Rehoming a dog - seemingly impossible
Discussion
LimmerickLad said:
J4CKO said:
Just read it all, marvellous !
Wonder why the re-homing charities are so choosy, big disparity between buying a dog, i.e. anyone can do that, but rehoming is so difficult. I get the need for the checks and balances but it seems a bit over cautious.
Agreed except, from our recent experience over-cautious is an understatement..............we have a paddock & gardens surrounded by farmland and no neighbours within 1/2 mile............ yet we have been told several times now that we can't have a dog, even though we already have several rescues, because our stock fencing isn't high enough........ apparantly 6ft panels around a postage stamp garden on an estate would have been fine though? ..........we have given up trying now.Wonder why the re-homing charities are so choosy, big disparity between buying a dog, i.e. anyone can do that, but rehoming is so difficult. I get the need for the checks and balances but it seems a bit over cautious.
By all means give some pointers about safety etc to new owners, but bear in mind people's track record.
We too tried to adopt from a rescue, but they wanted to insist that we returned an hour each way to them weekly for 12 training sessions at £50 a time with the dog , an English Setter. The "trainer" was barely out of secondary school. We had had dogs longer than she had been alive. They clearly knew less about dogs than we did, as we proved by walking their "nervous" dog and ours for half an hour in perfect happy harmony around the woods nearby. The poor thing needed a home and a friend, not a cage, but we weren't prepared to jump the stock fencing they had erected around the dog.
Our latest addition was actually adopted from another family, not rescued,. They did their level best to check that their beloved dog was going to someone who would give him a decent home. But that was done with a couple of long phone calls, and photos of our garden etc., which proved to them that our garden is about 10 times the size of theirs. What made much more of an impression with them was the feeling they got from those long chats that we were decent people who care about their pets, had had dogs for over 20 years and knew how to look after them.
Marley has settled in just fine thanks.
AstonZagato said:
I remember, after responding to a "crisis appeal" from a cats' rehoming place, being refused a cat because
We tried another rescue place. They needed the whole family there. We all trooped over at a weekend and selected a couple of kittens. "Oh they won't be available till Tuesday." My wife said she'd pop over (45 min drive) on Tuesday to pick them up. "No, you all have to come".
It was a spectacular waste of time. We got our kittens free from a mad cat lady.
They seem to be run by a certain "type" who set up lots of rules that are almost impossible to comply with and so preventing the adoption but allowing them to keep being the charity than needs donations and "homes for our much loved cats" whereas ultimately they are depriving them of a full life.- "Your house is on a road". Every house in the UK is on a road. Furthermore, we are 100m from the nearest road - further than 99.999% of houses, I'd wager; and
- "You have children" Our children had grown up with cats. Apparently they might "sit on the cat" (something they had never managed to do up until that point and never subsequently did ether.
We tried another rescue place. They needed the whole family there. We all trooped over at a weekend and selected a couple of kittens. "Oh they won't be available till Tuesday." My wife said she'd pop over (45 min drive) on Tuesday to pick them up. "No, you all have to come".
It was a spectacular waste of time. We got our kittens free from a mad cat lady.
havoc said:
Jordie Barretts sock said:
When the big lummox arrived he was defeated by a foot high wire boundary. 
I think I'm getting towards that age too.
. Thanks to a dodgy knee and questionable balance, I have to concentrate hard when stepping over the lower strand of electric fencing that is part of the gate to my horse's field.
The top strand is around waist height, the lower one about a foot off the ground, so I have to duck and step at the same time.
Getting it wrong involves falling over and face planting into his bowl of equine ready brek, while he looks at me bemused.
Yes, I feel stupid, no, I don't care
vaud said:
AstonZagato said:
I remember, after responding to a "crisis appeal" from a cats' rehoming place, being refused a cat because
We tried another rescue place. They needed the whole family there. We all trooped over at a weekend and selected a couple of kittens. "Oh they won't be available till Tuesday." My wife said she'd pop over (45 min drive) on Tuesday to pick them up. "No, you all have to come".
It was a spectacular waste of time. We got our kittens free from a mad cat lady.
They seem to be run by a certain "type" who set up lots of rules that are almost impossible to comply with and so preventing the adoption but allowing them to keep being the charity than needs donations and "homes for our much loved cats" whereas ultimately they are depriving them of a full life.- "Your house is on a road". Every house in the UK is on a road. Furthermore, we are 100m from the nearest road - further than 99.999% of houses, I'd wager; and
- "You have children" Our children had grown up with cats. Apparently they might "sit on the cat" (something they had never managed to do up until that point and never subsequently did ether.
We tried another rescue place. They needed the whole family there. We all trooped over at a weekend and selected a couple of kittens. "Oh they won't be available till Tuesday." My wife said she'd pop over (45 min drive) on Tuesday to pick them up. "No, you all have to come".
It was a spectacular waste of time. We got our kittens free from a mad cat lady.
Sadly "getting your kittens from the mad cat lady" makes you part of the problem, not part of the solution and perpetuates breeding animals for money when there are thousands of recues that need a home. Obviously if she was giving them away, you can discount that statement
trails said:
Sadly "getting your kittens from the mad cat lady" makes you part of the problem, not part of the solution and perpetuates breeding animals for money when there are thousands of recues that need a home. Obviously if she was giving them away, you can discount that statement
How is he part of the problem if he tried to rescue them but wasn’t allowed ?pinchmeimdreamin said:
trails said:
Sadly "getting your kittens from the mad cat lady" makes you part of the problem, not part of the solution and perpetuates breeding animals for money when there are thousands of recues that need a home. Obviously if she was giving them away, you can discount that statement
How is he part of the problem if he tried to rescue them but wasn’t allowed ?LimmerickLad said:
J4CKO said:
Just read it all, marvellous !
Wonder why the re-homing charities are so choosy, big disparity between buying a dog, i.e. anyone can do that, but rehoming is so difficult. I get the need for the checks and balances but it seems a bit over cautious.
Agreed except, from our recent experience over-cautious is an understatement..............we have a paddock & gardens surrounded by farmland and no neighbours within 1/2 mile............ yet we have been told several times now that we can't have a dog, even though we already have several rescues, because our stock fencing isn't high enough........ apparantly 6ft panels around a postage stamp garden on an estate would have been fine though? ..........we have given up trying now.Wonder why the re-homing charities are so choosy, big disparity between buying a dog, i.e. anyone can do that, but rehoming is so difficult. I get the need for the checks and balances but it seems a bit over cautious.
We contacted several rescue centres before we got our boy 6 years ago. There was either no response at all, despite multiple attempts, or hoops of fire to jump through in respect of lifestyle and home setup.
In the end, we found him in a local kennels that rescued a couple of dogs, kind-of "on the side" - they used leftover resources from the kennels to support a couple of rescues at a time.
We went to see him and met the owner, who let us take him away the same day on the basis that she would only let "dog people" have dogs and she felt that we were "dog people"
Risky perhaps, given some folk around, but it worked for us.
Muzzer79 said:
LimmerickLad said:
J4CKO said:
Just read it all, marvellous !
Wonder why the re-homing charities are so choosy, big disparity between buying a dog, i.e. anyone can do that, but rehoming is so difficult. I get the need for the checks and balances but it seems a bit over cautious.
Agreed except, from our recent experience over-cautious is an understatement..............we have a paddock & gardens surrounded by farmland and no neighbours within 1/2 mile............ yet we have been told several times now that we can't have a dog, even though we already have several rescues, because our stock fencing isn't high enough........ apparantly 6ft panels around a postage stamp garden on an estate would have been fine though? ..........we have given up trying now.Wonder why the re-homing charities are so choosy, big disparity between buying a dog, i.e. anyone can do that, but rehoming is so difficult. I get the need for the checks and balances but it seems a bit over cautious.
We contacted several rescue centres before we got our boy 6 years ago. There was either no response at all, despite multiple attempts, or hoops of fire to jump through in respect of lifestyle and home setup.
In the end, we found him in a local kennels that rescued a couple of dogs, kind-of "on the side" - they used leftover resources from the kennels to support a couple of rescues at a time.
We went to see him and met the owner, who let us take him away the same day on the basis that she would only let "dog people" have dogs and she felt that we were "dog people"
Risky perhaps, given some folk around, but it worked for us.
I spotted Marley (photo upside down above) when looking at adverts for dogs for sale.
By that pont I had given up on finding a rescue, due to the unrealistic demands they made.
We had had border collies before, and my daughter has a black lab, who conicidentally is staying with us today, so he fitted with the breed types we like and understand. He was 2 years old in 2023 when we got him, so was effectively a lockdown puppy.
I phoned and discussed the dog, his home environment, our home environment, our circumstances (we had just lost our last collie to a stroke) and dog experience.
They breathed an audible sigh of relief that we weren't yet more tossers, and we arranged to go the 150 miles to Gloucestershire to meet them and introduce him to our spaniel, first at their local park and then at their home. He turned out to be the kind of happy go lucky idiot of a dog that I love, and we came home with him.
We had taken the £200 that the advert requested with us in cash - they flatly refused to take it, having only put a price on the advert on the advice of friends, to avoid the worst possible respondents, just after a free dog.
So my advice is keep looking and don't restrict yourself to rescues, even though it would be nice to give a dog down on its luck a home. Ours needed a new home just as much. Just be selective and take your time. He/she will be with you for the rest of his/her life.
By that pont I had given up on finding a rescue, due to the unrealistic demands they made.
We had had border collies before, and my daughter has a black lab, who conicidentally is staying with us today, so he fitted with the breed types we like and understand. He was 2 years old in 2023 when we got him, so was effectively a lockdown puppy.
I phoned and discussed the dog, his home environment, our home environment, our circumstances (we had just lost our last collie to a stroke) and dog experience.
They breathed an audible sigh of relief that we weren't yet more tossers, and we arranged to go the 150 miles to Gloucestershire to meet them and introduce him to our spaniel, first at their local park and then at their home. He turned out to be the kind of happy go lucky idiot of a dog that I love, and we came home with him.
We had taken the £200 that the advert requested with us in cash - they flatly refused to take it, having only put a price on the advert on the advice of friends, to avoid the worst possible respondents, just after a free dog.
So my advice is keep looking and don't restrict yourself to rescues, even though it would be nice to give a dog down on its luck a home. Ours needed a new home just as much. Just be selective and take your time. He/she will be with you for the rest of his/her life.
trails said:
pinchmeimdreamin said:
trails said:
Sadly "getting your kittens from the mad cat lady" makes you part of the problem, not part of the solution and perpetuates breeding animals for money when there are thousands of recues that need a home. Obviously if she was giving them away, you can discount that statement
How is he part of the problem if he tried to rescue them but wasn’t allowed ?AstonZagato said:
I remember, after responding to a "crisis appeal" from a cats' rehoming place, being refused a cat because
We tried another rescue place. They needed the whole family there. We all trooped over at a weekend and selected a couple of kittens. "Oh they won't be available till Tuesday." My wife said she'd pop over (45 min drive) on Tuesday to pick them up. "No, you all have to come".
It was a spectacular waste of time. We got our kittens free from a mad cat lady.
We had similar issues trying to get another cat from a rescue after our previous one died at 17 years old.- "Your house is on a road". Every house in the UK is on a road. Furthermore, we are 100m from the nearest road - further than 99.999% of houses, I'd wager; and
- "You have children" Our children had grown up with cats. Apparently they might "sit on the cat" (something they had never managed to do up until that point and never subsequently did ether.
We tried another rescue place. They needed the whole family there. We all trooped over at a weekend and selected a couple of kittens. "Oh they won't be available till Tuesday." My wife said she'd pop over (45 min drive) on Tuesday to pick them up. "No, you all have to come".
It was a spectacular waste of time. We got our kittens free from a mad cat lady.
Because we had a toddler one outright refused us, despite the fact she adored our old cat and had never had a single issue with it.
Another one refued us because we live on an estate near a road, not really an issue as we were looking for a house cat.
Finally we found a lovely family run rescue who didnt have these stupid rules and we now have two cats from them .
I'm sure some of these rescues run as an ego trip for the owner.
pinchmeimdreamin said:
But have you tried clipping his claws yet ? 
We have tried every gadget we can find and Ella just curls into a ball and cries if we try to cut hers.
The only tool I found able to cut our little cavalier's claws was a pair of electricians snips. Got them out of the tool stores at work. Not sure where they are now. We have tried every gadget we can find and Ella just curls into a ball and cries if we try to cut hers.
Poor Alfie had to be put down in 2019, followed by our last cat in 2020.
Neither of us feel inclined to have another of either, although occassionally I think maybe.
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