That was probably the collie side of things. The thing is the collie trait wasn’t obvious in the kennels and the kennel owner said she had no collie genes. So I would be careful about planning to take a rescue dog with you on the bike, at least initially.
Rescue Remedies - WOOF - are still rehoming dogs but as mentioned above, the choice is smaller than in previous times.
They do seem to get a regular stream of new arrivals, keep an eye on their 'Coming Soon!' section.
We got ours from First dog rescue several years ago, rather than have kennels they used a network of fosterers around the Wyre forest who would look after the dogs. This was great as they all had different circumstances which helped with placing them with owners.
Not sure where you are in the UK but they're worth a call as they have links with other similar charities around the UK. Dog wardens from surrounding areas would take dogs they found to these guys as their more local charities didn't have the same ethics*. (Birmingham Dogs home and partner kennels for example).
Edit, this may have changed more recently.
Most dog rescue places aren't able to do home checks so aren't actively re-homing.
Many Tears Rescue in Wales re-home mainly puppy farm dogs - there's a few on there
There are lots of specialist breed rescue organisations - you could try fostering a rescue dog and adopt it later. Older dogs also tend to struggle to find homes.
We got Esther via a breeder - re-homed because she was completely hyper
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On our 4th rescue dog over 30 years now (1 from Battersea, 3 from a rescue), all of them unknown temperaments when we got them. All of them have been great with kids/grandkids!
I think the rescues can be over cautious when you have kids, although I can understand why.
We got Jazz, a lakeland trail hound, when kids were 7 and 5. She's been brilliant, and would love the lifestyle you suggest. We got her at 2 years old because she wasn't much cop as a racer, from a local farmer, but trailhoundwelfare.org have rehoming links.
Trail hounds can have recall issues, but Jazz is very bibbable and has always stuck with us/come back from exploring on the fells.
She is off the lead all the time away from roads and very soppy, happy to go 20 miles fell running/mtb or just mooch by the fire.
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We have had Beti for 4 months now. She's about 3 years old and has fitted right in. We have 2 kids (13 & 16). She doesn't have the greatest recall but it's getting better.
https://www.hungaryheartsdogrescue.co.uk
Manchester Dogs Home didn't do home visits or were bothered about having a garden "at least you'll take it out for a poo".
The people there are full time so know the dogs personality and characters really well.
I was surprised how quick and easy it was to get Bert but they are always busy with lots of dogs to rehome and I think they were good judges of potential owners as much as anything else.
We obviously asked the right questions and spent time with his handler plus we turned up in a Volvo estate! It might be different if you turn up in a popping and banging Audi with your tracky bottoms tucked into your Nike Air Max and wanting a big hard Staffy*
*Other stereotypes are available.
There’s problems with home visits for some rescue organisations due to the pandemic. We got Bodie on the nod as previous rejoining types.
Breed rescue could also be tried for a dog but they can have fixed ideas of how they want the dog to be treated. (GSP I’m looking at you). The breed people can usually relay a dog across the country in normal times making distance less of a problem.
You should also assess the rehoming official as they can be a bit ‘mad dog person’ who want to place the dog without due regard for the circumstances.
Bear in mind they all currently have waiting lists and previous clients get first dibs under current conditions.
Thanks all - we are in the Herefordshire/Forest of Dean so with things as they are probably wouldn't be considered for any dogs outside of the South West/West Mids areas. Dogs Trust have said they wouldn't accept applications across tiers.
We are staying patient but wanted to see if realistically the right sort of dog would come up via a rescue. Not expecting the perfect dog right from the gun, but right now one that has a real problem with other dogs or kids just wouldn't work.
All of yours pics are making me ache, but keep them coming!
I would say look at the retired greyhound trust as they often have ones that are kid and other dog friendly and will have vetted them with cats, small dogs etc and will warn you if they will see anything smaller than a wolf as a rabbit.
They are not so fond of lots of exercise though. People are surprised at this however they prefer a short burst of running and then a 20 hour kip on the nearest settee however again, your local trust retirement centre will know if they have any that may like a bit more life outdoors.
Certainly worth checking out if a dog made entirely from triangles is your thing 🙂
@dannybgoode - I love greyhounds and lurchers but I had discounted them as an option because of the stamina issue....it isn't unusual for me to be out in the woods for 4-5 hours at a time, and not sure a greyhound would fancy that much. Having said that I just passed a pleasant 30 minutes looking through their website, so I might ask them if they have any unusually energetic types....
I've had 2 rescue dogs, one Doberman Lab cross and a Collie, both from RSPCA. The collie has cheesy feet too like a poster mentioned above.
Anyway, thats not the point. My local RSPCA is in Derby and thats where I got both mine from.
There are lots of rehoming centres about, so probably worth signing up to as many as you can. I've never really chosen on breed. Just wandered in and see what was there and any took my interest.
Last time I was in Derby there were many dogs, who's owners had died / lost a partner and were unable to keep the dogs. So were family friendly and dog friendly.
All I can say is keep looking and taking a rescue is sometimes more tricky as they do often have issues (my Collie is mad as a bag of Collies) but also rewarding too. Friends just got a puppy and seems they have had the same hike in price as second hand bikes! For what they paid I could of got 20.8 RSPCA rescues.
Mate got 2 failed Guide Dogs, not good enough to be allowed to do that role, but, amazing pets.
Good luck!
Might be worth contacting Dogs Friends - https://dogsfriends.me.uk/ - which are Somerset based, so not too far from you. I know a couple of people who have successfully adopted or fostered dogs from them. They also get dogs from other parts of the country - the person I know who fosters has recently travelled to pick up a dog for them from Essex.
Don’t discount lurchers. My dog walker sister had one that did around 4 hours a day with the client dogs. Fast and strong after all that. You may need to develop butchery skills and a taste for Muntjac deer if you get a dog the correct size! 😉
Labrador Retriever Rescue Scotland
Friend got an awesome dog from LRRS.
Old guy that I know from walking Muttlee has one promised from them in January.
Keep an eye on the GSP adoption pages on FB - perfect dog for your needs and location. Mine would rather stay out in the woods all day than go home.
I can see why you are having no luck, it's a lot to ask out of one dog - and I don't mean that in a bad way. Good for you for wanting to rescue.
You could try having a chat with these people:
https://sebpra.org/setters/
It depends how much attention you can give it when you are out walking in the forest. Not sure how well it would work when you are riding either.
Some of the Cyprus dog rescues might have suitable dogs too - Pointer types as a rule
Or try a specific spaniel rescue
Loads of rescues post here:
https://www.dogsblog.com/tag/good-with-children/
Someone suitable might turn up.
Good luck!
We're 2 months in to ownership of Ella from Bosnia. She's doing really well and 100% part of the family.
She can get nervous around some people but happy with most and all after a quiet introduction.
Walkies is coming on well. Did 9km today in the snow. Fabulous.
Ella came from https://www.hopevmselainesdogs.com/adopt-a-dog-bigi.html
And good luck.
You could always look for a Lurcher. Crossed most often with a collie. Tough, intelligent and bags of stamina. Grew up with a deerhound cross lurcher. Bloody fast and could walk all day. Very placid dogs generally but very sure of themselves. Brilliant with kids and when not out they just sleep and fart. Very strong chase and hunt instinct though and can go selectively deaf when hunting. My wife knows at some point I’ll be looking at another deerhound x lurcher. Having said that we normally just rescue whatever needs rehousing at the time.
We got flora from Cyprus via a rescue organisation in Facebook. She's a kokoni, been brilliant with our kids and all other dogs she has met for last 2 years. Our kids were 8 and 6 when we got her.
Loads of character and plenty of energy on walks. She was the last tired of all my dogs after a 10 mile walk in the peaks recently.
Would happily have another.
Doberman Rescue UK & Europe (DRUE) bring in, wait for it..., Dobermans from the EU, mainly Spain, Ireland and Cyprus.
Obviously they've a bit of a reputation but if you want something athletic, intelligent and family friendly they'd be worth a look.
Some of the dogs they get are "owner died" types and others have been horrifically abused but the organisation send pretty good about matching dogs to homes.
As said I reckon you would have more luck with the greyhound rescues with a view to getting a lurcher. They are the only rescues that acknowledged that people have kids and dogs can be fine with them. The bigger issue is the dog not knowing the difference between kids and other dogs and not modifying behaviour, ours had a good snarl and gave our daughter a fright after she upset him. Nothing malicious but something worth bearing in mind if your kids are young. Nothing you wouldn't expect from a dog that's never been a pet tbh.
Bear in mind they all currently have waiting lists and previous clients get first dibs under current conditions.
Not all, ours matched on a best fit basis regardless of where you were on the list.
We went through English Pointer Rescue and have ended up with Sid. We have been looking for a while - but there is a huge issue that nobody is now taking dogs to the Dogs Trust etc but selling on dogs on Gumtree etc.
As pups are being sold at 3k upwards , older dogs are being advertised at 2k ...
It is a very sad state of affairs and reflects the current quality of the purchaser ...
Sid is ex Sicily - I would have rather had a dog from here but 9 months of search has brought nothing - other that staffers, GSD and lurchers. GSD just don’t like me - and bite me!
Ex hunting dogs get treated really badly in Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal - puppies get abandoned, dogs that don’t make the grade are dumped, starved, drowned whatever ... Sid was one of those abandoned. He was found on the streets of Palermo. He is great in the house but has very high prey drive , and naff all recall. We are working on the later - indoors we can get him to come to whistle, in a training barn, we can get him to come to our call, in a secure field there is no chance as he is hunting birds and squirrels - mainly made up ones ...
Pointers are truly lovely dogs - the English Pointer Rescue were great - and have some real horror stories about how dogs agave been treated.
Fofestdogrescue are based near Bewdley in Worcestershire. We had two lurchers off them - they can be as energetic as what ever the dominant breed is. We've had a Collie cross who would go for hours, and a deerhound/GH cross that was happy with no more than an hour a day.
So, quick update...on the suggestion of @mrmoofo , I contacted Pointer Rescue UK and on Sunday we collected Kali, after she flew in from Cyprus after being fostered there from just after birth. She's an absolute star and 10/10 top doggo, so thank you for all the advice, especially you @mrmoofo!
Brilliant. Massive win all round.
Yay- lovely looking hound!
We need a like button!
What a lovely face.
Massive congratulations.
We are now 3 months in with Ella who is now 10 months old. We still have a huge way to go and boy is it hard work but it sounds like your work life style is perfect.
We were told that at 3 months they will start to exert their character. They were right. She is very strong headed and goes through random unexplainable querks often involving nervous sitdownitis for no obvious reason.
What goes on in their funny heads I don't know.
Good luck.
She is very strong headed and goes through random unexplainable querks often involving nervous sitdownitis for no obvious reason.
@madbillmcmad Yep, Kali is doing the same on walks. She was fostered on a farm so cars and roads are all new to her....she has improved massively just in the 3 days she's been here though. She's very nervous but her reaction is to come and sit by my feet, which isn't so bad really! She was one of ten fostered together so is adjusting to being an only dog!
Just popped in to see if it was good news - yay!
Nice to see there are some success stories on here! 👍
We're looking at the minute after losing our Border Terrier in January. There seems to be very little out there that would fit into a flexible lifestyle.
@the-muffin-man Some rescues seem to have huge waiting lists so are being extra picky - I've seen some websites that say they wouldn't consider anyone who worked full time...😬
Pointer Rescue UK told me they had over 200 people on their waiting list so we were very lucky to get Kali.
That said, it does seem that a lot of charities bringing dogs from Europe are getting going again after all the Brexit related rules changes put things on hold.
The working is a big issue for them - I work full time but my dog always came to work with me. This instantly chucks us into the 'not ideal' box.
We need something that gets on with other dogs (rest of family have dogs), won't try and kill children!, is friendly to people (can't have it snapping at people at work) and won't try and kill horses (we have horses!) and likes to travel in cars. Just a dog that can muck in with life. Seems we are asking too much.
@the-muffin-man that was more or less our requirements as well (minus the horses) and I thought we had slim to no hope. Pointers need a lot of running once they are fully grown but tick those boxes, so might be worth considering.
Cheers! I'll give them an email in the morning - my brain in frazzled now after spending the last two hours searching through rescue centre websites. 🙂
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Gorgeous. my friends just adopted a very similar looking dog from Portugal. He's super nervous too and sits down against their legs. They got excited the other day as he wagged his for the 1st time.
Here's our rescue Ivy, she's about 3 we think.
we've had her for a year now (!) she's a romanian rescue, wasn't sure what flavour until quite recently when we stumbled upon a kokoni dog page, so she's not part fox.
for the first 3 months she went for short walks but pretty much slept. She'd get really excited to see us, which was nice and doesn't bother about other dogs at all. headstrong and independent.
the following 6 months would see her come to her own a bit more. she would approach us for walks, or going outside, or just for fuss. The breakthrough was when we heard a squeaking noise coming from downstairs. She'd started to play with her squeaky toys by herself, no prompting, and didn't stop when we found her either. pretty comfortable with us and a very happy dog. From then her character just developed. She's a wonderful dog, great around other dogs, great around people, but does get spooked by some things. sliding chair legs across a floor was the first we discovered, and very quiet bikes she gets a bit freaked by.
Her recall is non existant, but she does return to treats, or when shes finished sniffing everything so will return if motivated. We tend to just keep her on the lead when out, though she's not a runner I'd rather her not wander in front of a car.
We were looking for a dog, as we missed the hole left by our last, and it seemed like an OK time to get something else. Just couldn't stomach buying from a breeder. I rather the money went to rescue organisations. Ivy came with her pet passport, and all vaccinations up to date. well worth it 🙂
Could I just plug The Cinnamon Trust here for anyone not ready to have their own dog or just those that want to do a good thing.
You can get involved in a number of ways - take a dog for a walk for someone local to you who can't so they can keep their companion. You can foster a pet whilst the owner is in hospital so it doesn't end up in a rescue centre. Or you can full on adapt. I know folk who have adopted through this and regularly (or they did before covid) take the pet (cat or dog) to see their former elderly owner in their care home and describe it as a truly humbling experience. Can you imagine how much of a reassurance it must be for an elderly person who has to go into a home to know their companion is being well cared for.
The added benefit of adopting/fostering through CT is that they cover the vet costs for the lifetime of the animal. So you can take on an elderly pet, doing a good thing for the animal and the previous owner without massive potential financial impact.
Also one to thing about for your elderly relative if you know you won't be able to step in and take care of their pet when the time comes. Funds are tight so there is always a waiting list but it's worth a look.
We got Bara in July last year (we'd been looking since late 2019) - she's just turned 2.
Our experience was much as others have said - when we first got her she was properly nervous of everything, she didn't even bark. Her recall was amazing. We got dead cocky.
Now however 7 months in & her confidence has grown massively as she's settled in & if we let her off lead anywhere other than a wide open beach then she is off through the hedges & not seen until she wants to come back. We are slowly working on this.
She's found her voice & loves nothing more than barking at any delivery people who rock up.
She also has massive separation anxiety which again we are working on.
Wouldn't change her for the world tho.
Hope your pup gives you many years of happiness.
SNAP! although this one is bit faded after 11 years. Good luck! Ours has been a fantastic dog but only started behaving c a year ago.