F.a.o. Pasta.

[Tilly2]

About four months ago, my cousin and her partner adopted a fifteen month old GSD from their local rescue centre.
They were besotted with the dog, spent a fortune on 'everything it needed' and sent me lots of photographs and videos of the dog, playing, sleeping, watching the world go by. She knows I love dogs, particularly GSD's and Staffies.
I was so happy for them and the dog. He seemed easy to train and was a joy to have, 90% of the time.
Unfortunately, it all went horribly wrong and they ended up being firstly, wary and then, afraid of the dog as it seemed to be taking control of them.
With much sorrow, they asked the rescue centre to take him back. They were both devastated but they couldn't live with a dog that they felt they couldn't trust. Finally, after many tears, they decided to buy a puppy and will be picking it up from the breeders next weekend.
Not everyone has a happy ending

We have had three dogs from rescue and we have been lucky enough to find dogs that haven't been totally screwed up by circumstances.
I wish you luck in finding a new best friend, when you're ready to look for him/her.

[Tilly2]

The rescue kennels are filling up with dogs now that lockdown has ended.

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/local-news/rspcas-fears-after-lockdown-abandoned-18565242

[pastafreak]

Oh, that poor little dog. That's just heart breaking.

[Canary42]

It's all part of our increasing buy-on-a-whim culture, then throwaway when no longer wanted.

Self-indulgence appears to get ever more rampant and self-denial becomes obsolete. Very sad.

[lankeela]

I get very cross when I see people put things like 'rescue don't buy' but often rescue dogs have baggage that novice owners can't cope with. Even experienced owners have problems with some dogs and although I am coordinator for a breed rescue I am sensible enough to know that not everyone is suited to taking on a dog with unknown issues. Decent breeders will match puppies to the right homes having lived with them day and night for eight or nine weeks and can tell which ones are going to be suitable. I've just homed a nine week old puppy to experienced people, but kept his more submissive brother as I have an older male and felt the other pup would want to be more dominant with my older boy. In a novice home the pup might end up dominating the owners so he needed someone who would give him some boundaries.

[pixie374]

Totally agree, lankeela... I keep seeing this mantra "adopt, don't shop". But that isn't going to work for everyone. The majority of dogs that I and my parents have, have been adopted... However, they can have a history and the last thing you want is a child being injured and the dog paying for it, for your own mistake.
Some families will need more reassurance and knowledge about a particular dog to be safe. We want the next generation to grow up being confident and knowledgable with dogs as well. That's important too.
Looking at the demand/supply alone, it is obvious there are far less "rescue" dogs now, that don't need an experienced person. I looked for 2 years at rescues, but they were all scared about a small child being here sometimes. It's good they are taking some responsibility, but there are more and more dogs imported from other countries now, to keep up with "rescue" demand. And that isn't always best for them.

[iluvmargie]

Always had rescue dogs, same as my parents, never had any problems and will continue to get rescue dogs as long as there is breath in my body.

[pixie374]

Me too, Margie. Only one that isn't, but I do understand that people with babies, small children, cats... might not be able to take the same risks. If I didn't have a 4 year old granddaughter here regularly, I would take on much more doubtful dogs, like my parents did.

[iluvmargie]

'It is obvious there are far less "rescue dogs" now'!! Try telling that to all the rescue centres all over the country - biggest laugh I've had in ages!!!

[iluvmargie]

Nothing 'doubtful' about the many rescue dogs in my family ..

[pixie374]

They've told me that, Margie.... look at the prices now and you can see they are not giving them away now. It's a good sign, so many people have had theirs neutered, people aren't just breeding without thinking.... but my non-rescue, was a cavalier, who was £550 with full pedigree. Those puppies are now £3/3.5k each now.
Why are we getting so many dogs from abroad to satisfy the supply now? Even I did it once... as there were none available here.

[pastafreak]

I looked at one of the local rescues site the other day. There are dogs on there that were there back in February when I lost Sally. They all, for the most part, have "issues" that are quite bad. They also have taken on 8-10 ex racers...half of them have similar problems as Sammi...guarding, protective of toys, bedding etc. At least these things are being pointed out from the start.

[pixie374]

I agree, pasta, when I was actively looking, they had mostly staffs, staff x and greyhounds, but they were all wary about them going somewhere with a small child. I waited for nearly 2 years, and found 2 rescues about to go to centres, but many won't wait that long.

[pastafreak]

There are few staffies now here. It's a mix of other terrier types mostly, all those greyhounds, plus some breeding females from puppy farms... They seem to come with issues of trust and are highly nervous. No surprises there.

[pixie374]

No, not really. If it was just me by myself, I would be much more willing to do what my stepmum and dad always did and take the one "least likely to be rehomed". They always had a minimum of 5 rescues, mostly GSDs. I'm not in that position though... I have a 4 year old here a lot, other dogs and cats. So I have to be careful just now.