How modern dog rescue centres operate nowadays

[Tykey]

It seems dog rescue centres nowadays choose the dog for you, rather than you choose the dog (like it used to be afaik), and I don't think I like it.

Been thinking about rehoming a dog after our 18 year old dog passing away recently and things have changed. Been in contact with a few dog rescue centers and visited 1. They seem to operate similar to how The Dog House operates on Channel 4 - they find a dog for you. A dog is a big commitment and I want to choose my own dog. Only 1 out of 3 dog rescue places I've been in contact allow visits prior to applying to rehoming the dog. All stated there are usually lists you go on when applying for the dog, and if you're not successful, they'll contact me when they find another suitable dog - which to me is a roundabout way of saying they'll choose the dog for you.

I've no issue in being assessed, they're welcome to question me all they like, to visit my home, do any checks they want etc. But I want to choose the dog myself, I want to walk around the dogs that need homes and see which one(s) I bond with. What are your thoughts on this? Edit: yes I can meet the dog before actually getting it but it's still not a dog I chose out of those needing a home.

 

[Tykey]

Because we can’t have a dog of our own due to both working long hours, I walk a greyhound once a week at a greyhound rescue centre. There you can adopt a dog, but you can get to know them through walking and the feedback left by other owners on each dog’s temperament.
As for having a dog chosen for you, I’m not a fan of that idea myself.

That seems like a good idea, good on you for doing such a thing by the way. The nearest rescue centre I'm aware of is about 20 miles away unfortunately, if there was the option to do that fairly nearby I'd definitely consider it. Edit: just googled and found a place about 8 miles away and they're looking for volunteers, thx for giving me the idea.

 

[Tykey]

His rescue picture is so sad.

Breaks my heart. Was rescued from a kill Shelter after being rounded up off street.
Apparently no one wanted him and he'd been with the fosterer for a while.

The contrast to your other pics is striking. So sad here but you've done so well helping to turn his life around. You were meant for each other I think, "fate".

 

[Tykey]

The 1 rescue centre we have visited, I'll be honest, it felt like they were looking us up & down, and they were almost being quite defensive when we asked about some of the dogs. We were well presented and polite etc. It wasn't best experience tbh. Edit: and I don't like posting stuff like this, I really believe that if possible, maybe people should consider animal rescue centres 1st when looking into getting a new furry member of the family.

 

[Tykey]

We are still looking for a rescue centre dog to re-home, we're not giving up because of the hurdles that must be jumped through. We know we can give a homeless dog a great long life with us. Have applied for a dog at 1 place about 50 miles but wasn't successful. It was a lengthy application form that must be filled out each time you apply, they don't keep you on record, which is a bit of a pain. We will not go to a breeder, too many unwanted dogs that need a home. We're not bothered about getting a pedigree dog etc, we do have things we're looking for like a rough size, age, etc.

Edit: just checked the website where the dog we applied for last week is and were unsuccessful, the dog is still listed as being available. On the application form we met all the criteria it asked for, and I hope it came through we are dog lovers. We have just lost a dog that lived with our care until 2 months shy of his 19th birthday, had him since he was 10 months old. He had an amazing, active life, always walked, loved, fed on the best foods, always had good vetinary care and indeed cost me a small fortune in vets bill (and was worth every penny) for his arthritis. I'm not sure what else we can do tbh. We're going to visit this dogs home tomorrow and I'm going to very politely ask what was it about our application that deemed us unsuccessful? It'd be fine if the dog had found another more suitable home but afaik it's still there sitting in its cage.

 

[Tykey]

Exactly, curious to see what they say here for example - obvs this poster is prepared to wait but others have gone to breeders instead. This is someone who has already owned a dog for 18 years, meets the criteria to adopt another dog and yet still they've been rejected? Maybe there is another reason for it which they'll tell him - but they're seemingly not transparent initially in that case. If it turns out that it's just some Harry Potter sorting hat approach and some self-appointed "expert" has decided this is not the dog for Tykey for vague 'holistic" reasons then that's where it gets ridiculous.

We didn't go the rescue centre today, we're going next weekend now (it's only open at the weekend). Yeh I'm curious about why we didn't get accepted considering the dog we applied for is still there. I'm going to take evidence of vets bills, various photo's and video's (including photo's of our home and garden) we took of Tyke (my late dog) throughout years, photo's of his toys, his dog pram that I wheeled him around in when his arthritis stopped him walking distances, etc.

 

[Tykey]

We visited a dog rescue centre today about 30 miles away, it was based on a farm. Not as big or well publicised/well known as the centre that refused us last week. Better experience all round, have applied for a dog, we should know more by Friday. It was a better experience as the 1 of the employees walked us around all the dogs, gave us lots of information on them.

We took to 1 dog in particular, a 1 year old mongrel about small/medium sized, mainly white with light brown patches, medium length hair, called Ben. We made a fuss of each other and took him out on the lead for about 15 minutes around a field. He was a bundle of energy as dogs of that age often are, very friendly, was going for another dog when on the lead but that can be trained out.

If our initial application is successful they do a home visit. I think (hope) the lady who shown us round could tell we would be good owners. She was a very pleasant person who I didn't feel for 1 minute was looking at us suspiciously like at the other place. Looks wise he was cute, dare I say it not as cute as the dog we've just lost but he was definitely cute. We both had a good feeling about him.

Fingers crossed he'll soon be ours. Felt sorry for the older dogs in the place, if I had land and money I'd take lots of them but I haven't, and I don't want to lose another dog for many years to come, hence counting out the older dogs.

 

[Tykey]

Quick update about our dog adoption journey - we're getting a home visit tomorrow from 1 of the rescue centre staff to assess if our home is suitable. So that's promising imo. We're over the 1st hurdle I think. Not all rescue centres are as chooosy due to whatever criteria as others. I think atleast some of it comes down to that some rescue centres have more applications so they can reallly pick and choose which has both negatives and positives imo - it should increase the chances of the dog getting a good home but at the same time some perfectly good would-be dog owners are being refused.

I've learnt upto now to do a bit of research to find lesser well known possibly smaller dog rescue centres and give them a chance. The place we've found doesn't charge for adoption unlike the other place which charged £200+. This smaller place also cover the annual booster jabs which would otherwise cost iirc upto £80 as long as their vet does it. We'll be giving them a healthy donation if we are accepted for Ben, already gave £20 when we looked around.

 

[Tykey]

Home visit went well! We're taking home Ben this Friday! So, it's not all bad news regarding dog rescue centres, some of them do actually want their dogs to be rehomed to good homes. My advice, find and consider the lesser known smaller places, where they actually give you a chance. No fee's but they accept donations. Here's Ben :

Edit: to say we're getting him from https://pet-rescuecharity.co.uk/

 

[Tykey]

All's I can say is the dogs home that refused us, they missed out on giving 1 of their dogs a good home. Not saying we're the best home a dog could have, of course not, but we know we are more than acceptable. We've had dogs of all shapes, sizes and types over the years and they've all had good happy long lives.

About us still grieving; yes we are. We'll never forget Tyke, like we'll never forget the dogs we had previous to him. But if Tyke could have human thought he would want us to give another unwanted dog like he was a good home. A new dog will help with the grieving process imo. It was about 6 weeks ago that Tyke died, the tears have more or less dried up but he's thought about everyday. More time won't change that, I think I'll think about him everyday until I pass away.

Having another dog will let us channel the love & energy we have to give. Ben will never replace Tyke and I'm glad they appear to be quite different with regards to how they look etc. Ben will no doubt be a great dog for us in his own right.

 

[Tykey]

The thread is about how they operate 'nowadays', which for the most part has not changed in several decades.
The only real difference is that these days you have to select the animal you want and be successful in applying before you can even go meet them. You can't 'walk the line'. This is partly a hangover from Covid, and partly them reducing the number of timewasters.

It has changed. I went to a dog rescue centre near Manchester iirc 2005, you could "walk the line" so to speak, pick the dog, then apply. Now, that same place has an online application before anything, you get no feedback, you only know if you are unsuccessful if they don't contact you. No reason given. The same place I emailed an enquiry about a dog, not an application, they didn't even bother replying.

You can still "walk the line" in some rescue centres, we did that with the dog we've just homed today. You pick a dog, apply, have a home visit, and we got feedback at every stage. Not all dog rescue centres are the same (thankfully). Imo the big well known one's have got too choosy. They refused our perfectly good (imo) application, the dog we applied for is still sitting in its cage afaik. They offered no feedback, and as mentioned ignored a general enquiry about a dog. Early days with our new furry friend but all the signs are excellent.

 

[Tykey]

As I said, the online application before seeing the dog is all that's changed, which is partly Covid and partly having so many timewasters.
Everything else is as much of a hoop-jumping exercise as it's always been, including not replying.

They can be choosy, especially the big centres, because there are so many people applying. Often there will be dozens of applicants for every dog. Many of them are either entirely unsuitable, or get auto-rejected due to certain criteria, so they're doing all that sifting ahead of seeing the dog.
Beyond that, it's then down to whether you're first in line for the animal, whether they feel another applicant is even better suited, or some other similar reason.

I'm not an especial fan of it, but that's just how it goes nowadays, at many centres. In general, the complaints over refusals have not changed in decades from their usual disgruntled tone, with nothing to suggest that recent changes have worsened things.

I think being more choosy is a good thing. Years ago we got a dog from an rspca centre in warrington iirc and there were no home checks or anything like that. Just walked around the dogs, picked 1, filled in a form & paid, too her home. We could have been anyone. I just think the pendulum has swung a bit too far the other way and may encourage people to go breeders when their original intention was to re-home a rescue dog.