Problem-Free Rescue Dogs.

Following on from another thread, MissE and I were just having a chat about how sometimes it must appear that all dogs in rescue need some form of rehabilitation/ a lot of hard work before they can become 'normal' dogs.

This isn't the case, but of course, 'normal' rescue dogs' stories don't often get heard.

So I thought it would be nice to celebrate these dogs and I hope that dogsey peeps will post stories/information showing just how possible it is to adopt a 'normal' dog (or puppy) from rescue.


As a starter....
Kip (now at rainbow bridge).

OH and I had both had dogs before, but not for many years. We wanted an older dog to 'ease us' back into dog ownership and came across Kip at the rescue centre.

He was a stray so absolutely nothing was know about him.

Kip was the best dog ever. He was perfect without any special work from us - very obedient, loving and loyal; he never chewed anything; never stole food; was good with children, (didn't really like playing with other dogs, but wasn't aggressive to them), loved his walks but would not misbehave if he had to wait.

What a good idea for a thread! Kip sounds like he was the perfect dog!

I had mentioned to Fiona that when we went to look for Missy, that we were told there were at any one time up to 500 dogs over Battersea's sites -and only 35 places in rehab. Which to my mind says there were 465 dogs that didn't need rehab!
Indeed, when we asked to see Missy we were offered another dog, Mitzi - who had only been handed in one month earlier because her owner fell pregnant and didn't want to keep her. She had no problems.

and if you want to read about my first rescue, here's her story, end of page one

http://www.dogsey.com/showthread.php?t=100757

She was a precious girl who never had behaviour problems.

pardon me for not typing it again, but it would be too emotional to do it a second time. x

all dogs can be worked with theonly problem i have come accross is trust with them my friend had a rottie from rescue 18months old said to be of good temprement he was fine until they got home very stubbon male and hated other males he bit paul my friend a few times and was very aggressive to humans even me had stiches a few times between us we found a way to break him he must have been homed with female dogs as i took tara my dominant female to his he greeted me normal way tryin to have hold of me lol tara went 4 him and he lay on the floor to her and she sat their when she moved away he stood up and sat at my feet and tara was watching him they then rehomed another dominant female and shes in charge of him and hes never gone for me or any1 since he just had bad maners and didnt no how to react to people

It is perfectly possible to get a rescue dog without any problems, they dont all have anxiety or aggression issues which is often the misconception.

I've had Jessie since July 08 and she was 3 in November. Her story was that she was from a farm in Ireland. The son of the family was killed in a farming accident and since he was the main carer for the dogs, Jessie and her brother Rex got handed in to the pound. A local rescue centre near me transports many dogs from Ireland and she and Rex were two of them.

Her only issue is that she is very timid on most occassions and I think she was treated with a heavy hand in her previous home. You have to be very careful how you reprimand her or even train her as she's very sensitive but fortunately, she is as good as gold so never needs a telling off. If there is shouting going off which isnt even aimed at her, she can get very nervous and seeks out a corner somewhere. With me though, she's learnt that she can trust me and her confidence has shot right up with the help of Jed and Flynn as well.

She is wonderful with people, very gentle and loving and as a result, my nephews love her (as opposed to my 2 males who get a bit OTT). Her recall is instant and she always wants to do her best for you, she can be trusted with livestock etc, she's houstrained and she's great with all other dogs.

She is the epitomy of the loyal dog and very rarely leaves my side. She'll always stick close to me. If I sit down to take a breather on a walk, she'll stay with me whilst the 2 males go off and entertain themselves!

She's a cracking dog and it's hard to understand why people would give such dogs up. Their loss is my gain though!

Both my rescue dogs are very eager to please.Brinley has perfect manners, can be left with no problems, is good with our other dog and the cats, and has perfect recall. He has issues with dominant male dogs but just lets them know not to mess with him, he is great with female dogs to the point of being a right softy.He seems to love kids too, and is very good with kids in the park.He is protective of us, but thats not a bad thing. Betty is so eager to please, and has copied Brinley in lots of ways, her recall is brilliant, and she can be left without any problems, she is a bit timid, and shy with strangers, but that might just be her personality anyway regardless of being a rescue dog.

but in your own case, doesnt your second paragraph contradict your first?

this isnt a criticism of you or your dog btw.
its not a criticism of rescues dogs either, as i have been employed full time in rescue for about 12 years and rehomed well over 100 dogs myself.

i feel that rescue dogs are issue-led, by the mere fact that they have 1) been abandoned to a rescue in the first place, because 2) they have been messed up / ill-trained /mishandled / ill-chosen/ badly raised by mistaken or awful owners, which is compounded by
3) kennel stress.

If you take these issues into consideration when adopting a rescue dog, it will be a lovely reciprocal relationship.
To ignore these truths is to not take the issues, nor the dog, nor the advice of people like me, seriously enough. And is one of the main reasons that rescue dogs get returned by those that adopt them.

I dont see the statement that rescue dogs have issues as a negative, i just see it as practical reality that is easily dealt with if recognised and acted upon accordingly.
At the least, the baseline for EVERY rescue dog, espesh if it was kenneled, should be that it will come to you with kennel related stress.
Which means it's hormonal levels will be higher for a good few weeks until it reaches a more harmonious real life baseline.
Which, in turn, means your rescue dog will be over-aroused for a bit and may over-react to what you may regard as normal everyday situations.
Therefore, you shouldnt throw the dog into the normal trappings and routines of a 'pet dog' straight off.
Give it a few weeks to settle with immediate family ONLY at first, and introduce other things gradually over first few months.
This is risk reduction for all, and prevents heartache for all, espesh more heartache for the dog when it bounces.
If i had a pound for every person that ignored that advice..........

This is exactly the same situation that would be recognised for humans coming out of prison or military service.

I guess a lot of dogs look like they have problems in a kennel environment cause they are stressed but are completly different when you get them into a home.

Looby was from a private home....when I first saw her I thought "she is gonna be hard work" ...but gave her a chance and she settled really easily and quickly.
Although she has nervy times, and very occasional issues with other dogs she is far easier than I could have imagined after her past!!

All the same though, Looby wasn't kenneled and does have some 'issues'

What we are really talking about here is not that all 'rescue dogs' have issues, but that all 'second hand dogs' have issues. That comes back to the point that the original owners have invariably created the issues, so you can say that at least half the issues have nothing to do with a dog having a rescue status.
However, the other half of the issues will, due to living in a kennel, ie, stereotypical behaviours, raised stress levels, institutionalisation. These problems can also exacerbate or complicate the original problems created by original owner.

Albeit good rescues do try their best to alleviate all of this.

The right person adopting such dogs wont have problems, as they listen to the advice, and take it into consideration when they take these dogs home.

thanks Kruserwalker, a very interesting post about kennel stress.

I don't recall this advice having been given to me at all with my first two rescues; perhaps it was and I just didn't take it in with everything else. In my case luckily no harm done.

I understand what you are saying about being messed up by previous owners, but there are dogs who's owners have died etc. who are fine (except, as you say, possibly kennel-stressed).