i was rejected for a dog before I got Michael. I went to a rehomeing centre rather than a rescue. I wanted to go to a reputable rescue but no one would touh me coz i was out of the house 6 hrs a day
ATD x

My thing about the fence is that it doesn't make all that much sense. A dog can escape out the front door (which is more likely than the back after all!) and if they're escape artists may find a way out of the fence regardless. If I had a dog who was an escape artist there would be baby gates installed and the dog would be on leash before the door was even opened (heck, I still leash up my really good dog who will stop on command and is NOT an escape artist before the door is opened, just in case there's a dog passing by!).

Luckily there's a rescue a bit further away who, when we're in the right place to adopt another dog, we'll be going to. They require fences for some dogs, but not for many of them.

And see, that's just silly. For an adult dog, especially, that's really not that long. Dahlia is left home for that long a few days a week.

I understand your frustration but it is for a reason. A lot of the dogs have severe separation anxiety from being in kennels, so it would be inappropriate to rehome them in a house where no-one will be home for hours a day.

I own two rescues, but I have been turned away before by rescues and rightly so. I even home check for rescues lol and I was turned away, it just depends on their policy. I wanted to re-home an ex breeding dog in my flat. Rightly so we discussed the re-homing and said if it was not an ex-breeding who had lived outside all his life I would've been ideal, but because the dog had had a poor upbringing and was not toilet trained it would not be fair to expect him to hold the toilet while I was at work and live in a flat. I was gutted as I had fallen in love with the boy, but he found a home which was better suited to him and I found little Totts who needed me . His name was Valentino or Tino for short

I would recommend you look to a rescue who use a foster scheme as they are less likely to have been affected by the rescue system.

Best of luck in your search and well done you for looking to rescue

x

Even the pup can b left 9 hrs although we now have some one to walk them in the middle of that
ATD x

I think shelters who have a strict rule regarding rehoming to full time workers are seriously losing out on some good homes for their dogs.

I work full time but the nature of my job means I can be very flexible and in reality, I only do half the hours I get paid for. However, I am contracted full time and some days I do the full 8.5 hours or more. I havent been so lucky with previous jobs but I still had dogs.

I think if you are committed enough then you make time to give your dogs what they need so rescue centres should take each applicant on merit. I have a rescue dog but the shelter I got her from has now changed their policy and they do not home to full time workers.

I visited my local shelter today and there was a gorgeous 13wk old lurcher in there. He was up for adoption as his owners didnt have the time for him, surely they knew that 6 or 7 weeks ago???

Obviously some people have far more dedication than others and dedication should never be overlooked, only commended.

But does a full time worker have the time to work with a dog with issues? I agree that for a dog whose owner has died, who has always had a settled life and who is laid back and placid, the transition is fairly painless. But unless the dog is fostered for longer than the honeymoon period, no rescue knows how he will behave. Previous owners are notoriously economical with the truth.
For someone who has got up at 6, walked the dog, got the kids to school, then done an 8 hour day and a commute to return to an anxious, needy dog who needs patient and persistent training is testing the owner to the mimit.
That is why dogs gets bounced back. And once they have, it is more difficult to home them afterwards, since they have already `failed`.
However, there are dogs without issues... but then these dogs are the ones everyone else is after as well.
The Rescue is there for the benefit of the dog, not the prospective owner. If they have a bad experience of people with children returning dogs, they will just put in a `no children` policy. It`s not because they don`t like children.

Have you tried a greyhound rescue. I don't think they would have a problem with a dog being left for 4 hours and a greyhound may suit your timid dog too.

Great post.

When we got my old boy, Sam, that SSPCA asked about if my parents worked (i was at school at the time) and they had no problems coz my mum doesnt work... that doesnt mean she spent the whole time in the house though! Although she wasnt out for the whole day, she still went shopping, met up with friends and went to the gym a lot... so he was just getting left what would probably be the hours of a part time worker. I think it is unreasonable to expect every prospective owner to not work... Also, i have Jake now, and coz i work in the evenings and still live with my parents, Jake doesnt always get left for too long... When i move out though, he will be left for longer... So, even if at the time of adoption, someone is in almost all day they might not be in the near future. Although, when i got Jake the SSPCA didnt have strict requirements... we didnt even get a home check (we did with Sam but have moved since then) and although the garden is fenced, we didnt have a gate at the time I got him... my dad soon put one up though!

I think the requirements should depend on the individual dog... after all, not all rescues have issues. A lot of dogs miss out on fantastic homes coz rescues get too picky (i agree with some requirements but i think it can get too OTT) and thats why some people go to breeders... coz they cant find a rescue to accept them!

I have to say I'm VERY glad the rescue we got Dahlia from was flexible.

We have no yard.

One of us is gone from the house for regular 8 to 5 hours, the other is gone for 6 hours at a time a few times a week.

And to top it off, we weren't even living in a place where we could have a dog when we applied. We were moving and were totally up front about it. And we weren't moving until a month or more after we were going to take her. We were borrowing a friend's place in the mean time. It was a crazy situation, but the rescue talked to our soon to be landlord and approved it all. Lots of trust there.

I'd say it worked out rather well!