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Most of my friends have rescued dogs and foster dogs, and my Catahoula is a rescue. There are good and bad rescues organizations.
Many of them have very rigid and arbitrary rules - like no children under 7 or stuff like that. Rules like that are RIDICULOUS. The dog's personality and the owner's level of experience should be part of the evaluation.
My one border collie, for example, got along just fine without a yard - he was VERY low energy for his breed and he had aggression issues associated with his "territory." The best thing that ever happened to him was coming to live in a condo with me, where he had no yard to defend and the only yard experience he had was at the dog park where he was in a communal area that did not result in him getting ideas about defending his territory. But if he was in a border collie rescue, they would have insisted that he have a yard.
At the same time, my friends have encountered rescues that actually tried to hide some of the dogs' problems - one friend abandoned her involvement in a rescue when they refused to put down a vicious dog and were talking about placing it in a home without telling the new owners about the dog's aggression issues.
At the same time, I've encountered a lot of amazing rescues run by wonderful people, and my friends who foster are all currently very happy with the rescues they volunteer for. The rescue I got my Catahoula from is awesome - they personalize their interactions and NOTHING is set in stone, only what is best for the dog.
I would say sticking with the smaller rescues is a good idea, but seek out personal recommendations regarding the people who run it. You want the head of the rescue to be a sane and logical person. And yes, shelters are a good route to go too.
I work with a rescue organization. In fact, I am a foster. Most rescues are completely volunteer based and do not make money. We all have other jobs. So, if you email me and expect an immediate answer, stop holding your breath. As a foster, I know more about the dog than the president of the rescue. When she gets a question about the dog she forwards it to me. Again, she may not get an immediate answer.
Not all of our dogs require yards and some have been adopted into apartments. Every dog and situation is unique. And we have reasons why people are denied. I could have had my foster adopted 3 times already but I knew it wasn't a good fit. My foster is fearful of children and each adopter had kids. I wasn't going to take an unnecessary risk.
Location: Scott County, Tennessee/by way of Detroit
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Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe
Don't get me started about rescue groups. If you keep looking on Petfinder for a particular breed, if that's what you want, you will eventually find one at a shelter. At least that is what happened for me. I was hoping to find a rat terrier, and I did find one at a county animal shelter. They didn't care if I lived in an apartment without a yard. Charged me $35 to adopt her, they even gave me a vet certificate, free microchipping, heartworm test, etc.
You won't get detailed info, but you can go meet the dog, play with him/her in a yard usually, ask the staff what they know. Mine was super friendly to everyone, and was apparently house trained because she would hold it until they walked her. I had the option to take her back if it didn't work out.
Best dog I ever had. Takes more patience to find what you're looking for, but the shelters will even thank you and not put you through the ringer or charge you an arm and a leg.
I had one rescue group who wouldn't let me adopt a senior ex-show papillon because they said a yard was required - end of story. Sheesh. And I'm retired with all the time in the world to walk a dog.
A friend of mine was hoping to find a young lab or mostly lab mix, and she had the same problem with rescue groups, and had to keep hurrying to shelters to try and get a dog before someone else snatched it, but she did eventually get a wonderful black lab mix from a county shelter near her.
Good luck. Check the shelters. That's usually where the rescue groups get their dogs anyway. You just have to get there first. Let them know what you are looking for. My impression is that the shelters don't love these rescue groups, and they'd probably be happy to call you when your breed shows up.
My rat terrier was found with a Boston Terrier, and the Boston Terrier rescue group snatched up the Boston and left my rat terrier to live or die. Yeah, don't get me started...they take the ones they can sell to the highest bidders, IMO.
Anyway, petfinder.com is how I found my Jackie at a county shelter.
Also, check your county shelter websites and call them, too, every day. You'll find your puppy.
I love Petfinder.....found a dog....called the rescue...they brought her over...checked my house...let her run around..filled out paperwork... Paid the fee...Done deal....she stayed that night and was with us till she passed...great dog....and these people were not the typical stringent jump through hoops people either.....nice experience....
It's such a shame that the rescue groups have become so overwhelmed (sometimes by their own bureaucracy/red tape) that they are becoming ineffective.
I used to work with a rescue group, volunteering to connect with people who had submitted an application and expressed an interest in a specific dog. They kept this one guy hoppin for almost 3 months. It was because of how they treated this poor man, and some of the internal politics of the organization that I gave up.
I love the idea of rescue, but some of these organizations have gotten a little out of control.
There are always shelters...and sometimes rescuing from there solves a more critical need.
I am a my wits end and about ready to throw in the towel on adopting a dog through a rescue group. I have emailed a few about dogs I am interested in....never heard anything back. I was asking them if the dog I was interested in was going to be at their adoption event they were having so you would think they could at least tell me that.
Then I find one that I am really interested in and email a rescue and ask them a little more about her. All I get back (almost right away actually) is I need to fill out an application. OK - I don't know why I need to fill out an application just to have you answer a few questions but I really like this dog so I go ahead and do it. About 10 minutes after I submit the application I get an email asking if I am open on Monday to meet the dog. I wrote back and told them that I had a few questions about the dog before I met her to make sure I am not wasting anyones time. I had about 5 questions about the dog. they were pretty basic questions like how long the dog had been with the rescue and things like that. I NEVER heard anything back from them. I am sorry, did it ANNOY you that I had a few questions about the dog? I mean, I answered about 100 of them (some very personal) so that you would actually communicate with me and now you cannot even answer some questions? WTH is with these people?
This last one is the 4th rescue group in the area that I have try to contact and I am about done. I don't want to go the breeder route but I am so sick of this! I just want a puppy for my family for crying out loud!
You have to realized how most rescue groups work.
They are all volunteers, with families, jobs and pets of their own. You might think it's just a few quick questions, but when you multiply that by the number of people that might do the same thing, they'd be on the phone all the time.
They might not know the specifics about the dog. Chances are the person handling applications is not the person fostering the dog. Those are the questions you ask when you meet the dog in person, to see if it works out. Because the foster family will be there, and can answer those questions.
It shouldn't matter how long a dog has been in rescue. A dog in rescue 2 days could be completely acclimated to their environment, and a dog in foster care for 6 months might still have behavior issues. That's why you meet the dog and foster family.
That application you filled out is just as much a tool to get your info as it is to weed out folks. If someone balks at the application, that's a big red flag, and into the garbage you go.
The job of rescue is not to supply you with a dog, or make your life easy. It's to ensure that that dogs in their care get the best possible home. Having been at the other end of the spectrum, picking up another dog because the people that owned it were moving and couldn't take the dog, or had a child and don't want the dog any more, or having a rescue turned back in because they were too "fill in the blank", you'd be a little burnt out with people that demand you do things a certain way because they're just trying to get a dog.
We try to adopt older hard to adopt dogs. We got turned down by 2 rescue groups because my husband was military and "moving was traumatic for dogs." Give me a break. I washed my hands of them.
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It's such a shame that the rescue groups have become so overwhelmed (sometimes by their own bureaucracy/red tape) that they are becoming ineffective.
I used to work with a rescue group, volunteering to connect with people who had submitted an application and expressed an interest in a specific dog. They kept this one guy hoppin for almost 3 months. It was because of how they treated this poor man, and some of the internal politics of the organization that I gave up.
I love the idea of rescue, but some of these organizations have gotten a little out of control.
There are always shelters...and sometimes rescuing from there solves a more critical need.
ding ding ding we have a winner here.
In addition, a local rescue here, the woman who runs it started with the best intentions, and she DOES save (some) dogs from being put down, but she really isn't much more than a dog broker now. She has a deal with some of the rural county animal control vets who put the animals down when they aren't claimed or adopted in the alloted time, they will call her. She drives out to the facilities, chooses the dogs that she feels that she can "adopt" out quickly, the young, small breeds, healthy, etc. She doesn't take large dogs, old dogs, sick dogs, just the ones that tend to turn quickly. The county doesn't charge her a thing, and she in turn charges adopters $350-400 for the dogs. She doesn't vet them, she only neuters them after they are adopted (if not already done), and her help is mostly volunteer and she has all sorts of fundraisers and what not. The county cracked down on her a few years ago as far as the number of dogs that she had at any given time, I think that she is allowed 20. So, while she is saving dogs, she is really about making money more.
I work with a rescue organization. In fact, I am a foster. Most rescues are completely volunteer based and do not make money. We all have other jobs. So, if you email me and expect an immediate answer, stop holding your breath. As a foster, I know more about the dog than the president of the rescue. When she gets a question about the dog she forwards it to me. Again, she may not get an immediate answer.
Not all of our dogs require yards and some have been adopted into apartments. Every dog and situation is unique. And we have reasons why people are denied. I could have had my foster adopted 3 times already but I knew it wasn't a good fit. My foster is fearful of children and each adopter had kids. I wasn't going to take an unnecessary risk.
Rescuing is HARD. Don't give us all a bad name.
Like everything else, what should have been a simple, straight forward action, has become an ordeal for everyone involved. America is the greatest specialist in complicating what was once a basic thing
(I wonder if when you call the rescue, you hear the friendly "this call may be monitored for quality and training purposes")...
I guess it is rescue/shelter dependant, because my experience was a two page document outlining info about what to expect from a rescue dog (sort of a what to expect/potential issues with a rescue), a couple of questions about where the dog will be housed, my availabilty and willingness to exersise the dog, whether or not I had a fenced yard, and a requirement to return the dog to the shelter if I could no longer care for the dog.
I got Tuck (~4-5 month old stray) the next day. I got involved with a local training club, and about 6 months later went back to get another dog. They let me bring Tuck, and he played with about a dozen dogs, and had a clear preference to play with Taffy, so I adopted her and brought her home that day - it has been a great match (for the dogs! Taffy had me wondering for a while if I adopted a whirlwind - you can read other posts about her... She is now the BEST, but it took some time), and my adoption experience overall, has been excellent.
I have since fostered for the shelter a couple of times, to include a mother and puppies, but by then I was sort of a known entity at the shelter, so they had me sign a foster agreement and that was that.
Maybe you need to find a different shelter to work with? They are all different and operate differently.
Wow - it makes me sad to see so many people that have had a problem with rescues. Both my dogs have been rescues and my experience was nothing like what I am going through now. Both were easy and quick, but that was 14 years ago. It never occurred to me to go through any other route, but I think I am going to have to.
The one rescue that has the dog I am REALLY interested in is really rude. I filled out my application and never heard anything. So I went to their facebook page and posted that I was wondering if this dog was still available, that I was really interested in her and had filled out my application already. I got a response back on facebook responding to my post telling me that I need to go and fill out an application on their website. I ALREADY DID and I TOLD you that in my message! I tried to write back and tell them I had done it and found I was blocked from posting in their page and they removed my post. RUDE! How do these people think they are going to adopt out dogs when they treat future adopters like ****?
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