Feeling so despondent - rescue dogs - ageism striking?

Oldbat1

Sorry you weren’t successful on this occasion. There are many many lovely dogs in rescue and sadly due to lack of kennel space dogs are being put to sleep. Many families acquired puppies during Covid lockdown and now wish to relinquish these dogs. Try visiting local rescue kennels. Think about adopting a greyhound. I have three “unwanted” rescues currently. Good luck.

Thank you. This is what's so upsetting - that dogs who would be lovely family pets are being destroyed, and we - who can offer a lovely home and life to a dog - are being turned away.

(Husband won't entertain greyhounds or lurchers, unfortunately. Too skinny (rolls eyes) )

Hellogirl1

I was turned down by a cat rescue centre because I didn`t have a garden for the cat to play in. Stupid!

It's such a shame that good homes are being turned down. I know of five or six cats who are house cats, and quite content to sit in a window and watch the world go by. Even when the doors are left open, they don't want to venture outside.

I also think the rescue may have been your husband's attitude as turnoff.

Seen, not been

J52

We’re thinking about a rescue dog, although haven’t applied yet. There is a site called ‘Oldies’ ( dogs not people!) they might be more tolerant of visiting children. Some of their dogs will have been in families with children. Sadly they a given up at an older age due to the cost.

Thank you - I will have a look, although my husband - ironically himself heading towards being an oldie - doesn't want an older dog, as he doesn't want to lose it (relatively) shortly after adopting it.

I assume you have a garden - someone upthread was surprised not to b allowed to adopt a cat as she didn’t have a garden (quite right imo except in the case of a cat which is already a ‘house cat’).

Could it be your husband’s keenness on a dog’s appearance which is causing problems? That wouldn’t go down well with a rescue centre- it’s not a good reason for choosing a particular dog. We’ve always had GSDs and it’s the type of dog that needs experience of the breed - especially a rescue.

Patsy70

*HurdyGurdy*. We had difficulty with a number of dog rescue centres in the UK when we were looking to adopt a dog five years ago. Our previous dog was a rescue, a small collie cross, about a year old who’d given birth to 3 pups in the rescue centre, having been found as a stray. She was delightful, no problems whatsoever, and we were looking for a similar crossbreed. There were many greyhounds and staffies waiting to be adopted, but we really wanted a crossbreed. Having waited for some time we contacted a charity who bring dogs over from Spain, having been abandoned and left, in some cases, to die. After many conversations with the charity organisers and being home checked, we went ahead and adopted Dylan. He is adorable and gentle with everyone, including the children. It has not been without its challenges, but he is a very welcome member of our family, and all who meet him fall in love with him.
On another note, we are being told incessantly that, since lockdown, so many people decided to get a puppy, whilst working from home. Since going back to work, they find they haven’t got the time or energy and that is why so many young dogs are now at rescue centres. I do hope you find the dog you are looking for, they are such good company. Good luck.

Thank you. I'm so pleased that Dylan has got the loving home he deserved.

We've tried two charities who rescue from Romania and Hungary, but can't get past their selection criteria.

Another interesting side note that I've read is that during the pandemic, people were working from home and got puppies, and once they returned to working, the dogs were suffering severe separation anxiety, as they had never been alone.

So even though I'm working full time from home for the next year or so, we will make a point, if we ever get a dog, of leaving it on its own for short periods of time, so it gets used to it.

Blondiescot

After we lost our old Lab in June 2020, I wanted to adopt a rescue dog, but virtually all the rescues we tried (including local ones) wouldn't consider us because we had our grandson, then aged 3, living with us. I completely understand the reasoning behind this, and they do have to have strict criteria, but I feel sometimes a lot of dogs miss out on what could be the perfect home for them. We ended up getting a puppy instead, but I would certainly rehome a rescue home at some stage.

It is a shame, isn't it, because children can have such lovely bonds with their pets.

Of course we accept that rescues need to match the right home with the right dog, and don't want to keep having dogs returned to them because the adoption has broken down, for whatever reason, but their criteria seem to be so strict and narrow, that they are surely missing out on some excellent homes for the animals.

Another thing that irritates me is when you see "experienced owners only", or "experience with the breed". How are we to get that experience, without having a dog? It seems ridiculous that we'd need to go to a breeder and get a dog, before we could then go to a rescue a couple of years down the line and say "well, we've got the experience now".

halfpint1

I have adopted 3 older dogs , at different times, with no problem, loved them all. Last year I adopted a cross breed who had been part of a pack. He howled all night, refused food and water and was generally beside himself with anguish. I took him back, he obviously needed other dogs. A few weeks later
I went back and started again only to be told I had been put
on the 'dog abandoner' list and was refused entry. (this is in France) I am still in shock over that and haven't had the courage to adopt again. Sometimes the dog homes are their own worst enemies.

Oh my goodness, that is sad. A dog abandoner, to me, is one who just dumps a dog at the roadside, or leaves them tied up in a garden when they move house.

You recognised that your home wasn't suitable for your dog, and rectified it. You couldn't have known until the dog was with you, that he wouldn't cope as an only dog.

I hope you do manage to adopt another dog.

After re-reading your post, it really doesn't make sense. Can you ask them to be more specific and re-iterate that the children don't live with you. Ask them the questions you've asked on here - don't let them fob you off. The situation regarding unwanted pets is serious, and I just can't see what their problem is.

Reading the posts again, I really do think that your husband’s attitude is a big part of the problem. He seems very shallow in the types of dog he will accept, based on appearance and macho appeal.

Is your dog going to be left alone when you stop wfh? Another difficulty standing in the way of adoption if so. Going to work and leaving a dog alone for hours isn’t kind.

Having adopted a number of rescues over the years and filling in all the forms, I’m sorry to say I think your applications contain red flags.

Hithere

I forgot! Puppies and kittens have higher demand than older pets, so that could be why you could get denied

Please look for a vet and some classes just in case you are asked the same questions again

The rescue would like to see you are fully ready for the dog - that will get you bonus points

Yes, I did wonder if that was how our ages were going against us.

It seems that no vets around us are taking on new clients at the moment, so I don't quite know what we will do there.

I have been recommended, had have spoken to someone at a training centre, which sounded lovely, so if we do ever get to the point of adoption, that's one thing in place, whether it is a puppy or an older dog.

Hithere

I also think the rescue may have been your husband's attitude as turnoff.

We didn't mention this. They said why did you want to adopt this particular dog, and I said that we prefer larger breeds of dog, that we now have time to devote to a dog (as we are not out of the house all day at work) and that we'd had experience of German Shepherds and two rescue collie cross dogs.

Maybe I should have "sold us" more strongly, but I was hoping that once they'd spoken to us on the phone and done a home inspection, we could elaborate more on us, our lifestyle and home situation.

Germanshepherdsmum

I assume you have a garden - someone upthread was surprised not to b allowed to adopt a cat as she didn’t have a garden (quite right imo except in the case of a cat which is already a ‘house cat’).

Could it be your husband’s keenness on a dog’s appearance which is causing problems? That wouldn’t go down well with a rescue centre- it’s not a good reason for choosing a particular dog. We’ve always had GSDs and it’s the type of dog that needs experience of the breed - especially a rescue.

Yes, we have a decent sized fully enclosed garden (20m x 60m).

We didn't mention my husband's fussiness as I knew that it would be a (very good) reason to turn us down.

The silly thing is that I know him well enough to know that he would love and dote on any dog that came to live with us.

CatsCatsCats

After re-reading your post, it really doesn't make sense. Can you ask them to be more specific and re-iterate that the children don't live with you. Ask them the questions you've asked on here - don't let them fob you off. The situation regarding unwanted pets is serious, and I just can't see what their problem is.

I have emailed back asking if they could elaborate a little more, emphasising that the children don't live here (although I was quite clear on the application form), and if the criteria is that there will be no children around the dog at all (which seems very draconian and difficult to monitor and enforce). I don't really expect to hear back from them though.

I did see one rescue saying that in order to adopt a particular dog, there should be no neighbouring dogs. Quite what you were supposed to do if a couple of years down the line, you get new neighbours who bring dogs with them, I don't know!

I can understand rescue centres wanting to put the best interests of the animal first. But you seem to tick the right boxes. Keep trying - you'll get there in the end.

I remember the hoops I had to go through getting two of my cats (as kittens) during the pandemic - now the situation has turned completely round.

Good luck, and please resurrect this post when you're successful.

Germanshepherdsmum

Reading the posts again, I really do think that your husband’s attitude is a big part of the problem. He seems very shallow in the types of dog he will accept, based on appearance and macho appeal.

Is your dog going to be left alone when you stop wfh? Another difficulty standing in the way of adoption if so. Going to work and leaving a dog alone for hours isn’t kind.

Having adopted a number of rescues over the years and filling in all the forms, I’m sorry to say I think your applications contain red flags.

No, the dog will never (need to) be left alone. My work has issued new "hybrid" contracts which state that our main place of work is home, and we only have to attend the office for a minimum of one day a month. This is one of the reasons that we felt that now is the time to adopt, as we won't all be out at work all the time.

My son, who lives with us, works shifts and if it was an issue for the dog to be left, we could work it that his rostered days off could fall on a day that I needed to be in the office.

I think I will just get rid of my husband, as he seems to be the stumbling block

You are right, he really is very shallow about the types of dog that he will entertain, although as I have said further up-thread, I know him well enough to know that he would love any dog that came to live with us.

We were sitting in the lounge a couple of years ago, in the summertime, when our back door was open, and out of the blue a little black curly haired dog appeared in the lounge. My husband made a massive fuss of it, and was visibly disappointed when we located the owner, and they came to collect it.

A few months later, the dog again appeared in our garden, and again, my husband went do-lally over it. (We've now worked out where he was getting in, and have fixed the fence.)

I know, although it met none of his criteria, that he would have kept that dog if the owners hadn't wanted it back!

Thank you for your post. It's helpful to have our potential errors pointed out. Although I didn't mention his stance, it is something I maybe need to work on with him.

Thankyou HurdyGurdy, that is exactly what I thought a
'dog abandoner' was and said so to them.

It's much the same here in France the SPA & larger rescue organisations seem to make it really difficult to adopt a dog. The criteria given often exclude large numbers of people who could give a rescue dog a good home.
I understand of course they want the best possible homes but there needs to be a little more leeway. We adopted a lovely little Romanian dog last year as a companion for our other dog. We are both 75 but like the original poster we made contingency plans for the dogs should we be ill or die. The charity in Romania were more realistic about potential adopters. They do take dogs to the UK as well.

We were looking for an adult rescue dog for the last 2 years but have now given up. They either come as a pair, need experienced owners, or extra training, and not one that I applied for ( online/by phone) were offered to us. We still don't know why.
We have an enclosed garden, big open spaces nearby, quiet 2 adult household so thought we would be able to give a dog a good home. Came to the conclusion there cant be as many dogs needing rehoming.

But surely they have been open about their reasons: knowing this dog as they do, they don’t think it’s suitable to be with children. Not sure what else you’d want them to say.

Wow, your husband is seriously a red flag

You may not say anything in the application but his behaviour may give him up

I had to jump through hoops to adopt a cat last December, a family interview, references from the vet, etc.

Honestly, it made me happy they were so careful as they want the best for the cat.

If rejected, it would have stung but when a door closes, a window opens, right?

If you know what breed of dog you want try breed specific rescue sites such as Golden Retriever Rescue. We have a small gentle pointer rescued through Pointers in Need. A friend found her dog through Spaniel Assist. There seem to be rescue groups for most breeds of dogs. Good luck.

I volunteer at our local animal rescue home. The minimum age for children in the household is five.

I think you will be more successful at an independent rescue or as others have said breed specific rescue shelters.

HurdyGurdy. Should you consider rescuing from abroad, as possibly a last resort, the charity Dylan was from is The UK Griffon Adopters & Fosterers Group. They only bring dogs to the UK if they have a home to go to which has been checked. None of them go to rescues or kennels and the group is supportive at all times. We had to ensure that our garden had fences of at least five feet high, as he is a jumper!