Pitfalls of a second/rescue dog
Discussion
Recently I've been thinking of getting another dog but can't decide wether it's the right thing to do or not. We have a 6 year old black lab who we love to peices, he was a failed police dog so I got him for free including 3 months worth of food when he was about 10 months old.
It would be great if he could talk to ask him what he thought, I just can't decide whether he'd like a companion or not. I've kept my eye out on the local rescue kennel's website for a lab and a 5 year old has just came in. Went to see him today took him for a walk with ours. After inital sniffing they weren't interested in each other which I suppose is good. It's good that he's a similar age to our current dog as ours gets older he wouldn't have to struggle to keep up with a younger dog. He's not without his issues though, he's had poor lead training so pulled initially for a bit then calmed down and was fine but apparently off the lead he will literally run for the hills! This has always been important to me when training previous dog, being able to allow them off the lead and return on command which our is great for.
The guy at the kennels is going to let us have him or a weekend initally if we want or a week or two to see how he settles in. It has to be right for all parties invloved as the poor sod has been in and out of the rescue centre twice now. In my own mind I'm telling myself that my current dog would like a pal to play with but it's been 4 years since he lived with another dog, and is maybe content on his own.
Would appreciate hearing other people experiences. My partner and I both work but my dad lives with us (on the grounds in granny flat type set up). We have a pretty big enclosed garden too.
It would be great if he could talk to ask him what he thought, I just can't decide whether he'd like a companion or not. I've kept my eye out on the local rescue kennel's website for a lab and a 5 year old has just came in. Went to see him today took him for a walk with ours. After inital sniffing they weren't interested in each other which I suppose is good. It's good that he's a similar age to our current dog as ours gets older he wouldn't have to struggle to keep up with a younger dog. He's not without his issues though, he's had poor lead training so pulled initially for a bit then calmed down and was fine but apparently off the lead he will literally run for the hills! This has always been important to me when training previous dog, being able to allow them off the lead and return on command which our is great for.
The guy at the kennels is going to let us have him or a weekend initally if we want or a week or two to see how he settles in. It has to be right for all parties invloved as the poor sod has been in and out of the rescue centre twice now. In my own mind I'm telling myself that my current dog would like a pal to play with but it's been 4 years since he lived with another dog, and is maybe content on his own.
Would appreciate hearing other people experiences. My partner and I both work but my dad lives with us (on the grounds in granny flat type set up). We have a pretty big enclosed garden too.
FWIW I have never had anything but bad experiences with rescue dogs. Had one for fifteen years and he was a horrible little bugger till his last breath. Not his fault I suspect, but there you go.
Furthermore whenever my current dog gets treated aggressively by another dog the owner invariably says, "sorry it's a rescue dog and not very good with other animals".
Manks said:
FWIW I have never had anything but bad experiences with rescue dogs. Had one for fifteen years and he was a horrible little bugger till his last breath. Not his fault I suspect, but there you go.
Furthermore whenever my current dog gets treated aggressively by another dog the owner invariably says, "sorry it's a rescue dog and not very good with other animals".
We have a recuse dog, Labrador / Collie cross.Furthermore whenever my current dog gets treated aggressively by another dog the owner invariably says, "sorry it's a rescue dog and not very good with other animals".
He is the best behaved dog among people I have known, lovely nature and very obedient. He is however 'bad' with other dogs. I believe the main part of the problem with him is that he can sense when we are nervous, and acts on his protective instincts accordingly. He is ok around other dogs if it is me with him, or my sister in law, but will play up when Mrs C has him.
I hope that this wont put people off rescue dogs, but from what I have been told 'dog socialising' has to be done when the dog is very young, I suspect that for rescue dogs it is too late ?
Edited by OllieC on Sunday 12th June 18:40
Our dog is very inquisitive when it comes to other dogs, he’ll not run off to go and greet other dogs unless I give him the OK 99.9% of the time. My rule of off lead walking is if we’re around other dogs and they’re off their leads then their owner is happy enough with their behaviour and other dogs coming for a sniff as I find pulling them back on the lead just adds fuel to the fire! We took the potential new dog out on the lead today with ours when others dogs came across he wasn’t aggressive but really pulled to get a sniff, may be better with a harness. Pulling is an issue as while I could walk 2x dogs there’s no way my other half who is about 7 stone wet through could handle the 2 of them.
I have three female dogs; an old shepherd cross, which I got from Battersea when she was about 5 years old so she must be around 11/12 now, a lurcher, left by those friendly travelling folk at the bottom of my road tied to a lamp post and a 14 month old pedigree shepherd... they are the oddest herd of dogs (do you have a herd of dogs?) you can imagine but they wouldnt be without each other.
Yes they have certain issues with each other sometimes(for example the youngest one likes to shag the old shep's head every morning to say "hi"). If you think about it though, we all have our odd / off days.
Honestly, if you can handle the increase in everything, insurance, food, s
t etc then maybe see if you could take him out for a day/night. If there's no obvious issues between them give it a go. Just make sure you have set arrangements for feeding.
I've not experienced any real negatives to owning a rescue dog so would recommend FWIW.
LouGT4
Yes they have certain issues with each other sometimes(for example the youngest one likes to shag the old shep's head every morning to say "hi"). If you think about it though, we all have our odd / off days.
Honestly, if you can handle the increase in everything, insurance, food, s
t etc then maybe see if you could take him out for a day/night. If there's no obvious issues between them give it a go. Just make sure you have set arrangements for feeding.I've not experienced any real negatives to owning a rescue dog so would recommend FWIW.
LouGT4
It's a 'pack' of dogs 
All I can add is that my rescue Springer is great in every way including with other dogs, although that's mainly because he ignores 99% of them! I've met a fair few people with rescues and I don't remember any of them ever saying that their dog was difficult.
I say give it a go for a weekend or so, you've nothing to lose.
All I can add is that my rescue Springer is great in every way including with other dogs, although that's mainly because he ignores 99% of them! I've met a fair few people with rescues and I don't remember any of them ever saying that their dog was difficult.
I say give it a go for a weekend or so, you've nothing to lose.
Do it. If you're able to offer a loving home to a little fella, then you must!
We got our first rescue about, I dunno, 9-12 months ago. He's a Pug, but the cutest, friendliest little guy in the world. We love him to bits, and is treated like a child at times.
Then we heard of the plight of a British Bulldog who hadn't had the nicest of stars to life and was now 18 months old. Cut a long story short, we took him in.
We've had mixed reactions from the Pug. One minute he won't leave him alone, the next he's running aweay from this massive friend. Overall they get on very well, but the Bulldog just gets a bit excited.
Do it man.....you know it's the right thing to do!
We got our first rescue about, I dunno, 9-12 months ago. He's a Pug, but the cutest, friendliest little guy in the world. We love him to bits, and is treated like a child at times.
Then we heard of the plight of a British Bulldog who hadn't had the nicest of stars to life and was now 18 months old. Cut a long story short, we took him in.
We've had mixed reactions from the Pug. One minute he won't leave him alone, the next he's running aweay from this massive friend. Overall they get on very well, but the Bulldog just gets a bit excited.
Do it man.....you know it's the right thing to do!
We got a rescue dog a couple of months ago. She's almost 6 months old now.
On the plus side, she hasn't got an aggressive bone in her body. She barks - just a couple of "oi, you!" woofs, not an insistent yapping - when the doorbell rings, when there are unusual noises outside (fireworks last night!), or if she sees anyone delivering leaflets taking a short cut across the lawn to next door. She's not massively over-affectionate, but she does let you know you're appreciated. If she hasn't seen you for a couple of hours, she'll come over and be very affectionate for a few minutes before inviting you to play with her toys.
She was happy to sleep alone in her crate within 48 hours of her coming home to us, house-training was sorted within a couple of weeks, and she's doing a good job of learning basic manners and commands. We had a problem with over-enthusiastic mouthing initially, but we're making progress there so she's not as bad now as she was.
She enjoys learning and is reasonably intelligent, which is good. We're currently working on recall so that she can go off her lead eventually, when it's quiet and there are no other dogs around. She's got so much energy that we're planning on doing a bit of agility with her when she's a bit more reliable in terms of training.
The one downside we're finding at the moment (apart from the stinky smells she makes every so often!) is that she's not been terribly well socialised in the kennels. She was taken in at the age of about 4 weeks, then was in kennels until we adopted her at 16 weeks, with a brief break of 2 days because she was rehomed once already (but was returned because she chased the new owner's cats
). She's somewhat OTT with other dogs - she leaps all over them and just wants to play, but she's still at the mouthing stage and far too boisterous, particularly with older dogs. We've been working with dog trainers to try to get her to interact nicely with other dogs rather than leaping on them, but we're not there yet. It's going to take a while.
As a rescue, the kennels will continue to support her throughout her life if we need their help. This is a Good Thing. I've spoken to the behaviourist at the kennels, and I might well head down there to meet her a few times in the near future to see if we can sort out this issue of over-enthusiasm with other dogs. They've also said they'll have the dog back at any time during her life if our circumstances change or we decide we really can't stand her. I threaten her most days with going back to the kennels, but I rather suspect that if I hand her back, I'll be in the doghouse myself. 
Would we have another rescue? Good question. After having been to puppy parties with lots of sweet little pedigree pups who've been well socialised from the start, I'm tempted to say no. It's lovely to see how they calmly interact with other dogs, playing with them nicely without squashing them flat! It would also be nice to know how big she's going to grow - she's nearly doubled in weight in the 2 months we've had her, and she's still growing! But on the other hand, it's good to have a challenge and Poppy is very good every way other than her reaction to other dogs.
She's currently lying at my feet and snoring her head off.
On the plus side, she hasn't got an aggressive bone in her body. She barks - just a couple of "oi, you!" woofs, not an insistent yapping - when the doorbell rings, when there are unusual noises outside (fireworks last night!), or if she sees anyone delivering leaflets taking a short cut across the lawn to next door. She's not massively over-affectionate, but she does let you know you're appreciated. If she hasn't seen you for a couple of hours, she'll come over and be very affectionate for a few minutes before inviting you to play with her toys.
She was happy to sleep alone in her crate within 48 hours of her coming home to us, house-training was sorted within a couple of weeks, and she's doing a good job of learning basic manners and commands. We had a problem with over-enthusiastic mouthing initially, but we're making progress there so she's not as bad now as she was.She enjoys learning and is reasonably intelligent, which is good. We're currently working on recall so that she can go off her lead eventually, when it's quiet and there are no other dogs around. She's got so much energy that we're planning on doing a bit of agility with her when she's a bit more reliable in terms of training.
The one downside we're finding at the moment (apart from the stinky smells she makes every so often!) is that she's not been terribly well socialised in the kennels. She was taken in at the age of about 4 weeks, then was in kennels until we adopted her at 16 weeks, with a brief break of 2 days because she was rehomed once already (but was returned because she chased the new owner's cats
). She's somewhat OTT with other dogs - she leaps all over them and just wants to play, but she's still at the mouthing stage and far too boisterous, particularly with older dogs. We've been working with dog trainers to try to get her to interact nicely with other dogs rather than leaping on them, but we're not there yet. It's going to take a while. As a rescue, the kennels will continue to support her throughout her life if we need their help. This is a Good Thing.
I've spoken to the behaviourist at the kennels, and I might well head down there to meet her a few times in the near future to see if we can sort out this issue of over-enthusiasm with other dogs. They've also said they'll have the dog back at any time during her life if our circumstances change or we decide we really can't stand her. I threaten her most days with going back to the kennels, but I rather suspect that if I hand her back, I'll be in the doghouse myself. Would we have another rescue? Good question. After having been to puppy parties with lots of sweet little pedigree pups who've been well socialised from the start, I'm tempted to say no. It's lovely to see how they calmly interact with other dogs, playing with them nicely without squashing them flat! It would also be nice to know how big she's going to grow - she's nearly doubled in weight in the 2 months we've had her, and she's still growing! But on the other hand, it's good to have a challenge and Poppy is very good every way other than her reaction to other dogs.
She's currently lying at my feet and snoring her head off.
SGirl said:
Would we have another rescue? Good question. After having been to puppy parties with lots of sweet little pedigree pups who've been well socialised from the start, I'm tempted to say no.
This (to use the correct PH affirmation).If you buy a pup from a known lineage you pretty much know what you are getting and it will (should) have the opportunity to be properly socialised and trained from the outset.
Whilst I am sure there are plenty of good rescue dogs about, there are many dodgy ones. Each to his or her own, but I'd prefer not to take any chances.
I think we all love little pups, I know I do. However I don't think we're ideal owners for a pup as we both work and I think the bad habits a pup would get into as a result aren't worth the risk. Plus it almost bring a tear to my eye thinking of our current dog trying to keep up with a much younger dog when he's older!
We're lucky that we can initially have him for a weekend then a couple of weeks if needs be to see how he settles in.
We're lucky that we can initially have him for a weekend then a couple of weeks if needs be to see how he settles in.
andrew311 said:
I think we all love little pups, I know I do. However I don't think we're ideal owners for a pup as we both work and I think the bad habits a pup would get into as a result aren't worth the risk. Plus it almost bring a tear to my eye thinking of our current dog trying to keep up with a much younger dog when he's older!
We're lucky that we can initially have him for a weekend then a couple of weeks if needs be to see how he settles in.
If you are both working why bother with any dog ? not fair to the dog and it will end up being not fair to you We're lucky that we can initially have him for a weekend then a couple of weeks if needs be to see how he settles in.
andrew311 said:
Plus it almost bring a tear to my eye thinking of our current dog trying to keep up with a much younger dog when he's older!
You might find that a younger friend keeps the older dog feeling young longer.I concur with the point though that if you are out working a lot having any dog might not be the right think to do.
As per my original post my dad lives on the grounds of our house, my partner and I work different patterns so even if my dad wasn't there the longest our dog is on his own is 5 hours and my other half comes home for 45 mins for her lunch break. I'd not fancy having a pup as I think that's too long to go without training.
andrew311 said:
I think we all love little pups, I know I do. However I don't think we're ideal owners for a pup as we both work and I think the bad habits a pup would get into as a result aren't worth the risk. Plus it almost bring a tear to my eye thinking of our current dog trying to keep up with a much younger dog when he's older!
We're lucky that we can initially have him for a weekend then a couple of weeks if needs be to see how he settles in.
Is that what you are going to do then? I have a feeling he won't be leaving again once he has arrived We're lucky that we can initially have him for a weekend then a couple of weeks if needs be to see how he settles in.
We got our second rescue in December, to add to the first we got last August and seeing the bond that has developed is amazing - I would not be without either. Rescue dogs can come with issues, yes, but don't make the mistake of thinking that it's only rescue dogs that can have problems. All dogs, even ones obtained from a 'responsible' breeder can have issues.
Do you know why this dog was returned to the rescue before? I would say that you have nothing to lose by taking the dog on for a trial I would also suggest that you keep things low key for a while. The dog will not know you so will not be able to trust you. Build up trust and nothing but good associations in a small world first before introducing to the world at large or you may find that the dog just won't be able to cope with all the changes.
Lead walking and recall can be trained
I would also be careful to remove any possible flashpoints in the house and garden - remove special toys and feed separately until both dogs are content that the other one will not steal its food.
Hope all goes well
Do you know why this dog was returned to the rescue before? I would say that you have nothing to lose by taking the dog on for a trial
I would also suggest that you keep things low key for a while. The dog will not know you so will not be able to trust you. Build up trust and nothing but good associations in a small world first before introducing to the world at large or you may find that the dog just won't be able to cope with all the changes.Lead walking and recall can be trained
I would also be careful to remove any possible flashpoints in the house and garden - remove special toys and feed separately until both dogs are content that the other one will not steal its food.
Hope all goes well
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